Stephen Mitchell

Geoffrey Greatrex

The period AD 300-600 saw huge changes. The Graeco-Roman city-state was first transformed then eclipsed. Much of the Roman Empire broke up and was reconfigured. New barbarian kingdoms emerged in the Roman West. Above all, religious culture moved from polytheistic to monotheistic. Here, twenty papers by international scholars explore how group identities were established against this shifting background. Separate sections treat the Latin-speaking West, the Greek East, and the age of Justinian. Themes include religious conversion, Roman law in the barbarian West, problems of Jewish identity, and what in Late Antiquity it meant to be Roman.

Ethnicity and Culture in Late Antiquity

Procopius was the major historian of the reign of Justinian and one of the most important historians of Late Antiquity. This is the first stand-alone English translation of his work Persian Wars. It offers a new translation, which has at its basis one published fifty years ago by Averil Cameron. The Persian Wars, despite the title, is a wide-ranging work that reports the history and geography not only of Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, but also of southern Arabia and Ethiopia, Iran and Central Asia, and Constantinople itself. This book is equipped with notes, maps and plans, an introduction, and a translation of a further Greek text, that of Nonnosus, which overlaps with Procopius'. It will be of benefit to specialists and the general reader alike.

Translation, with Introduction and Notes

Procopius of Caesarea: The Persian Wars

The first modern account of the conflict between the eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian kingdom. Greatrex traces the background to the war, investigating relations between Rome and Persia, the state of Roman defences in the East, and the chaotic situation in Persia at the end of the 5th century. He then examines the sources and the war itself, including the development of Roman defences, and the attempts by both powers to secure control of the Transcaucasian kingdoms.

Rome and Persia at War, 502-532

Samuel N. C. Lieu

Late Antiquity was an eventful period on the eastern frontier of the Roman empire. From the failure of the Emperor Julian's invasion of Persia in 363 AD to the overwhelming victory of the Emperor Heraclius in 628, the Romans and Persians were engaged in almost constant conflict. This book, sequel to the volume covering the years 226-363 AD, provides translations of key texts on relations between the opposing sides, taken from a wide range of sources. Many have never before been available in a modern language, and all are fully set in context with expert commentary and extensive annotation. For more information please visit the author's supplementary website at http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~greatrex/ref.html

The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars Ad 363-628

The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 363-628

Hugh Elton

the assistance of Lucas McMahon

Shifting Genres in Late Antiquity examines the transformations that took place in a wide range of genres, both literary and non-literary, in this dynamic period. The Christianisation of the Roman empire and the successor kingdoms had a profound impact on the evolution of Greek and Roman literature, and many aspects of this are discussed in this volume - the composition of church history, the collection of papal letters, heresiology, homiletics and apologetic. Contributors discuss authors such as John Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan, Cassiodorus, Jerome, Liberatus of Carthage, Victor of Vita, and Epiphanius of Salamis as well as the Collectio Avellana. Secular literature too, however, underwent important changes, notably in Constantinople in the sixth century. Several chapters accordingly reassess the work of Procopius of Caesarea and literature of this period; attention is also given to the evolution of the chronicle genre. Technical writing, such as military manuals and legal texts, are the focus of other chapters; further genres considered include monody, epigraphy and epistolography. Changes in visual representation are also considered in chapters devoted to diptychs, monuments and coins. A common theme that emerges from the chapters is the flexibility and adaptability of genres in the period: late antique authors, whether orators or historians, were not slavish followers of their classical predecessors. They were capable of engaging with their models, adapting them to their own purposes, and producing work that deserves to be considered on its own merits. It is necessary to examine their texts and genres closely to grasp what they set out to do; on occasion, attention must also be paid to the transmission of these texts. The volume as a whole represents a significant contribution to the reassessment of late antique culture in general.

Shifting Genres in Late Antiquity

Robert R. Phenix

Cornelia B. Horn

Among the most important sources for the history of the church from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the early years of the reign of Justinian is the chronicle attributed to Zachariah of Mytilene. Though Zachariah's Ecclesiastical History was just one of a range of sources cited by this later compiler, so great was its influence that the resultant text bears his name. The chronicle covers both church and secular affairs and includes a wealth of important information about the fifth and sixth centuries, including a history of theological controversies, a catalog of the world's regions based on Ptolemy's Geography, and many eyewitness accounts of key historical events. The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor is the first translation of this seminal text to a modern language in over one hundred years, and the new edition benefits from improvements in Syriac lexicography and expanded research on the source. Contributions from two eminent Syriac scholars—Sebastian P. Brock and Witold Witakowski—and a detailed commentary further enhance the value of this book, as does the substantial bibliography. Beyond a mere translation, this book is a key resource for understanding the development of the modern dynamics of Christianity in Turkey, Iraq, and the Near East.

Geoffrey Greatrex

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