Peter Brown: Society

 

We need to unpack Brown's chapter on Society in late antiquity.  There are two ways of doing this:

 

·        Timeline, what stages are important markers of change;

·        Important distinctions, as that between East and West, Roman and Barbarian.

 

Stages of history: 

 

·        Up until 200: culture of antiquity; elites defined themselves in terms of a shared cultural legacy, while barbarians were those who were of the underclass as well as those beyond Rome's borders.

·        early third century: maintained certain continuity with the past,

·        crisis of third century: barbarian invasions set off a collapse of frontiers; widening of the gap between East and West.  In the East: pp. 42-43: more prosperous participants in the Empire than in the West. 

·        reforms of Diocletian and Constantine: military revolution.  Soldiers dominate the imperial rulership.  

 

Homework:

 

·        What are the distinctive stages of Roman history indicated in this chapter? 

·        How does the elite class define itself in terms of culture, dress, education, wealth, and public service at each stage?

·        What are the significant fault lines in the world of late antiquity at each stage?

·        What are the essential continuities from one stage to the next?