Social Worlds of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
About the Book Series
The Late Antiquity experienced profound cultural and social change: the political disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West, contrasted by its continuation and transformation in the East; the arrival of ‘barbarian’ newcomers and the establishment of new polities; a renewed militarisation and Christianisation of society; as well as crucial changes in Judaism and Christianity, together with the emergence of Islam and the end of classical paganism. This series focuses on the resulting diversity within Late Antique society, emphasising cultural connections and exchanges; questions of unity and inclusion, alienation and conflict; and the processes of syncretism and change. By drawing upon a number of disciplines and approaches, this series sheds light on the cultural and social history of Late Antiquity and the greater Mediterranean world.
Please contact Dorothea Schaefter, Publisher at Routledge ([email protected]) if you have any questions about the series or wish to submit a book proposal.
Portraits of Generalship and Authority in the Age of Justinian
1st Edition
Edited
By Michael Stewart
June 15, 2026
Warfare was a defining feature of the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565). His extensive military campaigns spanned multiple fronts, including conflicts in the East against the Persians and in the West against the Vandals in North Africa, as well as the Ostrogoths and Franks in Italy ...
Human Trafficking in Medieval Europe: Slavery, Sexual Exploitation, and Prostitution
1st Edition
By Christopher Paolella
January 09, 2026
Human trafficking has become a global concern over the last twenty years, but its violence has terrorized and traumatized its victims and survivors for millennia. This study examines the deep history of human trafficking from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period. It traces the evolution of ...
Christian Divination in Late Antiquity
1st Edition
By Robert Wisniewski
December 01, 2025
In Late Antiquity, people commonly sought to acquire hidden knowledge about the past, the present, and the future, using a variety of methods. While Christians acknowledged that these methods could work effectively, in theory they were not allowed to make use of them. In practice, they behaved in ...
Death and Afterlife in the Pages of Gregory of Tours: Religion and Society in Late Antique Gaul
1st Edition
By Allen E. Jones
December 01, 2025
Gregory of Tours was a bishop of late antiquity who was famously devoted to promoting the efficacy of saintly powers. In his writings, both historical and hagiographical, Gregory depicted the saints and reprobates of his age. This book analyses Gregory's writings about death and the afterlife, ...
Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World
1st Edition
Edited
By Jussi Rantala
December 01, 2025
This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references ...
Hagiography, Historiography, and Identity in Sixth-Century Gaul: Rethinking Gregory of Tours
1st Edition
By Tamar Rotman
December 01, 2025
Gregory of Tours, the sixth-century Merovingian bishop, composed extensive historiographical and hagiographical corpora during the twenty years of his episcopacy in Tours. These works serve as important sources for the cultural, social, political and religious history of Merovingian Gaul. This book...
Marriage, Sex and Death: The Family and the Fall of the Roman West
1st Edition
By Emma Southon
December 01, 2025
By the end of the fifth century, with the structural collapse of the Roman Empire in the west, Western Europe had fallen into the so-called Dark Ages. With the power of Rome removed, the Catholic Church stepped in to fill the void. Its political rise, alongside that of the Germanic kingdoms, led to...
Masculinity, Identity, and Power Politics in the Age of Justinian: A Study of Procopius
1st Edition
By Michael Stewart
December 01, 2025
A generation of historians has been captivated by the notorious views on gender found in the mid-sixth century Secret History by the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea. Yet the notable but subtler ways in which gender coloured Procopius' most significant work, the Wars, have received far ...
Remapping Emergent Islam: Texts, Social Settings, and Ideological Trajectories
1st Edition
Edited
By Carlos A. Segovia
December 01, 2025
This multidisciplinary collective volume advances the scholarly discussion on the origins of Islam. It simultaneously focuses on three domains: texts, social contexts, and ideological developments relevant for the study of Islam’s beginnings -- taking the latter expression in its broadest possible ...
Roman North Africa: Environment, Society and Medical Contribution
1st Edition
By Louise Cilliers
December 01, 2025
This book examines the environment and society of North Africa during the late Roman period (fourth and fifth centuries CE) through the writings of Helvius Vindicianus, Theodorus Priscianus, Caelius Aurelianus, and Cassius Felix. These four medical writers, whose translation into Latin of precious ...
The Idea of Rome in Late Antiquity: From Eternal City to Imagined Utopia
1st Edition
By Ioannis Papadopoulos
December 01, 2025
This book approaches the manifestation and evolution of the idea of Rome as an expression of Roman patriotism and as an (urban) archetype of utopia in late Roman thought in a period extending from AD 357 to 417. Within this period of about a human lifetime, the concepts of Rome and Romanitas were ...
Urban Developments in Late Antique and Medieval Rome: Revising the Narrative of Renewal
1st Edition
Edited
By Gregor Kalas, Ann van Dijk
December 01, 2025
A narrative of decline punctuated by periods of renewal has long structured perceptions of Rome’s late antique and medieval history. In their probing contributions to this volume, a multi-disciplinary group of scholars provides alternative approaches to understanding the period. Addressing ...