Cameron Averil. The Later Roman Empire, AD 284-430

Fontana Press, 1993. — xvii, 238 p.After being beset by invasion, civil war and internal difficulties for a century, the Roman Empire that Diocletian inherited in AD 284 desperately needed the organizational drive he brought to the task of putting its administration and defences on a newly secure footing. His successor, Constantine, sustained this consolidation ol impelial strength by adopting a vibrant new religion, Christianity, could underpin and unite an empire given naturally to diversity and divergence. The fourth century AD was a decisive period; its many new challenges and wide cultural diversity are reflected in the pages of its chief historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, and represented by figures as different as Julian the Apostate and St Augustine. And it is with Augustine that this book ends.
Professor Cameron assesses his seminal historical and theological role, his Confessions, the first psychological autobiography we have, his City of God, a response to the Visigoths' sack of Rome in 410, and his mature thinking on the role of God in history.This new addition to the Fontana History of the Ancient World introduces the reader to the vigour and variety of the fourth century, and to the major historical questions now being raised about a periods that has bred much controversy. Not only providing a vivid narrative of events, it also draws on archaeological and artistic evidence to illuminate such central issues as economy, social structure, defence, religion and culture. It is the first book to deal with this pivotal period.
in Western history in this fashion, and to present in an accessible manner the major discoveries made by the most recent generation of researchers. The Later Roman Empire will be indispensable to students, and a compelling guide for anyone interested in the cultural.
development of late antiquity, or in the structure, evolution and fate of empires more generally.Introduction: the third-century background.
The Sources.
The New Empire: Diocletian.
The New Empire: Constantine.
Church and State: the legacy of Constantine.
The Reign of Julian.
The Late Roman State: Constantius to Theodosius.
Late Roman Economy and Society.
Military Affairs, Barbarians and the Late Roman Army.
Culture in the Late Fourth Century.
Constantinople and the East.