Decline and Fall of the Roman City

Zusatztext Deliberately wide-ranging, and comparative, approach. Klappentext This book examines what happened to the cities of the Roman world in the years when the Roman Empire disintegrated. It traces the end of classical political culture, the impact of Christianization, and a progressive simplification of life styles in the lands, both East and West, that had been the Roman Empire. Zusammenfassung This book discusses the changes which occurred in the cities of the Roman world in the period AD 400- 750. The cities of the Middle Ages, both in the East and Western parts of the old Roman Empire, differed from classical cities in fundamental ways. Professor Liebeschuetz concludes that this suggests a decline and fall in the Roman cities. At the centre of this book is an account of the decline of cities as political organizations: the replacement of government in accordance with constitutional rules by a looser and much more informal kind of oligarchical control which was paralleled by the rise of the bishop. Professor Liebeschuetz argues that among the factors that transformed and undermined the Roman city the most conspicuous were related to the state of the Empire, economic developments which were consequences of the breaking up of the imperial structure, as well as more localized regional circumstances. The decline and fall of the Roman city was accompanied by very great changes in life style which can be summarized as simplification and localization. Further he concludes that Christianity by teaching people to despise the things of this world helped them to come to terms with the deterioration of their worldly circumstances.

Product details

• Authors: J H W G Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. (Emeritus Professor of C Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, Liebeschuetz J. H. W. G.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.06.2000
• EAN: 9780198152477
• ISBN: 978-0-19-815247-7
• No. of pages: 498
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; European History, HISTORY / Ancient / Rome, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, General & world history, CE period up to c 1500, Ancient Rome, Social and cultural history, Ancient History, Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500, General and world history, c 500 to c 1000 CE, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Urban communities, European history: medieval period, middle ages, HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, BCE to c 500 CE, C 500 CE To C 1000 CE, BCE period – Protohistory