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Zusatztext A well-produced volume, amply illustrated. Informationen zum Autor Andrew Poulter is the Chair of Late Roman and Early Byzantine Archaeology at the University of Nottingham. Klappentext This is a major contribution to the fascinating debate on the changes that occurred in the late Roman period, contrasting the approaches of history and archaeology. Covering the themes of the army, the countryside and the nature of cities, the volume focuses on the lower Danube, but there are comparative studies from Italy to the Euphrates. Zusammenfassung A major contribution to one of the most fascinating debates about the Ancient World, this volume provides a significant insight into the changes that occurred in the late Roman period and which shaped the emergence of early medieval Europe. The volume will be of importance to historians and archaeologists interested in the changes in the character of urbanism, military organization and the rural landscape which separate the Roman Empire from Late Antiquity (1st to early 7th centuries AD).Some papers focus on the lower Danube, others provide comparative studies which range from northern Italy and Pannonia to Greece, western Asia Minor and as far east as the Euphrates. These papers compare the results of different international research teams but also contrast approaches and methodology in order to assess the extent to which these differences might account for apparently contradictory conclusions. The volume also demonstrates the uses and pitfalls encountered in attempts to combine evidence provided by ancient historians and archaeologists - a theme which has wider implications beyond this volume. Inhaltsverzeichnis The collapse of a Roman economy and the militarization of the countryside: the case for dramatic change on the Danube The Transition to Late Antiquity on the lower Danube: the city, a fort and the countryside THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT The Lower Danube region under pressure: from Valens to Heraclius The Late Roman army and the defence of the Balkans Goths in the Roman Balkans, c. 350-500 THE CITY OF NICOPOLIS The two Anglo-Bulgaria research programmes and the results of the Bulgarian excavations The Late Roman Agora and the state of civic organization The environmental archaeology research programme at Nicopolis ad Istrum: methodology and results THE FORT AT DICHIN Dichin (Bulgaria): interpreting the ceramic evidence in its wider context Seeds of destruction: conflagration in the grain stores of Dichin The preliminary results from the study of the mammal and bird bone assemblages from Dicin Coin circulation in the Balkans in Late Antiquity THE CITY IN CONTEXT The transformation of cities in Late Antiquity within the provinces of Macedonia and Epirus Tsarichin Grad and the changes in the nature of urbanism in the central Balkans in the 6th century Nicopolis ad Istrum: backward and Balkan? Ephesos in the late Roman and early Byzantine period; changes in its urban character from the 3rd to 7th century AD Amida and Tropaeum Treaiani: a comparison of late antique fortress cities on the Lower Danube and Mesopotamia THE FORT IN CONTEXT The fort of Istrus in Moesia Secunda: observations on the late Roman defensive system on the lower Danube (4th to 6th centuries AD) The fortifications in the dioceses of Thrace and Dacia during the early Byzantine period From the Danube to the Po: the defence of Pannonia and Italy in the fourth and fifth centuries AD THE COUNTRYSIDE IN CONTEXT Extensive field survey in north, central Bulgaria Site-specific field survey: the methodology Geophysical survey and rural settlement on the lower Danube at the transition to Late Antiquity Another view on Late Antiquity: Sagalassos (SW Anatolia), its suburbium and its countryside in Late Antiquity The contribution of regional survey to the...
