Late Roman Italy - by Jeroen W P Wijnendaele

About the Book

Explores the major political, social, economic, religious and cultural changes impacting what was once the most important region of the Roman world.

Book Synopsis

This research volume reassesses one of the most fundamental transformations in Late Antiquity, centered on a pivotal region: the transition from 'Empire' to 'Kingdom' in Italy c. 250-500. During the first quarter of the first millennium, Italy was still the heart of the Roman Empire; the only political superstructure ever managing to encompass the entire Mediterranean world and its European hinterland. Yet during the second quarter of this millennium, Italy underwent dramatic evolutions from demotion to a provincialized region (c. 285-395), to a new imperial hub kept afloat by cannibalizing other provinces' resources (c. 395-476), to an autonomous regnum governed by non-Roman rulers as part of an Eastern Roman 'Commonwealth' (c. 475-535).

Review Quotes

The essays collected in this volume make a fine read and offer a first-class example of how much can be extracted from aspects that have long been neglected. The result is an extremely dense and groundbreaking kaleidoscope--Christoph London, RWTH Aachen University "BMCR"

Wijnendaele's well-conceived book is more coherent than many such volumes, and also authentically and admirably focused on the Italian peninsula. There is much of value here. Various pieces will appeal more to various readers than will others, but there is something for almost anyone in every contribution. The pieces by Vihervalli and Leonard, van 't Westeinde, and Arends in particular should be attended to even by readers who might not see their immediate relevance to their own work.--Michael Kulikowski, Pennsylvania State University "PLEKOS"

An immensely useful set of essays on Late Roman Italy (250-500 CE). This volume offers a rich array of views and insights. The collection succeeds in presenting not only the state of current scholarship on certain key aspects of late Rome Italy, but also suggests new and important avenues for study.--Michele Renee Salzman, University of California

About the Author

Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele is a Senior Fellow of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies. He is the author of The Last of the Romans. Bonifatius, warlord and comes Africae (Bloomsbury Academic 2015), and has published various articles and book-chapters on the political and military history of the Late Roman Empire. Dr. Wijnendaele was guest-editor of the Journal of Late Antiquity's 2019 theme-issue on 'Warfare and Food-Supply in the Late Roman Empire'. At the moment, he is preparing a new monograph on Rome's Disintegration. Violence, War, and the End of Empire in the West for Oxford University Press.