A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-700

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BLACKWELL HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-700 Third Edition A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-700 covers the history of the Roman Empire up to the Islamic conquests and the early Byzantine period, and is an essential textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The book provides a sweeping and detailed survey of Rome's struggles, triumphs, and disasters from the accession of the emperor Diocletian in AD 284 to the consolidation of the Empire around 700 in the face of the early Islamic conquests. Stephen Mitchell and Geoffrey Greatrex provide detailed narrative and analysis of the massive political and military transformations in the rule of Rome which resulted in the emergence of medieval and modern Europe, and of Byzantium and the Islamic world in the Near East. The narrative and thematic chapters cover major episodes in later Roman history, including the conversion of Constantine, the establishment of a new empire in Constantinople, and Justinian's attempt in the sixth century to forge unified rule across the entire Mediterranean region. Individual chapters analyse the nature of the Roman state, the emergence and character of the western barbarian kingdoms, and the epochal religious changes of late antiquity, and provide a systematic account of the settlements and economy of the empire's diverse regions. There is full discussion of factors that contributed to Rome's decline, including the world-wide outbreaks of bubonic plague from 542, the failure of the state to maintain its tax revenues, and the immense military challenges of the sixth and seventh centuries that were posed by the organised imperial power of Sasanian Persia. Two new chapters written for the third edition cover the rise of the Arabs in the Near East, the origins of Islam as a major political force, and the early Islamic conquests, and trace Rome's resilient response, which was defined by the creation of a more religious state and a new empire within reduced frontiers. The third edition incorporates updated tables of information and chronological overviews, additional illustrations and maps, and extensive new bibliography relating to topics, including climate and environmental change, which have been prominent in recent scholarship on the period. This new edition confirms its reputation as the best single-volume overview of the politics, institutions, religious transformations and military affairs of Europe, the Mediterranean world and the Near East in the mid first millennium.