History and Geography in Late Antiquity

Description

The period from the fifth century to the eighth century witnessed massive political, social and religious change in Europe. Geographical and historical thought, long rooted to Roman ideologies, had to adopt the new perspectives of late antiquity. In the light of expanding Christianity and the evolution of successor kingdoms in the West, new historical discourses emerged which were seminal in the development of medieval historiography. Taking their lead from Orosius in the early fifth century, Latin historians turned increasingly to geographical description, as well as historical narrative, to examine the world around them. This book explores the interdependence of geographical and historical modes of expression in four of the most important writers of the period: Orosius, Jordanes, Isidore of Seville and the Venerable Bede. It offers important readings of each by arguing that the long geographical passages with which they were introduced were central to their authors' historical assumptions and arguments.

A. H. Merrills is Solmsen Research Fellow, Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has undertaken extensive archaeological work in France and Central Spain and is the editor of Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa (Ashgate, 2004).

"With its compelling and cogent analysis, fine writing and inclusion of complete English translations of each of the geographical introductions, History and Geography in Late Antiquity is a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on its subjects and will certainly make these important texts more accessible to a wide audience." -Camille Serchuk, Southern Connecticut State University, Journal of Medieval Studies