The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. XIII, The Late Empire, A.D. 337–425 (review)

Averil Cameron and Peter Garnsey, editors. The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. XIII, The Late Empire, a.d. 337-425. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. xvi + 889. $150.00.

This is the first of two volumes to be added to the original twelve volumes in the CAH, which appeared between 1923 and 1939, and then entered into an era of revisions starting in 1961. The editors' preface provides an incisive historiographical statement which places vols. XIII and XIV within the extraordinary era of scholarship which focuses on the concept of Late Antiquity, thereby extending the chronological coverage of the CAH from a.d. 324 (the terminal date for volume XII with revisions of XI and XII in process) to 425.

With twenty-four chapters in six "Parts" this volume provides an ample demonstration of the dynamic achievements of scholarship devoted to this era. Part 1 is a "Chronogical Review" which includes David Hunt's two chapters on Constantine's successors and Julian, John Curran's continuation, "From Jovian to Theodosius"; R. C. Blockley concludes this narrative section with "The Dynasty of Theodosius." Documentation is kept to a minimum, focusing on sources and pertinent modern studies. These chapters are detailed accounts that weave ecclesiastical and secular developments into a richly textured narrative fabric. The roles of individuals in the seemingly tangled skein of events are lucidly depicted.

Parts II-VI are topical and are brilliant examples of the variety and richness of historical research as it has progressed since 1964 and A. H. M. Jones's "magisterial work, The Later Roman Empire, 264-602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey" and Peter Brown's programmatic lecture on "The Rise of the Holy Man in Western Culture" (1961) and his "popularization of the concept of late antiquity" with The World of Late Antiquity in 1971. As the editors note, "the last generation has seen an explosion of interest in archaeology. . . . and in religious and cultural history" plus the far-reaching reconsideration of the people called "barbarians." The twenty topical chapters are a brilliant demonstration of the "new" history, building on the "old" and utilizing the wide variety of supplementary disciplines which can and do inform the human experience.

Part II on "Government and Institutions" by Christopher Kelly, provides the essential foundation for how the imperial regime functioned in the larger fourth century, 337-425, while Peter Heather elucidates the role of "Senators and Senates," with attention given to the radical changes which occurred: in the senatorial order of a.d. 400 as compared with what it was in 324 and a new Senate in Constantinople; A. D. Lee reviews "The Army," so vital to the functioning of the Roman Empire and the impact of "Christianization"; David Hunt concludes this section with a chapter of vital importance for Empire and Church as he discusses "The church as a public institution."

Part III, "The Empire: Economy and Society," develops a subject greatly enriched by a generation of scholarship. The chapter on "Rural Life in the Later Roman Empire" by C. R. Whitaker and Peter Garnsey elucidates rural production as well as the those who owned and those worked the land; and this team in the following chapter deals with "Trade, Industry, and the Urban Economy," concentrating on the importance of the "urban demand for commodities." Arnaldo Marcone's "Late Roman Social Relations" is a vital contribution that stresses the intensified "verticality" of the late Empire but with "new channels of social mobility." The importance of urban life in classical civilization has long been appreciated, as it is now with Bryan Ward-Perkins' essay on "The Cities" includes an informative statement on the "impact of Christianity," which "by about 400" foreshadowed the medieval world "in which cathedral and local saints [and] aristocratic bishops" dominate urban experience.

With Part IV, the spectre of the "barbarian threat," which had...