The Later Roman Empire A.D. 284-430 (review)

For students of late antiquity and the development of Christianity in the Roman world, Cameron has provided a learned and readable account which serves effectively to update, though not replace, the standard work on the subject by A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire 284–602 (1964). Published concurrently in London as part of the Fontana History of the Ancient World series, this study is the first part of a double-volume by Cameron. The volume reviewed here begins with the accession of Diocletian in 284 and closes with the death of Theodosius (395), while a second book, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity A.D. 395–600 (Routledge, 1993), continues with the eastern empire until the Persian and Muslim invasions.

What strikes the reader as especially useful is the detailed attention and space which Cameron gives to the evaluation of sources, mainly literary texts, by which the period of the fourth century has been reconstructed. The entire second chapter is devoted to assessing the historical location and veracity of major Christian and Pagan sources, including judicious advice about scholarly usage of the Codex Theodosianus. An alphabetized listing and brief description of the more significant primary sources and ancient authors appears as a kind of appendix. Where available, English translations of those texts catalogued are identified.

Throughout the book, Cameron foils with the so-called “third century crisis,” a period which has been characterized by such pivotal studies as Dodds and Cochrane as one of political and military instability, severe economic inflation, and heightened religious spirituality between 235 and 284—all in contrast to the supposed equilibrium achieved in the fourth century. Cameron does not deny there were serious problems in the third century but warns about reading what few sources we possess prima facie: “if the crisis was less severe than we thought, then the degree of change between the second and fourth centuries may have been exaggerated too” (3; cf. 32). Instead, Cameron makes a case for seeing a greater amount of continuity between imperia such that actual change of the status quo, when it occurred at all, happened over a “longue durée” (192). The reform of the empire under Diocletian was a very gradual affair; not a dramatic moment reversal in imperial fortunes, “but rather a combination and convergence of factors, from which many of their ‘reforms’ in fact emerged piecemeal and ad hoc” (12). And despite their religious differences, Constantine’s reign very much reflected and continued the political patterns utilized by Diocletian. Even those factors which eventually led to the “fall” of the western empire are hardly isolated and can be located in the fragility of the military and economic structures of the early fourth century. Those obstacles which so weakened the third century empire were never entirely overcome by succeeding emperors and continued to undermine the empire’s ability to govern itself. As Cameron insightfully observes: “The Roman empire had always been in precarious balance between the centre and periphery . . .” (191).

Readers will find an excellent summary on the brief but fiery career of Julian with an evaluation on what went wrong with Julian’s attempt to revive intellectual Paganism (chap. VI). Also engaging is chapter X, “Culture in the Late Fourth Century” in which Cameron argues against a Pagan revival sponsored by the ‘circle of Symmachus.’ A helpful distinction is made between pro-Pagan literature which sought to revive classical precedents (i.e., Macrobius’ Saturnalia, from that which is directly anti-Christian in character.

The comprehensive nature of this small volume makes it particularly suitable for a graduate class despite the fact that the author admits that it was written hastily—which may account for the tendency toward repetition—and the absence of footnotes. Nevertheless, each chapter is supplemented at the end of the book by a large number of suggestions for further reading (mainly English works), as well as containing chronological lists of significant events...