The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila

This book considers the great cultural and geopolitical changes in western Eurasia in the fifth century CE.

Michael Maas (Edited by)

9781107021754, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 September 2014

504 pages, 9 b/w illus. 8 maps 2 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 3.1 cm, 0.85 kg

'This excellent volume brings together a group of expert scholars who present a detailed and penetrating account of key developments in the history of the fifth-century Roman world. Michael Maas is to be warmly congratulated on putting this helpful collection together. It will surely become a standard companion for all scholars and interested general readers who want to learn more about this crucial period in the history of the Roman world and its neighbors.' John Haldon, Princeton University, New Jersey

This book examines the age of Attila, roughly the fifth century CE, an era in which western Eurasia experienced significant geopolitical and cultural changes. The Roman Empire collapsed in western Europe, replaced by new 'barbarian' kingdoms, but it continued in Christian Byzantine guise in the eastern Mediterranean. New states and peoples changed the face of northern Europe, while in Iran, the Sasanian Empire developed new theories of power and government. At the same time, the great Eurasian steppe became a permanent presence in the European world. This book treats Attila, the notorious king of the Huns, as both an agent of change and a symbol of the wreck of the old world order.

Part I. The Roman Empire: 1. Reversals of fortune: an overview of the age of Attila Michael Maas
2. Government and mechanisms of control, east and west Geoffrey Greatrex
3. Urban and rural economies in the age of Attila Peter Sarris
4. Mediterranean cities in the fifth century: elites, Christianizing, and the barbarian influx Kenneth G. Holum
5. Big cities and the dynamics of the Mediterranean during the fifth century Raymond Van Dam
6. Dynasty and aristocracy in the fifth century Brian Croke
7. Military developments in the fifth century Hugh Elton
8. Law and legal culture in the age of Attila Caroline Humfress
9. Romanness in the age of Attila Jonathan P. Conant
Part II. Attila and the World around Rome: 10. The steppe world and the rise of the Huns Étienne de la Vaissière
11. Neither conquest nor settlement: Attila's empire and its impact Christopher Kelly
12. The Huns and barbarian Europe Peter Heather
13. Captivity among the barbarians and its impact on the fate of the Roman Empire Noel Lenski
14. Migrations, ethnic groups, and state building Walter Pohl
15. Kingdoms of North Africa Andy Merrills
16. The reinvention of Iran: the Sasanian Empire and the Huns Richard Payne
Part III. Religious and Cultural Transformation: 17. Ascetics and monastics in the early fifth century Susanna Elm
18. Religious doctrine and ecclesiastical change in the time of Leo the Great Susan Wessel
19. Christian sermons against pagans: the evidence from Augustine's sermons on the new year and on the sack of Rome in 410 Michele Renee Salzman
20. Mediterranean Jews in a Christianizing empire Joseph E. Sanzo and Ra'anan Boustan
21. Ordering intellectual life Edward Watts
22. Real and imagined geography Scott Fitzgerald Johnson.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]