Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300-800 (Transformation of the Roman World, Vol 2) (Transformation of the Roman World, 2)

between The Fourth And The Eight Century, A Number Of 'experimental' Polities Had To Create New Forms Of Legitimacy And Organisation To Overcome A Roman World Based On Empire, City And Tribe. In The Course Of Time, A New World Developed That Relied On Christendom, Kingdom And People To Pull An Increased Variety Of Local Communities Together. Of These Three Factors, The Ethnic One Certainly Is The Most Elusive. This Volume Discusses The Process Of Construction Of Ethnic Identities. What Did Names, Law, Language, Costume, Burial Rites, Rhetoric, Culture, Royal Representation Or Ideology Mean, And To Whom? This Is The Question That Is Common To The Papers Assembled Here. Even Though They Span Several Centuries, And A Geographic Area From The Iberian Peninsula To The Black Sea Steppes, They All Deal With The Ways How Ethnic Distinction Became A Political Factor In The Post-roman World. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction: Strategies of distinction 10 Signs and identities 26 Telling the difference: Signs of ethnic identity 26 Archaeology, ethnicity and the structures of identification: The example of the Avars, Carantanians and Moravians in the eighth century 80 Disappearing and reappearing tribes 104 Nomen et gens: Political and linguistic aspects of personal names between the third and the eighth century 122 Distinction and acculturation 126 Remarks about relations between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans in the seventh century 126 Citizen status and law in the Roman Empire and the Visigothic kingdom 140 The arrival of the Visigoths in Hispania: Population problems and the process of acculturation 162 The appropriation of Roman law in barbarian hands: “Roman-barbarian” marriage in Visigothic Gaul and Spain 198 Legal practice and ethnic identity in Lombard Italy 214 Le royaume de Vinitharius: Le récit de Jordanès et les données archéologiques 230 Political rhetoric and representation 250 Political rhetoric and political ideology in Lombard Italy 250 Royal treasures and representation in the early middle ages 264 Imperial representation or barbaric imitation? The imperial brooches (Kaiserfibeln) 290 Conclusion: Strategies of distinction 322 Abbreviations 330 Primary Sources 332 Literature 337 Index 364 Between the 4th and 8th century, a number of "experimental" politics had to create new forms of legitimacy and organization to overcome a Roman world based on empire, city and tribe. In the course of time, a new world developed that relied on Christendom, kingdom and people to pull a variety of local communities together. This volume discusses the process of construction of ethnic identities. What did names, law, language, costume, burial rites, rhetoric, culture, royal representation or ideology mean, and to whom? This question is common to the papers collected in the book. They span several centuries and a geographic area from the Iberian peninsula to the Black Sea steppes, and all deal with the ways in which ethnic distinction became a political factor in the post-Roman world.--Amazon.com This volume discusses the process of construction of ethnic identities in the post-Roman world. What did names, law, language, costume, burial rites, rhetoric, culture, royal representation or ideology mean, and to whom? This question is common to all the papers collected in the book.