The decline of Rome: the metamorphosis of ancient civilization

Joseph Vogt’s profound and scholarly work gives us a fresh perspective on the last three centuries of the Roman Empire. His focus is not on collapse, but on continuity. Survival and Evolution are stronger themes than decay: survival of the Roman aristocratic classes in Gaul and of classical culture in Italy; evolution within the Imperial frontiers of a feudal society from its slavery-based predecessor. Most significant of all was Christianity, ensuring that a Catholic tradition destined to be at the core of Western civilization was, in fact, a Roman tradition too. Translated from the German by Janet Sondheimer. PREFACE, xi INTRODUCTION, 1 1. THE CRISIS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD IN THE THIRD CENTURY, 11-86 I. Political, social and economic life, 11 II. Intellectual and religious life, 28 III. Enemies of the ancient world — external and internal, 50 IV. The ancient world in a state of emergency, 71 2. THE MONARCHY, THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND RULING SOCIETY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY, 87-176 I. The new age of Constantine, 87 II. State and church, popular religion and monasticism in the period after Constantine, 109 III The pagan reaction; education, science and technology, 129 IV Christianity as the state religion — the end of pagan Rome, 155 3. THE ROMAN WEST AND THE NEW PEOPLES IN THE FIFTH CENTURY, 177-281 I. The West Roman empire and the Volkerwanderung — social, economic and legal aspects, 177 II. Western Christendom — education, theology, missions, 204 III. The early German kingdoms and the Roman cultural tradition, 223 IV. Rome and Romania — the Ostrogothic state and culture, 246 V. Frankish Gaul and the British Isles, 264 4. CULTURAL CHANGE REFLECTED IN ART 282-309 References, 311 Chronological table, 313 Bibliography, 319 Map, 330 Index, 333 A classic account of the dying days of the Roman Empire, and of its contributionto the development of Western culture.