The Roman Empire Divided : 400-700 AD

The Roman Empire Divided looks at what happened after the power of the once mighty Roman Empire was swept away. Smaller states founded by Slavs, Arabs, Germanic peoples and others moved in to fill the void and laid the foundations for the later histories of western Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and north Africa. John Moorhead looks at how these fundamental changes were influenced by other social, economic and political developments taking place at the same time. Using a fascinating array of evidence he weaves the numerous threads into a convincing and lucid narrative and shows how, by the end of the eighth century, the civilization of the ancient world had been replaced by a series of units which had very little in common with each other.

In 400 the mighty Roman Empire was almost as large as it had ever been; within three centuries, advances by Germanic peoples in western Europe, Slavs in eastern Europe and Arabs around the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean had brought about the loss of most of its territory. Ranging from Britain to Mesopotamia, this book explores the changes that resulted from these movements.  It shows the different paths away from the classical past that were taken, and how the relatively unified civilization of the ancient Mediterranean gave place to the very different civilizations that cluster around the sea today. 

This comprehensive and authoritative second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated line-by-line, and contains several new sections dealing for instance with the new evidence provided by recent finds like the Staffordshire Treasure and the widespread effects of  the plague. As well as a completely new bibliographical essay, The Roman Empire Divided now also includes six maps and an expanded selection of illustrations fully integrated in the text.