Daily Life in Late Antiquity

The author answers, in clear prose, the multitude of questions that all lovers of history have about “ Late Antiquity”, which has rightly replaced the term “ Dark Ages” , which is clearly inaccurate. There are fascinating everyday details in this book: about the emerging but still limited role of Christianity in normal life ( matrimony would not become a full- blown sacrament/ ritual until the 12th century) ;a home was not in any way regarded as a refuge from the world at large, and women enjoyed property and matrimonial rights that would be curtailed by the later dominance of the Roman Catholic Church.But this book. You’ll learn much, as I did.

This book deserves a much more glowing and detailed review than I have the time to leave right now: it is simply excellent and I recommend it strongly to those interested in the period... an important complement to Peter Brown's classic.

During the shutdown, I expanded my reading into areas that were outside of the usual subjects I follow. Late Antiquity has become one of these new historical periods. The professor who wrote the text stated that she wanted to reach non-specialist readers and in my opinion, she has succeeded. Each chapter begins with documented biographical information for two individuals who lived in a specific region during specific century that specialists consider Late Antiquity. This is a great idea and captures a reader's attention and sustain it. Also, she personalizes the 'lived experiences' of her selected biographical subject by describing the communities in which they lived with photographs of preserved archaeological sites and every-day items that persons would or could have owned for that time period. My only criticism is that the text needs better maps and maps for all the areas discussed. In describing an individual's town or province, there needs to be a map or add this information to the maps that exist in the book for the second edition.

Very interesting