The Two Falls of Rome in Late Antiquity: The Arabian Conquests in Comparative Perspective

ISBN-13: 9783319697956 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 109 str.

James Moreton Wakeley

Opis

The book applies to the study of the collapse of the Roman Near East techniques taken from the historiography of the fall of the Roman West. It presents a fresh approach to the century that witnessed the end of the ancient world, appealing to students of Roman and medieval history, Islamic Studies, and advanced scholars alike.

Spis treści

Chapter 1 – A Sibling Rivalry.- Chapter Two – The Two Falls of Rome in Late Antiquity.- Chapter Three – The problem of the Islamic Sources.-  Chapter Four – History for Purposes other than History.- Chapter Five – Making ‘Muslims’ on the March.- Chapter Six – From Clients to Conquerors.- Chapter Seven – Conclusion.  

O autorze

James Moreton Wakeley is currently reading for a D.Phil. in early Islamic history at Lincoln College, Oxford, UK.  He previously studied Classics at Clare College, Cambridge, UK.  He is the co-editor of an essay collection on cross-cultural exchange in the late Roman and Byzantine world and has written for History Today.  

Blurb

This book offers a radical perspective on what are conventionally called the Islamic Conquests of the seventh century.  Placing these earthshattering events firmly in the context of Late Antiquity, it argues that many of the men remembered as the fanatical agents of Muḥammad probably did not know who the prophet was and had, in fact, previously fought for Rome or Persia.  The book applies to the study of the collapse of the Roman Near East techniques taken from the historiography of the fall of the Roman West.  Through a comparative analysis of medieval Arabic and European sources combined with insights from frontier studies, it argues that the two falls of Rome involved processes far more similar than traditionally thought.  It presents a fresh approach to the century that witnessed the end of the ancient world, appealing to students of Roman and medieval history, Islamic Studies, and advanced scholars alike.