In a distant corner of the late antique world, along the Atlantic river valleys of western Iberia, local elite populations lived through the ebb and flow of empire and kingdoms as historical agents with their own social strategies. Contrary to earlier historiographical accounts, these aristocrats were not oppressed by a centralized Roman empire or its successor kingdoms; nor was there an inherent conflict between central states and local elites. Instead, Damian Fernandez argues, there was an interdependency of state and local aristocracies. The upper classes embraced state projects to...
In a distant corner of the late antique world, along the Atlantic river valleys of western Iberia, local elite populations lived through the ebb an...
