thattheodoranbadassery:

Late Antiquity is an important period to study

It’s a shame that Late Antiquity is one of the least studied periods of the Ancient World. It is true that there is a lack of reliable sources, but it still helped significantly to shape the modern world and can help inform our views on certain topics.

One of the reasons why it is studied less may be that it is difficult to cope with the lack of reliable historical sources. It is true that from the exaggerated account of the cruelty of emperors like Elagabalus in the Augustan History, the development of the genre of panegyric by writers such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Edward Gibbon’s description of Ammianus Marcellinus as the last great Roman historian and the utter confusingly contradictory mess of Procopius’ accounts of the reign of Justinian saw a trend in this direction. However, this does not make the histories less useful or their subject matter less important. It can still be used as evidence for the worldviews and perceptions of their time. Even so, just because it is harder to understand than other ancient periods that does not mean that Late Antiquity should be studied any less. It has still fundamentally impacted our world in a way that must be understood. Therefore, even though the lack of reliable sources can make Late Antiquity more difficult to study, it does not mean that it should not be studied. It still matters in a significant way.

Late Antiquity has helped to shape the modern world, and therefore deserves to be studied. This can be seen in the way that it saw the rise of both Christianity and the formation of the states now understood as Western European nations as we recognise them now. Emperors such as Constantine I (who legalised Christianity with the treaty of Milan and had a role in the extremely important Coucil of Nicaea and therefore creating the Nicene Creed) advanced the religion of Christianity. The impact of this is clearly significant due to the role which Christianity has had in later European and then subsequent World History. This impact therefore is a Late Antique one. Meanwhile on terms of nation states, various modern countries have their origin in this period. France, for example was named for the Frankish tribes who took over and was consolidated under kings such as Clovis. Therefore, Late Antiquity has clearly impacted the modern political and religious landscape of the world, making it highly important to understand and study as a period.

Finally, Late Antiquity can be used in modern political dialogue to discuss our own political beliefs. A particular case for this may be seen in the current (and well earned in my view!) perception of Empress Theodora as a feminist icon. She was a highly successful ruler who did a lot to stand up for and protect the rights of women and the poor in a time where those subsets of the population were valued less than men and aristocrats. She was able to do this also due in part to her experience as having grown up as an orphan in the Hippodrome. Because of this, she knew what that life was like. This is clearly important and relevant to modern discussions of feminism and class. Therefore Late Antiquity must be understood because it is relevant to topical political issues.

Late Antiquity is a period that needs to be studied more. Even though the lack of reliable sources mean that it is harder to understand than other periods, its impact on later history and clear topical relevance make it important to study as an era.