“The fact that war and warfare now occupy a “relatively marginal position in modern scholarship” reflects a number of shifts in the academic landscape, from the reframing of Late Antiquity as a period of change and continuity (rather than an epoch of decline) to the entrenchment of cultural history as the dominant approach in history departments across North America and Europe” (p. 1)

This book consists of twelve papers presented at a conference at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022. Participants included American and European archaeologists, scholars of religion, and social, cultural, and art historians. “Late Antiquity” is a relatively fuzzy category, but generally extends from about 300 to 750 CE.

Part I: What is War?

   1. Everyday Violence

   2. From Urbs to Ecclesia Capta: Reimagining Urban Warfare in Late Antiquity.

   3. The “Law of War”: Augustine on the Captured City

   4. Wartime Effects: Synesius of Cyrene and the Sentiments of On Kingship

Part II: War and Agency

   5. Monks, Barbarians and Soldiers: Monastic Communities and Armed Conflict in Late Ancient Egypt, Palestine and the Sinai

   6.Warfare, Communities and Landscapes in Late Antique North Africa

   7. “Feasts and Harlots, Baths and Idleness”: The Geography of Billeted Troops in Late Antiquity

   8. Redemptio Captivorum: The Ransom of War Prisoners in Late Antiquity

   9. Elite Women and War: New Opportunities for Agency in the Fifth- and Sixth-Century Western Empire

Part III: Civil War and Christian Roman Emperors

   10. “By Divine Inspiration and the Greatness of His Mind”: Augustan and Christian Messaging    on Constantine’s Triumphal Arch

   11. Apocalyptic Ideology during Civil War: The Archangel Michael and Constantine’s Christian Subjects

   12. A Martyr of Civil Wars: Ambrose on the Death of Valentinian II

Epilogue: What is an Enemy Made Of?

For readers with a primary interest in military history, the chapters on billeting troops (7) and elite women (9) will be especially relevant. Most of the chapters are written in a highly academic style, and assume the reader has a basic knowledge of Christian theology and late Roman history. The book is enhanced by 15 monochrome illustrations and five tables.

Susanna Elm, FBA, is Professor of History and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Kristina Sessa is Professor of History at The Ohio State University.

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Our Reviewer: Mike Markowitz is an historian and wargame designer. He writes a monthly column for CoinWeek and is a member of the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors). His previous reviews include The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Archaic Greece, Amazons: The History Behind the Legend, The Byzantine World, Classical Controversies, Reassessing the Peloponnesian War, War and Masculinity in Roman and Medieval Culture, Nemesis: Medieval England's Greatest Enemy, The Wars of the Roses: A Medieval Civil War, The Emperor and the Elephant, Tiberius, The Roman Empire and World History, Leadership in the Ancient World: Concepts, Models, Theories, A History of the Greek World from 479 to 323 B.C., Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire, Love, War and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed, Nikephoros II Phokas (912-969): The White Death of the Saracens, 1453: The Conquest and Tragedy of Constantinople, Naval Warfare under the Byzantine Empire: From Justinian I to the Fourth Crusade, Carthage, A New History, and Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium.

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Note: War and Community in Late Antiquity is also available in e-editions.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

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