Beyond Decline and Fall: New Perspectives on the Late Antique Mediterranean

This seminar will examine the Mediterranean from the fall of Rome to the Arab conquests (AD400-700), interrogating models of decline, catastrophe and transformation through the most recent archaeology of the region. We will explore key themes such as decline and fall, post-Roman state-formation, urbanism, rural settlement, Christianization and ethnic, social and religious identities, and compare the different trajectories of Europe, Northern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean in this period.