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List Price: $53.00 | | Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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Editorial Review:
The papers presented in this book take as their subject the military, political and economic changes forced upon the inhabitants of Gaul during the fifth century AD. They seek to describe and explain how Gallo-Romans of all orders of society reacted to barbarian invasion and the growing debilitation of the western imperial government. The unusually wide range of topics dealt with allows the Gallic experience to be viewed and interpreted from many different directions. Much is made of the problematic, because highly subjective, nature of the literary sources; but close attention is also given to modern advances in our understanding of the archaeological and numismatic data. The whole presents a picture of a society under immense stress, as the people of the Gallic provinces abandoned, perforce, their allegiance to Roman emperors and yielded to the rule of Germanic kings, while yet preserving a significant element of their late antique culture.
Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity? Reviews:
Covers every facet of Gallic 5th Century 
2000-05-30 - The book is a compilation of 30 essays on various aspects of Gallic history in the 5th century. The purpose of this compilation is to find out whether 5th Century Gauls felt that they belonged to the Roman Empire, and to what extent ("Crisis of Identity"). In some case, the question is more a rhetorical pretext for an impressive display of scholarship.
The sources are abundantly commented : Salvian of Marseilles, Sidonius Apollinaris, Paulinus of Pella, Hydatius, Gallic Chronicle of 452... There are essays on burial techniques, Visigothic coinage, Bagaudae, Military defense of Gaul, the Visigothic settlement of 418, Gauls visiting the Holy Land, Slavery and much more. The book pre-supposes some knowledge of the period because you will not find a summary of 5th Century history. Some essays are fascinating, some are a bit on the technical side for an amateur like me. Lots and lots of footnotes, extensive bibliography.
An Absolute Godsend to Scholars of Late Antique History
1997-06-18 - This book is absolutely fantastic. For all those university students interested in Late Antiquity, or anyone with a general interest in Gallic History.
It provides clear, authoritative articles by the world's most knowledgeable historians on the subject.
It is thematic which is fantastic for a period such as this, and refrains from boring facts and figures.
Instead it analyzes the ideology present at the time, and more importantly the way in which Gallo-Romans perceive themselves.
