History of the Later Roman Empire A.D. 395-565

by John Bagnell Bury

Volumes I & II of J.B. Bury's classic history of the later Roman Empire, collected here completely unabridged.

"THE first of these two volumes might be entitled the “German Conquest of Western Europe,” and the second the “Age of Justinian.” The first covers more than one hundred and twenty years, the second somewhat less than fifty. This disparity is a striking illustration of the fact that perspective and proportion are unavoidably lost in an attempt to tell the story of any considerable period of ancient or early medieval history as fully as our sources allow. Perspective can be preserved only in an outline. The fifth century was one of the most critical periods in the history of Europe. It was crammed with events of great moment, and the changes which it witnessed transformed Europe more radically than any set of political events that have happened since. At that time hundreds of people were writing abundantly on all kinds of subjects, and many of their writings have survived; but among these there is no history of contemporary events, and the story has had to be pieced together from fragments, jejune chronicles, incidental references in poets, rhetoricians, and theologians. Inscribed stones which supply so much information for the first four centuries of the Roman Empire are rare. Nowhere, since the time of Alexander the Great, do we feel so strongly that the meagreness of the sources flouts the magnitude of the events.
Although we know little of the details of the process by which the western provinces of the Empire became German kingdoms, one fact stands out. The change of masters was not the result of anything that could be called a cataclysm. The German peoples, who were much fewer in numbers than is often imagined, at first settled in the provinces as dependents, and a change which meant virtually conquest was disguised for a shorter or longer time by their recognition of the nominal rights of the Emperor. Britain, of which we know less than of any other part of the Empire at this period, seems to have been the only exception to this rule. The consequence was that the immense revolution was accomplished with far less violence and upheaval than might have been expected. This is the leading fact which it is the chief duty of the historian to make clear..." J.B. Bury

Genres: History, Roman History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Roman, Italy

1326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

John Bagnell Bury (often published as J.B. Bury) was a classical scholar, historian, and philologist. He held the chair in Modern History at Trinity College, Dublin, for nine years, and also was appointed Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity, and Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University.

Reviews

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkably detailed look at the 5th century which saw the dissolution of Imperial authority in Gaul, Spain, Africa, and eventually Italy herself. Bury rather powerfully refutes many of Gibbon's reason for the fall of the Empire in the west (a phrase he dislikes as imprecise), mostly by qualifying them and examining why the East did not suffer the same fate. For example, the Church is proposed by Gibbon as a destabilizing influence; Bury says that is indeed so in Egypt and Asia in the 7th century during the Muslim conquests (due to Monophysites), but in the 5th century the common religion (particularly in the West) tended to be a force for unification (though there were those pesky Arian barbarians...). In the main, he's quite convincing, and, while he is often as disapproving of Eastern and Church affairs as Gibbon was, he's generally more measured and often more interested.

And that's just the historical interpretation (a strong point of his work, as well as Gibbon's); the actual history is extremely detailed while remaining engaging. There aren't very good sources for the 5th century (the Empire falling will do that) but he does a remarkable job of reconstructing (and relaying the reconstructions of others) to provide a cogent picture of 5th century events.

Volume II isn't quite as good as the first - perhaps I just found Justinian and his endless wars less interesting. The criticism that Bury doesn't spend enough time on artistic and social history remains true. But it's still a very good book.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview to the time period, one I wish I had read years ago. I realized that the reason I kept gleaning more and more information piecemeal from the history books I'd been reading of the era was because the authors had probably read this book first and jumped off from there. Aside from being both informative and fairly thorough (considering the space of one book), it was also surprisingly readable. It was written so long ago that I though the style would be stiff or stilted, but the author has a good voice to read For anyone interested in the subject, use this book as the starting point!

[Frank Grobbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume pertama mahakarya tarikh sejarah dari legenda dalam studi Klasik dan Romawi Timur. Bury memulai karyanya dengan memberi gambaran umum mengenai negara Romawi dalam transisi dari Principate warisan Augustus ke Monarchy olahan Diocletianus dan Constantinus. Lalu Bury juga membawa kita ke Konstantinopel yang menjadi Roma Baru dan ia menjelaskan banyak bangunan dan perannya dalam politik Romawi Abad V. Bury membahas berbagai institusi yang menjalankan pemerintahan, keuangan dan militer negara dengan jelas dan presisi. Kemudian Bury juga sedikit mengulas mengenai beberapa 'musuh' Romawi di masa itu, Persia, Huns & Jerman.

Setelah gambaran umum tadi, Bury memulai kroniknya yang sangat menyeluruh dari masa kematian Kaisar Theodosius I dimana Kekaisaran Romawi dikepalai dua kaisar, di paruh Barat dan Timur. Kita bisa mempelajari bagaimana otoritas kaisar-kaisar sedang diuji kepanglimaan dari Stilicho, Aetius, Ricimer dan Aspar. Kita juga membaca sejumlah tokoh penting di istana dari para pejabat 'eunuch' yang mulai banyak berkuasa sampai gerejawan yang tidak kalah berpengaruh. Figur Augusta (Empress) juga melakoni pertandingan politik dan intrik dalam Republik. Cerita tragis kejatuhan paruh Barat Romawi juga dinarasikan dengan alur yang mudah diikuti.

Beberapa kali Bury keluar dari lini masa narasinya untuk membahas satu atau dua topik seperti Kristenisasi Romawi, persekusi penganut aliran dan paganisme.

Narasi berakhir di masa Kaisar Anastasius I, seorang kaisar cakap tapi simpatis ke suatu aliran Kristen tersendiri sehingga menciptakan gonjang-ganjing dan membuka jalan untuk narasi volume kedua yaitu Abad Justinianus.

Buku ini sangat wajib untuk mempelajarinya Romawi Timur karena masa-masa yang dinarasikan sangat penting dalam transisi dari Zaman Klasik ke Klasik Akhir. Volume pertama ini menjadi jembatan dari masa Constantinus ke Justinianus yang kurang di bahas secara menyeluruh seperti yang dilakukan lord J.B. Bury.

[Paul Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive and very well written- enjoyed it immensely; footnotes on each page. Only complaint is many quotes or references in Latin are not translated in to English. Doesn't take away from a great read, though

[Hans Kerrinckx · Rating 5 out of 5]

John B. Bury (16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was was an Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his Later Roman Empire.

Bury's career shows his evolving thought process and his consideration of the discipline of history as a "science". From his inaugural lecture as Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge in 1902 comes his public proclamation of history as a "science" and not as a branch of "literature". He stated:

"I may remind you that history is not a branch of literature. The facts of history, like the facts of geology or astronomy, can supply material for literary art; for manifest reasons they lend themselves to artistic representation far more readily than those of the natural sciences; but to clothe the story of human society in a literary dress is no more the part of a historian as a historian, than it is the part of an astronomer as an astronomer to present in an artistic shape the story of the stars."

Since his time, research interests of historians changed, and there has been a shift away from traditional diplomatic, economic, and political history (history of facts) toward newer - more theoratical -approaches, especially social and cultural studies. The "cultural turn" of the 1980s and 1990s affected scholars in most areas of history. Inspired largely by anthropology, it turned away from leaders, ordinary people and famous events to look at the use of language and cultural symbols to represent the changing values of society

Despite the "old school" approach of "Byzantinists" such as J.B. Bury, Steven Runciman, Alexander Vasiliev, George Ostrogorsky, John Julius Norwich and even the 18th century Edward Gibbon, they taught us a not to be underestimated knowledge of the Eastern Roman Empire. They digged into the prime sources, they paid attention to anecdotes, they knew their ancient languages and offer us details we can't find anymore in recent (theoretical/analytical) historiography.

So if you want to study the history of the Late Antiquity, don't forget to read this generations - sometimes momumental - work.

[k · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scientific, and detailed. Easy to get lost in the extensive tracts of military accounts. But more than sufficiently compensated by fascinating opinions given by Bury on historiographical inconsistencies and his corrections to orthodox understandings held on false premises.