Visions of Community in the Post-Roman World

When the Roman Empire disintegrated, many far-flung and ethnically distinct regions experienced the return of local autonomy in different ways, shaped by pre-roman local custom and the influence of roman culture. This volume considers the varieties of community and political culture that proliferated from 300 to 1100 in the Latin West, Byzantium, the Islamic world and the Slavic periphery. The text is organized into three sections that are further divided into regional and thematic sub-sections. The major sections interrogate what difference ethnicity makes for post-roman life, how different regions integrated as communities and formed identities, and how ethnic difference was perceived in these new communities. Specific essays include Roman identity in a border region, regional identities and military power in Byzantium and Islam, diaspora Jewish communities in early medieval Europe, Vikings through the Arab eyes, the use of monsters in representations of ethnic others. A handful of the essays are in German, though most are in English. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Prof. Walter Pohl, University of Vienna, Austria; Mag. Clemens Gantner, Institut fA?r Mittelalterforschung, A–sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Austria; Dr Richard Payne, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA.