Named a 2019 PROSE Award Finalist in the Classics category by the Association of American Publishers.
An absorbing picture of everyday life, as it was lived in the spaces around and between two of the most memorable and towering figures of the time—Constantine and Muhammad.
A Social and Cultural History of Late Antiquity examines the social and cultural landscape of the Late Antique Mediterranean. The author captures the period using a wide-lens, including Persian material from the mid third century through Umayyad material of the mid eighth century C.E. The book offers a rich picture of Late Antique life that is not just focused on Rome, Constantinople, or Christianity.
Using nuanced terms to talk about complex issues and fills a gap in the literature, this important resource surveys major themes such as power, gender, community, cities, politics, law, art and architecture, and literary culture. It is richly illustrated and filled with maps, lists of rulers and key events. Above all, it offers an examination of everyday life in the era when adherents of three of the major religions of today—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—faced each other for the first time, in the same environment.
Praise for
A Social and Cultural History of Late Antiquity
“As a textbook, this book is ambitious. No other book that covers late antiquity is quite like it. The writing style throughout is chatty and encouraging, making this a wonderful guide for any high school Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum or introductory undergraduate history of late antiquity class…Boin aims to make history not just about grand political moments but intimate moments as well. This intimacy comes across from focusing on people—fairly ordinary people or, at least, those generally unknown to non-specialists.”
Nicola Denzey Lewis, Reading Religion, American Academy of Religion
“Generous boxed texts cover specific points for classroom discussion on general themes…A penultimate chapter on South Asia and China in the 6th and 7th centuries, and a final chapter reflecting on the rise of Islam provides a welcome broadening of the canvas. The volume has been thoughtfully assembled, is presented in manageable chunks and is tidily illustrated.”
Andrew Merrills, Medieval Archaeology
“There are two main reasons that this book will make a wise choice as an assigned text. First, as textbooks go, it is a pleasure to read. Each chapter is fairly brief (around twenty pages) and—refraining from the tedium of running through most of what can be said on a topic—focuses on a few pieces of archaeological or literary evidence in an attempt to tease out what these ancient fragments tell us…. Second, the focus on these few bits of evidence in each chapter also helpfully demonstrates the difficulty of interpreting a literary text or a clay pot, as well as the rewards in the attempt.”
Edmon L. Gallagher, Review of Biblical Literature