DSBcA13 Intermediate Period between Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 4 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Martin Vladislav Laciak (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 14:00–15:40 C31, Thu 14:00–15:40 B2.52
Prerequisites
Completion of courses Roman History I and II is ideal but by no means mandatory; mandatory in case of the Ancient history students (except for the minor study plan).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The principal aim of the course is to explain the transformation of the ancient society into the society of the Middle Ages, to state the causes of this process.
Learning outcomes
The student will be able to:
- assess independently the importance of the causes that led to the transformation of the ancient society into the society of the Middle Ages;
- characterize the main vehicles of continuity between Antiquity and the Middle Ages;
- evaluate the contribution of inner problems of the Empire and the s. c. great migration of nations to the collapse of the Empire in the West;
- characterize the causes of the Byzantine survival.
Syllabus
  • 1. The views of previous and modern scholars on the Late Antiquity, the problem of continuity and break between Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
  • 2. The crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd c. C.E. (agriculture, cities, civil society, religion).
  • 3. The development in the "barbarian" world in the 3rd c.
  • 4. The causes of the crisis in the eyes of contemporaries and according to modern historians.
  • 5. The differences between the Dominate and the Principate, the concept of Roman absolutism.
  • 6. The reforms of the emperors Diocletianus and Constantinus I.
  • 7. Social estates of the Late Antiquity.
  • 8. The changes as to the position of the coloni and slaves, general tendencies towards semi-liberty.
  • 9. Roman army and its barbarization.
  • 10. Great social movements of Late Antiquity and their causes.
  • 11. Agri deserti and the tax policy of the Empire.
  • 12. The Constantinian religious turn. The cooperation of the state and the church.
  • 13. Some important emperors of the Dominate after Diocletianus and Constantinus I.
  • 14. The zenith of the great migration of nations and its impact on the Roman Empire.
  • 15. The Visigoths and the Roman Empire. The first Christians of the Germanic world. The Wulfila Bible; the Visigoths in Gaul and Hispania.
  • 16. The Huns and the Roman Empire.
  • 17. The main medieval-formative processes.
Literature
    required literature
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila and Markéta MELOUNOVÁ. Římské císařství II. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014, 103 s. ISBN 9788021069558. URL info
  • CLAUSS, Manfred. Konstantin Veliký : římský císař mezi pohanstvím a křesťanstvím. Translated by Vlastimil Drbal. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2005, 141 s. ISBN 8070217340. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila. Stěhování národů (The great migration of nations). 1st ed. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2003, 416 pp. Edice Historica. ISBN 8070215062. info
  • ČEŠKA, Josef. Zánik antického světa. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2000, 277 s. ISBN 8070213868. info
  • ČEŠKA, Josef. Římský stát a katolická církev ve IV. století. Vyd. 1. Brno: Univerzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyně v Brně, 1983, 162 s., [1. info
  • GIBBON, Edward. Úpadek a pád Římské říše : výbor. Edited by Josef Polišenský - Jiří Klabouch, Translated by Adolf Felix. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1983, 404 s. info
    recommended literature
  • JONES, A. H. M.; MARTINDALE, J. R.; MORRIS, J. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Volume I. Cambridge 1971.
  • MARTINDALE, J. R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Volume II. Cambridge 1980.
  • Constantine :dynasty, religion and power in the later Roman empire. Edited by Timothy David Barnes - Richard Boxhall. 1 online r. ISBN 9781444396249. info
  • STEIN, E. Geschichte des spätrömischen Reiches. Strassburg 1928.
  • VOGT, Joseph. Der Niedergang Roms: Metamorphose der antiken Kultur. Zürich: Kindler Verlag, 1965.
  • MITCHELL, Stephen. The History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-641. Oxford 2007.
  • Extra fines imperii. Edited by Jaroslav Tejral, Translated by Jana Kličová. Vydání první. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2017, 446 stran. ISBN 9788021085794. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila. Attila : Hunové, Řím a Evropa (Attila : Huns, Rome and Europe). Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2012, 340 pp. Historica. ISBN 978-80-7429-169-2. info
  • The Cambridge companion to the Age of Constantine. Edited by Noel Emmanuel Lenski. Rev. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, xx, 471. ISBN 9781107013407. info
  • BABIC, Marek. Od antiky k stredoveku : dejiny neskorého rímskeho cisárstva medzi rokmi 284-476. 1. vyd. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury (CDK), 2010, 331 s. ISBN 9788073252021. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila. Frankové a Evropa. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2009, 335 s. ISBN 9788070219423. info
  • A.H.M. Jones and the later Roman Empire. Edited by David M. Gwynn. Boston: Brill, 2008, xv, 281 p. ISBN 9004163832. info
  • DOLEŽAL, Stanislav. Interakce Gótů a římského impéria ve 3.-5. století n.l. Vyd. 1. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2008, 337 s. ISBN 9788024615318. info
  • REECE, Richard. The later Roman Empire : an archaeology AD 150-600. New edition. Stroud: Tempus, 2007, 192 stran. ISBN 9780752442051. info
  • GOFFART, Walter A. Barbarian tides : the migration age and the later Roman Empire. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006, x, 372. ISBN 0812239393. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila. Půda nebo daně? (The Land or the Taxes?). In Querite primum regnum Dei. I. Brno: Matice moravská, 2006, p. 99-105. ISBN 80-86488-35-7. info
  • BEDNAŘÍKOVÁ, Jarmila, Zdeněk MĚŘÍNSKÝ and Aleš HOMOLA. Stěhování národů a východ Evropy (The great migration of people and the East of Europe). I. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2006, 525 pp. Hitorica. ISBN 80-7021-787-1. info
  • The governor and his subjects in the later Roman empire. Edited by Danièelle Slootjes. Boston: Brill, 2006, xvii, 204. ISBN 9789047409342. info
  • The Cambridge ancient history. Edited by Averil Cameron - John Bryan Ward-Perkins - Michael Whitby. Repr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, xx, 1166. ISBN 0521325919. info
  • DROBERJAR, Eduard. Věk barbarů : české země a stěhování národů z pohledu archeologie. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 2005, 260 s. ISBN 8071856568. info
  • HERRIN, Judith. Ženy v purpuru. Translated by Vladimír Vavřínek. Vyd. 1. Praha: Mladá fronta, 2005, 349 s. ISBN 8020411917. info
  • Ruling the later Roman Empire. Edited by Christopher Kelly. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004, 341 p. ISBN 0674015649. info
  • KOCÁKOVÁ, Marcela. Církev pronásledovaná a pronásledující na přelomu antiky a středověku. Edited by Jarmila Bednaříková. 1995, 76 s. info
Teaching methods
Lectures accompanied by theoretical training of students; a seminar.
Assessment methods
The final evaluation takes the form of an oral examination. It is necessary to individually prepare at home, too.
The seminary evaluation is based on active class participation and an essay.
For students, who have chosen exam as evaluation: It is only possible to register for the exam after successfully handing-in the essay!
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Information on completion of the course: Studenti Dějin starověku ukončují zkouškou. Studenti jiných oborů ukončují kolokviem.
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2022, recent)
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