History of the Later Roman Empire
Political, Military, and Religious Transformation from Late Rome to Justinian's Byzantine EmpireBy J. B. Bury
Length38h 30m
About this audiobook
J. B. Bury's History of the Later Roman Empire traces the transformation of Roman power from the accession of Arcadius in 395 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Rather than treating late antiquity as a period of simple decline, Bury presents it as an era of institutional adaptation, religious conflict, military reorganization, and cultural continuity. His densely documented narrative combines political and diplomatic history with constitutional, ecclesiastical, and administrative analysis, while maintaining the critical discipline of modern historical scholarship. Written in a lucid yet authoritative style, the work belongs to the great nineteenth- and early twentieth-century tradition of comprehensive European historiography, and it remains significant for helping establish Byzantium as an essential field of historical inquiry. Born in Ireland and educated at Trinity College Dublin, John Bagnell Bury became one of the foremost classical and Byzantine historians of his generation. His mastery of Greek and Latin sources, interest in the philosophy of history, and resistance to simplistic narratives of civilizational collapse shaped this ambitious study. Bury's engagement with Gibbon, contemporary source criticism, and the expanding scholarly investigation of Byzantium enabled him to unite erudition with a broad interpretation of historical change. This book is especially recommended to readers seeking a rigorous foundation for the study of the Roman Empire's late centuries and the Byzantine world that followed. Its scale and detail reward sustained reading, while its arguments continue to provoke reflection on continuity, transformation, and imperial survival. It is an indispensable classic for students of late antiquity, Byzantium, and the writing of history itself.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (266)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreHistory
Length38 hrs 30 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 19, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Rise and Fall of Byzantine Empire: A 5-Volume Anthology
2PREFACE
3BOOK I. INTRODUCTION
4CHAPTER I. CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM
5CHAPTER II. INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON SOCIETY
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6CHAPTER III. ELEMENTS OF DISINTEGRATION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
7CHAPTER IV. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE EMPIRE
8CHAPTER V. CONSTANTINOPLE
9BOOK II. THE HOUSE OF THEODOSIUS
10CHAPTER I. RUFINUS AND EUTROPIUS
11CHAPTER II. THE GERMAN'S IN THE EAST
12CHAPTER III. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
13CHAPTER IV. STILICHO AND ALARIC
14CHAPTER V. THEODOSIUS II AND MARCIAN
15CHAPTER VI. BEGINNINGS OF THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE EMPIRE
16CHAPTER VII. INVASIONS OF THE HUNS
17CHAPTER VIII. THE PATRICIAN AETIUS
18CHAPTEE IX. THE CHURCH IN THE FIFTH CENTURY
19CHAPTER X. LIFE AND MANNERS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY
20CHAPTER XI. A GLIMPSE OF HUN LIFE
21BOOK III. THE HOUSE OF LEO THE GREAT
22CHAPTER I. LEO I
23CHAPTER II. RICIMER THE PATRICIAN
24CHAPTER III. ZENO
25CHAPTEE IV. THE OSTROGOTHS IN ILLYRICUM AND THRACE
26CHAPTER V. ODOVACAR THE PATRICIAN AND THEODORIC THE PATRICIAN
27CHAPTER VI. ANASTASIUS I
28CHAPTER VII. THE PERSIAN WAR
29CHAPTER VIII. GREEK LITERATURE OF THE FIFTH CENTURY
30BOOK IV. THE HOUSE OF JUSTIN
31PART I. THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN
32CHAPTER I. THE REIGN OF JUSTIN I. AND THE EARLIER YEARS OF JUSTINIAN’S REIGN
33CHAPTER II. JUSTINIAU AND THEODORA
34CHAPTER III. THE LEGAL WOKKS OF JUSTINIAX
35CHAPTER IV. FIRST PERSIAN WAR (528-532 A.D.)
36CHAPTER V. THE RECONQUEST OF AFRICA AND ITALY
37CHAPTER VI. THE GREAT PLAGUE
38CHAPTER VII. THE FINAL CONQUEST OF ITALY AND THE CONQUEST OF SOUTH-EASTERN SPAIN
39CHAPTER VIII. SECOND PERSIAN WAR (540-545 A.D.)
40CHAPTER IX. THE LAZIC WAR (549-556 A.D.)
41CHAPTER X. THE LATER YEARS OF JUSTINIAN’S REIGN
42CHAPTER XI. JUSTINIAN’S CAESAROPAPISM
43CHAPTER XII. THE SLAVES
44CHAPTER XIII. CHANGES IN THE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
45CHAPTER XIV. THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE AT THE END OF JUSTINIAN’S REIGN
46CHAPTER XV. ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΕ ARΤ
47CHAPTER XVI. NOTES ON THE MANNERS, INDUSTRIES, AND COMMERCE IN THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN
48PART II. THE COLLAPSE OF JUSTINIAN’S SYSTEM
49CHAPTER I. JUSTIN II AND TIBERIUS II
50CHAPTER II. MAURICE
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