The Fifth Century and the End of the Western Roman Empire (Ordinario)
Prerequisiti
The course is intended for undergraduate students but is also open to PhD students.
Programma
The course is divided into two modules. The first is devoted to the general structure of the Roman West between the age of Theodosius and the age of Theoderic. This part of the course will focus on the main phenomena concerning the evolution of external relations, the functioning of institutions and administration, imperial policy, as well as social and economic balances and tensions, through the combined analysis of literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence. The second module aims to develop the historical issues that emerge from the first part of the course, placing them within the framework of the main historiographical trends. From this perspective, particular attention will also be paid to the symbolic significance acquired by the end of the Western Roman Empire as a historiographical and cultural paradigm for interpreting phases of systemic crisis and the decline of Western civilization. The topics addressed during the lectures of the second module will form the basis for the third module, intended for advanced students but open to all, and devoted to the interpretation of 476 during the Fascist period. The course thus aims to integrate into the teaching programme the developments of a wide-ranging investigation into fifth-century Western society, which has taken shape within the framework of two recent projects: The Fifth-Century Project (coordinated by H. Dey, M. Maiuro, and F. Oppedisano) and Law and Politics at the End of the Western Roman Empire: The Leges Novellae (directed by F. Oppedisano).
Obiettivi formativi
The course aims to enable students to develop an in-depth knowledge of the main historical processes that affected the Roman West between the late fourth and late fifth centuries, with particular attention to the evolution of political, institutional, administrative, social, and economic structures. By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able to critically analyse the transformations of the Western Roman Empire through the integrated use of literary, epigraphic, legal, and archaeological sources, and to place these transformations within the framework of the main historiographical interpretations.
Riferimenti bibliografici
P. Brown, Il mondo tardo antico. Da Marco Aurelio a Maometto, Torino, Einaudi, 1974.
N. Christie, The Fall of the Western Roman Empire: An Archaeological and Historical Perspective, London-New York 2011.
J. W. Drijvers, N. Lenski (eds.), The Fifth Century: Age of Transformation. Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity Conference, Bari 2019.
G. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568, Cambridge 2007.
K. Harper, Il destino di Roma. Clima, epidemie e la fine di un impero, Torino 2019.
P. Heather, La caduta dell’impero romano. Una nuova storia, Milano 2006.
T. Honoré, Law in the Crisis of Empire, 379–455 AD: The Theodosian Dynasty and Its Quaestors, Oxford 1998.
M. Kulikowski, Imperial Tragedy: From Constantine’s Empire to the Destruction of Roman Italy, AD 363–568, London 2019.
A. Marcone, L’ultimo anno dell’Impero. Roma 476 d.C., Roma 2021.
S. Mazzarino, La fine del mondo antico, Milano 1959
A. Momigliano, “La caduta senza rumore di un impero nel 476 d.C.”, Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, s. III, 3/2, 1973, pp. 397-418.
Bryan Ward-Perkins, La caduta di Roma e la fine della civiltà, Roma-Bari 2008/2010.
C. Wickham, Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400–800, Oxford 2005.
Additional bibliographical references will be provided during the course.
Moduli
| Modulo | Ore | CFU | Docenti |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modulo 1: La fine dell'impero romano d'Occidente (per ordinari) | 20 | 3 | Fabrizio Oppedisano |
| Modulo 2: La fine dell'impero romano d'Occidente (ordinari e PhD) | 20 | 3 | Fabrizio Oppedisano |
| Supplementary teaching | 16 | 0 |