IDEOLOGIES AND AGENDAS IN LATE ANTIQUE STUDIES

This paper sets a framework by discussing the trends and approaches observable in the study of Late Antiquity over the last few decades. It takes up the points made in a recent article by A. Giardina and considers the models of continuity and change adopted in several recent collective publications. It questions whether the current enthusiasm for the ‘long Late Antiquity’, and the privileging of cultural over social and economic history are likely to continue in their present form. It draws attention to differences of emphasis between historians and archaeologists, and between analyses of the Eastern and Western parts of the empire, and stresses the complementarity of historical and archaeological approaches.