The history of the Late Roman Empire in the West has been divided into two parallel worlds, analysed either as a political and economic transformation or as a religious and cultural one. But how do these relate one to another? In this concise and effective synthesis, Ian Wood considers some ways in which religion and the Church can be reintegrated into what has become a largely secular discourse. The Church was at the heart of the changes that look place at the end of the Western Empire, not only regarding religion, but indeed every aspect of politics and society. Wood contends that the institutionalisation of the Church on a huge scale was a key factor in the transformation which began in the early fourth century with an incipiently Christian Roman Empire and ended three hundred years later in a world of thoroughly Christianised kingdoms.

First published in 1954, this book examines the process by which the Codex--the traditional form of the western book--replaced the scroll as the primary vehicle for literature. Drawing upon evidence accumulated in the last thirty years, this revised edition gives fresh insight into the
remarkable role the early Christian church played in the transformation of the printed word.

The classical historian Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903) published his monumental History of Rome between 1854 and 1856. His work was received with widespread acclaim by the scholarly community and the reading public. In 1902 Mommsen was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and acclaimed as 'the greatest living master of the art of historical writing'. Mommsen rejected traditional Enlightenment accounts, which glorified ancient Rome; instead, guided by a new and rigorous criticism of sources, Mommsen began the demythologisation of Roman history. In a vivacious and engaging style, Mommsen drew bold parallels between the nineteenth century and classical Rome.
This abridged edition covers the period of the Roman Revolution - from the abortive reforms of the Gracchae through the bloody death struggle of the Republic to its real extinction at the hands of Caesar.