http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
xvii, 393 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Our understanding of Late Antiquity can be transformed by the non-dogmatic application of social theory to more traditional evidence when studying major social conflicts in the Eastern Roman Empire, not least under the Emperor Justinian (527-565). Social Conflict in the Age of Justinian explores a range of often violent conflicts across the whole empire, on the land, in religion and in sport, during this pivotal period in European history. Drawing on both sociology and social psychology, and on his experience as a senior British Civil Servant dealing with violent political conflicts in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, Bell shows that such conflicts were a basic feature of the overwhelmingly agricultural political economy of the empire. These conflicts were reflected at the ideological level and lead to intense persecution of intellectuals and Pagans as an ever more robust Christian ideological hegemony was established. In challenging the loyalties of all social classes, they also increased the vulnerability of an emperor and his allies. The need to legitimize the emperor, through an increasingly sacralized monarchy, and to build a loyal constituency, consequently remained a top priority for Justinian, even if his repeated efforts to unite the churches failed.
Part I -- An Introduction: Approaches, Methods, Sources -- 1. Understanding Social Conflict -- 2. The Analytical Framework -- Part II -- Three Major Conflicts: in Agriculture, the Factions, and the Churches -- 3. Social Conflict in Countryside and Town -- 4. Two Empire-wide Conflicts: The Factions and the Christians -- Part III -- Ideological Conflicts - Their Mediation and Management -- 5. Ideological Conflict in the Reign of Justinian I -- 6. Constructing Legitimacy -- 7. Hagia Sophia: Ideology in Stone - A Case Study -- 8. Conclusions.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [353]-382) and index.