Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world.

Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but historian Peter Brown proposed a period between the second and eighth centuries CE.

Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century (c. 235 – 284) to, in the East, the reorganization of the Eastern Roman Empire under Heraclius and the Muslim conquests in the mid-seventh century, or an earlier point.

In the West the end is earlier, with the start of the Early Medieval period typically placed in the sixth century, or earlier on the Western edges of the empire.The Roman Empire undergoes considerable social, cultural and organizational changes starting with the reign of Diocletian, who begins the custom of splitting the Empire into Eastern and Western halves ruled by multiple emperors.

Beginning with Constantine the Great the Empire is Christianized, and a new capital founded at Constantinople.

Migrations of Germanic tribes disrupt Roman rule from the late fourth century onwards, culminating in the eventual collapse of the Empire in the West in 476, replaced by the so-called barbarian kingdoms.

The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian traditions forms the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe.The general decline of population, technological knowledge and standards of living in Europe during this period become the archetypal example of societal collapse for writers from the Renaissance until recent times.

As a result of this decline, and the relative paucity of historical records from Europe in particular, the period between the fall of the Empire and the Middle Ages becomes known as the Dark Ages, a term displaced in most current periodizations by the introduction of "Late Antiquity".

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