In the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. a great change came over the face of Europe, the political order of things was broken up. This movement ushered in the Middle Ages, and it presents a noteworthy parallel to that other great European movement which ushered out the Middle Ages, the movement of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by which the spiritual order of things was broken up. The atmosphere of the age in which the Empire of Rome was dismembered was the christian religion , the atmosphere of the age in which the Church of Rome was ruptured was the Renaissance of culture.
-from Chapter I: "Christianity and Paganism"

This classic two-volume history of the Later Roman Empire, first published in 1889, remains one of the most readable works on the era, and is highly recommended for students of Roman culture.

Volume I explores:

the influence of Christianity on society
elements of disintegration in the Roman Empire
the administration of the empire
Constantinople
the Germans in the east
John Chrysostom
invasions of the Huns
life and manners in the fifth century
the Ostrogoths
Greek literature of the fifth century
the age of Justinian
the Persian wars
the reconquest of Africa and Italy
the great plague
and much, much more.


British historian JOHN BAGNELL BURY (1861-1927) was professor of modern history at Cambridge. His writings, known for a readability combined with a scholarly depth, include History of Greece (1900) and Idea of Progress (1920).