Description
Book SynopsisA Companion to Ostrogothic Italy is a concise yet comprehensive survey of Italy’s first barbarian kingdom, the Ostrogothic state (ca. 489-554 CE). The volume’s 18 essays cover both traditional topics (such as the Ostrogothic army) and hitherto under-examined subjects (for example Italy’s environmental history), and are designed for new students and specialists.
Trade Review"The period of Ostrogothic rule in Italy is a liminal one... Given this chronological uncertainty along with the ongoing debates over what precisely the year 476 meant to whom (and when), the editors have wisely opted for a “long and wide” approach to the topic, encompassing everything from Odoacer through the Lombard invasion, thereby including the full sweep of the Ostrogothic Kingdom both inside and outside of Italy...The current volume is a welcome guide to Ostrogothic Italy... [it] is free from typographical errors and enhanced throughout by high quality maps and images, especially in the chapter on art and architecture. The editors are also to be commended for producing such a consistent and even-handed volume despite several intense disagreements that currently divide the field." Marion Kruse, in: Medioevo Greco 17 (2017), 450-52. "The volume more than succeeds in its stated intention of providing a cutting-edge synthesis of recent scholarship on the Ostrogothic period in Italy that will be of use to students and scholars alike." James Wood, in: Early Medieval Europe 27 (I) (2019), 133-135. ''There is in this work, as one might expect and hope, a lot of valuable detail, but the analysis of this detail is rendered in such a way as to furnish scholars with new answers and avenues of approach for the future. It will remain a fundamental companion for some years to come. [...] this is a vital work for both seasoned scholars and students and will provide a useful impetus for future work and research''. Cristopher Heath, in Al-Masāq, Journal of Medieval Mediterranean , 30/2, (2018).
