Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul

Late Roman Gaul is often seen either from a classical Roman perspective as an imperial province in decay and under constant threat from barbarian invasion or settlement or from the medieval one as the cradle of modern France and Germany. Standard texts and moments have emerged and been canonized in the scholarship on the period be it Gaul aflame in 407 or the much-disputed baptism of Clovis in 496/508. This volume avoids such stereotypes. It brings together state-of-the-art work in archaeology literary social and religious history philology philosophy epigraphy and numismatics not only to examine under-used and new sources for the period but also critically to reexamine a few of the old standards. This will provide a fresh view of various more unusual aspects of late Roman Gaul and also it is hoped serve as a model for ways of interpreting the late Roman sources for other areas times and contexts.