The Middle Ground Between Continuity and Catastrophe

There are two basic perspectives on this period and they focus on either continuity or catastrophe. Historians who focus on continuity miss, or at least downplay, how much different things really were in many places by the year 600. The opposite perspective sees the later Roman Empire as an essentially healthy state that had been through some rough times. We'll look at transformations alongside punctuated, catastrophic shift as participants in and driving forces behind our changes over time.