Girolamo Arnaldi, Federico Marazzi, "Tarda Antichità e Alto Medioevo in Italia" ["Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages in Italy"], Viella, Roma 2017, 232 pp.

Abstract

In 2017, the Italian publishing house Viella released a volume entitled Tarda Antichità e Alto Medioevo in Italia (Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages in Italy), written by two renowned researchers – Girolamo Arnaldi1 and Federico Marazzi2. The authors set themselves the task of creating an innovative synthesis of the history of Italy from the times of Diocletian up to the 11th century that would depart from the traditional dates used to mark the beginning and the end of individual periods in that part of history3. In their opinion, the strict separation of the late Antiquity from the early Middle Ages is artificial, and a proper understanding of the transition between those eras requires knowledge of their