The Inheritance of Rome
By Chris Wickham. Viking. 488 pp. $35
When the Western half of the Roman Empire fell, the Dark Ages began. For six centuries ignorance prevailed, civilization became stagnant, and barbarian hordes plundered mightily. Or so, anyway, goes the traditional narrative. "The Inheritance of Rome," by Oxford University professor Chris Wickham, argues that the truth is more complex. In a thoroughly researched survey of post-Roman history from 400 to 1000 A.D., Wickham proposes that the Dark Ages were actually a time of great cultural and economic ferment.
The Roman tax structure eroded, triggering a depression in the fifth century. A political partnership evolved between rulers and the semi-autonomous Catholic Church, a relationship that became the norm in the following centuries. Wealth became largely land-based and, therefore, subject to military conquest.
Few of these changes made life any easier. Though his book spans some 600 years, Wickham reveals little about early medieval Europe that warrants much nostalgia. "Current values such as liberalism, secularism, toleration, a sense of irony, an interest in the viewpoints of others . . . were simply absent then," he writes. "I have amused myself while writing this book by trying to identify which, if any, late antique or early medieval writers . . . I could imagine meeting with any real pleasure." The Dark Ages may not have been entirely dark, but they seem to have been quite miserable.
-- Aaron Leitko
