Late Antiquity is a rough periodization used by historians and other scholars to describe the interval between high Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean world - between the decline of the western Roman Empire from the 3rd century AD onward, to the resurgence of the West under Charlemagne, of the Middle East under the Baghdad caliphate, and of Eastern Europe under the Byzantine Empire.

The continuities between late imperial Rome and the society that older histories called the "Dark Ages" are stressed by writers who wish to emphasise that the seeds of medieval culture were already developing in the Christianized empire, and indeed continued to do so in the unconquered eastern, or "Byzantine" portion of the empire, and that Ostrogoths and even Visigoths saw themselves as defenders and continuers of the Roman authority.

Aspects of Late Antiquity

In literature, Late Antiquity marks the declining use of classical Greek and Latin, and the rise of literary cultures in Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Coptic, vulgar Latin and other vulgate languages. It also marks a shift in literary style, with a preference for encyclopedic works in a dense and allusive style, consisting of summaries of earlier works often dressed up in elaborate allegorical garb (e.g. Martianus Capella).

In religion, Late Antiquity marks the decline of classical civic paganism and the proliferation and flowering of many novel, syncretic sects. On the pagan side: Gnosticism, hermeticism, Neoplatonism and the Chaldaean oracles. On the Abrahamic side, Christianity is transformed from a small Jewish sect into a world religion, and Islam emerges for the first time.

In book-making, it marks the emergence of the parchment codex over the papyrus roll.

In the visual arts, it marks the decline of classical realism, and the emergence of a simplified, iconic style where emphasis is taken away from the limbs and movement and toward the exaggerated, often upraised eyes.

In politics, it marks the end of the western Roman empire, the foundation of the eastern Roman empire at Constantinople, and the increasing power and political sophistication of "barbarian" peoples.

For more information on specific aspects of Late Antiquity, please see the Category below.