This chapter situates classical education in late antique Gaul in its historical context, positioning the work within the current scholarly debates, and building on recent scholarship on late antique Gaul. Arranged thematically, Chapter 2 considers key developments in the political and military relationships between the western Roman empire, Gallo-Romans and barbarian groups, the prospects and prosperity of Gallo-Roman aristocrats, the increasing dominance of the Church and bishops in daily life, and the vitality and continuity of Gallo-Roman cities. It considers the conditions necessary for classical education to thrive and function and discusses how the structures that fostered education were affected by the political, military, religious, and cultural transformations of fifth-century Gaul.

The concluding chapter reflects upon how the themes and questions explored in the book speak to familiar concerns of families, communities, and societies across time. What is the purpose of education? What do we expect of our education, and in what ways does our pursuit of knowledge and our learning define who we are? The conclusion draws together the arguments from the preceding chapters, considering in what ways the ‘fall’ of Rome meant the end of the schools of grammar and rhetoric in Gaul. Without the superstructure of the Roman empire, the socio-political culture that valued literary education disappeared, and the schools soon followed suit; it was not primarily material changes caused by the political, cultural, and religious upheavals of the fifth century that led to the decline of the schools, but rather marked changes in the attitudes and mindset towards education and learning of the emerging power brokers of post-imperial Gaul – the barbarian kingdoms and the Church.

The introduction sets out the approaches, sources, and scope of the book. It acquaints the reader with the main features of classical education and places the book within the modern historiography.

The author provides an account of the cultural evolution of a new concept of leadership for both emperors and the church in the Christianising society based in the eastern Roman capital of Constantinople. The focus is the pivotal period from the establishment of Constantine the Great’s one-man rule through Byzantine rule over the eastern and western empires in the sixth and seventh centuries, ending with the rule of Irene as sole empress (797–802) and Charlemagne’s coronation in 800. Letters exemplify the late Roman transformation from a model of one-man (or one-family) rule to a more complex system of power sharing between religious authorities, which was under constant renegotiation, from the highest levels of governance under emperors and bishops to the lowest level of the parish led by local clergy. Increasing opportunities for women to exercise power, hand in hand with the episcopal leaders of the new church, also shaped imperial leadership ideals in new ways.

The introduction sets the scene at the catacombs of San Gennaro in Naples, where our only early Christian fresco from the Shepherd of Hermas is painted on a tomb wall. I lay out the thesis and roadmap for the book, namely, that the Shepherd crafts obedient early Christian subjects within the ancient Mediterranean discourse of enslavement. A brief overview of the Shepherd’s content is provided, as well as regarding its popularity and transmission history across the ancient, late ancient, and medieval worlds. I especially note how the Shepherd became a pedagogical tool in late antiquity, and that the Shepherd’s teachings are even placed in Jesus’s own mouth by some late ancient writers, heightening the stakes for understanding how enslavement is utilized in a text used to shape Christian thought and practice for centuries after its composition. Also provided is a brief introduction to slavery in antiquity to situate the reader, as well as outline some of the major influences on my approach to reading the text, especially womanist translational theory and Chris de Wet’s concept of doulology.

The study of travel in Late Antiquity is complicated by a specific set of factors that will appear throughout this volume and in every period: namely, the motivations and goals of the travellers. This is especially true in Late Antiquity because the mental shape of the world was changing quickly and dramatically from what came before. The imperial reign of Constantine (306−337) ushered in for Christian writers a long-expected saeculum of imperial peace and the triumph of the Christian message. The motivations for travel in Late Antiquity very often can only be read on the background of that paradigm shift. The triumph of the Church was inextricably linked to the shape of the empire, notionally and geographically. That same empire in which Christians formerly had moved quietly and in secret was now an open space for travel and expansive thinking. Thus, travel in Late Antiquity went hand-in-hand with new geographical horizons: not primarily a physical expansion of “the known world” (the oikoumenē in Greek), though that came too, but a freedom of expression through movement within the Roman Empire they already knew.

The Encyclopaedia of Late Antique Art and Archaeology seeks to fill a significant gap in historical research by placing art and archaeology at the forefront of late Roman and late antique studies. Recognising the need for a comprehensive and accessible reference, this work moves beyond the traditional focus on ‘early Christian archaeology’ to adopt a broader perspective. It highlights the dynamic interplay of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, challenging outdated notions of a fully Christianised Late Antiquity. Organised into six sections – architecture and iconography, artefacts and material evidence, urbanism and rural landscapes, regional and ethnic diversity, and key issues and debates – the encyclopaedia offers a structured, in-depth exploration of the field. With contributions from leading scholars, it synthesises archaeological discoveries to challenge narratives of decline, instead presenting Late Antiquity as an era of transformation and cultural fusion.

This chapter introduces the main themes and scope of the volume, including discussing the origin of the concept of ‘heresy’, as well as outlining what aspects of it will and will not form the focus of the following chapters. It then provides a summary of the division of the volume into two parts and the particular topics and case studies contained in each.