Lower-class violence in the Late Antique West
Historical sources from Late Antiquity are not primarily concerned with what might be called 'social history'. More often they are interested in matters of faith, war and politics, or the biographies of great men and women. Archaeology has allowed us great insight into the material culture of ordinary people during the period, but we still rely on history to inform us about the agency of the lower classes. Unfortunately the preoccupations of extant written sources make it difficult to understand how common people in Late Antiquity perceived their lives, and how they tried to influence their position in society. It is hoped that an investigation of lower-class violence will provide a way for us to gain some insight into these issues. Violence, as an extreme and relatively rare form of social interaction, cannot necessarily tell us about everyday concerns, but the implicit danger of violence means that it provides a good indicator of what issues and grievances were taken very seriously by common people in Late Antiquity. Moreover violence, especially as performed by lower-class people whose social role was non-violent, was one of the ways in which ordinary people in Late Antiquity caught the eye of contemporary
Burrows, Michael Harvey
Lower-class violence in the Late Antique West. Historical sources from Late Antiquity are not primarily concerned with what might be called 'social history'. More often they are interested in matters of faith, war and politics, or the biographies of great men and women. Archaeology has allowed us great insight into the material culture of ordinary people during the period, but we still rely on history to inform us about the agency of the lower classes. Unfortunately the preoccupations of extant written sources make it difficult to understand how common people in Late Antiquity perceived their lives, and how they tried to influence their position in society. It is hoped that an investigation of lower-class violence will provide a way for us to gain some insight into these issues. Violence, as an extreme and relatively rare form of social interaction, cannot necessarily tell us about everyday concerns, but the implicit danger of violence means that it provides a good indicator of what issues and grievances were taken very seriously by common people in Late Antiquity. Moreover violence, especially as performed by lower-class people whose social role was non-violent, was one of the ways in which ordinary people in Late Antiquity caught the eye of contemporary
lower class violence late antique west historical_source late_antiquity primarily_concern might_call social_history often interested matter faith war politics biography great men_woman archaeology allow great_insight material_culture ordinary_people period still rely history inform agency low_class unfortunately preoccupation extant write_source make_difficult common people late_antiquity perceive life try influence position society hop investigation lower class violence provide way gain_insight issue violence extreme relatively rare form social_interaction necessarily tell everyday concern implicit danger violence mean provide_good indicator issue grievance take_seriously common people late_antiquity moreover violence especially perform lower class_people whose social_role non violent one_way ordinary_people late_antiquity catch eye contemporary