Late Antiquity

Meaning

Proper Noun

• The period of European history marking the transition from the dominance of the Roman Empire (classical antiquity) to its successor realms of the Middle Ages, variously dated but usually from 284 CE (the nominal end of the crisis of the Third Century) to the 6th century (in the West) or mid-7th century (in the East).

Origin

• A calque of German Spätantike. Popularised in English by American historian Peter Brown with his influential 1971 book The World of Late Antiquity.