Late antiquity
| Late antiquity | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A.D. 250 – 750 | |||
| |||
The Barberini ivory, a late Leonid/Justinian Byzantine ivory leaf from an imperial diptych, from an imperial workshop in Constantinople in the first half of the 6th century (Louvre) | |||
| Location | Mediterranean | ||
| Key events | Fall of the Western Roman Empire Early Muslim conquests | ||
Late antiquity is a time period between classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The exact start and end dates are debatable. Late antiquity represents a cultural sphere covering much of the Mediterranean world, including parts of Europe and the Near East. As an approximate guide, the period can be thought of as spanning "c.250–750".
Late antiquity was an era of massive political and religious transformation. Religiously, it marked the origins or ascendance of the three major monotheistic religions: Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam, as well as the period when both the Bible and the Quran were canonized. Politically, it marked the ends of the Western Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire (the last Persian empire of antiquity), as well as the beginning of the Arab conquests and the formation of the Rashidun Caliphate. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire became a militarized and Christianized society. Late antiquity was also an era of significant cultural innovation and transformation, marked by the emergence of public architecture like the Hagia Sophia, and the emergence of late antique literature and art.