Journal of Late Antiquity

Journal of Late Antiquity The Journal of Late Antiquity is a peer‑reviewed academic journal publishing research on the period commonly framed by scholars of Late Antiquity such as Peter Brown, A.H.M. Jones, Edward Gibbon, Theoderic the Great, and Justinian I. Founded amid renewed interest spurred by conferences at institutions like Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge, the journal situates scholarship alongside comparative studies involving figures and polities such as Constantine the Great, Julian (emperor), Sassanian Empire, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Umayyad Caliphate.

History

The journal was launched in 2008 under the aegis of editors associated with centers including Duke University, Yale University, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University and emerged from debates that followed works by Peter Brown, G.E. M. de Ste. Croix, Henri Pirenne, Irene Vallejo, and A.H.M. Jones. Early editorial boards included scholars versed in primary sources such as Procopius, Ammianus Marcellinus, John Chrysostom, Narses, and Cassiodorus, and reflected engagement with manuscript traditions preserved at archives like Vatican Library, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Monastery of St. Catherine, and Sinai. The journal’s provenance invokes institutional support from publishers including Johns Hopkins University Press and collaborations with research projects at Institute for Advanced Study, Center for Hellenic Studies, Warburg Institute, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, and École pratique des hautes études.

Scope and Content

Its remit covers archaeological reports referencing sites such as Leptis Magna, Herculaneum, Ephesus, Palmyra, Antioch, and Ravenna; textual analyses of authors including Aurelius Victor, Jordanes, Sulpicius Severus, Procopius of Caesarea, John of Ephesus, and Theophylact Simocatta; numismatic studies focusing on mints like Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Sardis, and Pergamon; and art historical inquiries into mosaics from San Vitale, Ravenna, Syria Palaestina, Qusayr 'Amra, and Hosios Loukas. The journal frequently features thematic dossiers on subjects such as religious controversies involving Arianism, Chalcedonian Christianity, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, and legal codices including the Codex Theodosianus, Codex Justinianus, Edict of Milan, and the Lex Romana Visigothorum.

Editorial and Publication Details

Published biannually by Johns Hopkins University Press, the journal operates under a double‑blind peer review system drawing referees from departments at University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, and Cornell University. Editorial oversight has involved scholars with affiliations to research centers such as Dumbarton Oaks, Center for Byzantine Research, Institute for Classical Studies, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, and editorial boards that have included experts on sources like Greek New Testament, Syriac chronicles, Coptic hagiography, Hebrew Genizah, and Arabic historiography. Special issues have been guest‑edited in collaboration with conferences at British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museo Nazionale Romano, and universities including University of Toronto and Heidelberg University.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major bibliographic services and citation databases used by scholars working on Late Antiquity and adjacent fields, with listings in indexes such as JSTOR, Project MUSE, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, and specialist databases maintained by institutions like Patrologia Latina database and the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. Metadata for articles integrates standard identifiers used by catalogues such as Library of Congress, WorldCat, and national bibliographies of United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and United States.

Reception and Impact

Scholarly reception has highlighted contributions that reconfigure debates about transitions from Roman Empire institutions to successor regimes like the Byzantine Empire, Sasanian Empire, Arab Caliphates, and Germanic kingdoms including the Franks, Lombards, Burgundians, and Visigoths. Reviews in periodicals connected to societies such as the American Historical Association, Medieval Academy of America, Byzantine Studies Association, Society for Classical Studies, and Royal Historical Society have praised methodological pluralism engaging historians of Late Antiquity, archaeologists working at sites like Dura-Europos and Hatra, numismatists analyzing coin hoards found at Sutton Hoo and Mildenhall Treasure, and philologists studying texts from Oxyrhynchus Papyri and Herculaneum Papyri. Its influence extends into curricula at departments including Classics Department, University of Oxford, History Department, University of Cambridge, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, and postgraduate programs at University of Leiden and University of Bologna.

Category:Academic journals