4 Arnold, Bjornlie, and Sessa
A broad approach is especially warranted given recent scholarly emphasis on
the deep foundations of barbarian regimes within the late Roman Empire.
Moreover, although not every chapter in this volume takes a ‘continuist’ posi-
tion on classical antiquity’s durability in the later 5th and 6th centuries, they
collectively endeavour to move away from the binaries of rise and fall that
often accompany rigid chronological and geographical parameters and unnu-
anced histories of the period. This is not to suggest that previous scholarship
has not contributed significantly to our understanding of the Ostrogoths,
or that they are all oriented around the binary of rise and fall. On the con-
trary, the work represented in the present volume rests on numerous key
contributions from a wide range of international scholars. For instance, the
specialist essays in several collected volumes, such as Teoderico il Grande e i
Goti d’Italia (1993), Teoderico e i Goti tra Oriente e Occidente (1995), and The
4 See especially Goffart, Barbarians and Romans; id., Barbarian Tides; Whittaker, Frontiers of
the Roman Empire; Barnwell, Emperor, Prefects and Kings; Mathisen/Shanzer (eds.), Romans,
Barbarians; and Pohl (ed.), Kingdoms of the Empire.
Figure 1.2 Map of Ostrogothic provinces, ca. 525
Map by Ian Mladjov