Dossey, Leslie by Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa

Berkeley. 2010. 10/19/2010. University of California Press. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 9780520254398. 353 pages. hardcover. keywords: Classical History Classical Archaeology Classical Politics. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This remarkable history foregrounds the most marginal sector of the Roman population, the provincial peasantry, to paint a fascinating new picture of peasant society. Making use of detailed archaeological and textual evidence, Leslie Dossey examines the peasantry in relation to the upper classes in Christian North Africa, tracing that region's social and cultural history from the Punic times to the eve of the Islamic conquest. She demonstrates that during the period when Christianity was spreading to both city and countryside in North Africa, a convergence of economic interests narrowed the gap between the rustici and the urbani, creating a consumer revolution of sorts among the peasants. This book's postcolonial perspective points to the empowerment of the North African peasants and gives voice to lower social classes across the Roman world. Transformation of the Classical Heritage, XLVII A Joan Palevsky Book in Classical Literature. 4 b/w photographs, 12 line illustrations, 13 tables. inventory #37744 ISBN: 9780520254398.