ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the chronological framework to include the subsequent century, and takes a rather broader view of the transformation process. It explores late fifth- and early sixth-century Gallic episcopal religieux at gastronomic and literary play. The book looks at dating, archaeology, and group-ethnography. It suggests that even if Euric's Code was not overtly Roman and demonstrated an erosion of understanding of some fundamental Roman legal institutions it nonetheless embodied many principles of Roman law. The book discusses the archaeological evidence, which, if read with both a critical and imaginative eye, is most suggestive. It also suggests that Syagrius'significance in the mid-480s has been overstated. The book also explores Christian funerary architecture in Autun, the Rhone Valley, the Auvergne, and Geneva.
