The History of Private Life. Volume 1: From the Roman Empire to the Beginning of the Second Millennium

The five-volume "History of Private Life" is a comprehensive study created in the 1980s by a group of French, British, and American scholars led by the renowned historians from the Annales School - Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby. The five-volume work covers the entire history of the West from Antiquity to the end of the 20th century. The first volume focuses on the private life of Ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and Byzantium: systems of social relationships that are strikingly different from those known to us. The analysis of the institutions of family and slavery, religion and legislation, everyday life and architecture allows for a deep understanding of the transformations in both private life and European mentality, as well as highlighting the eternal conflict between the private and the public. The translation is based on the revised edition of 1999. Authors: Paul Veyne, Peter Brown, Yvonne Têtu, Michel Rouche, Evelyne Patlagean.