W. Schuller: Das Erste Europa, 1000 v. Chr. - 500 n. Chr. (John F. Drinkwater)

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Francia-Recensio 2008/4 Mittelalter – Moyen Âge (500–1500)

Wolfgang Schuller, Das Erste Europa 1000 v. Chr. – 500 n. Chr., Stuttgart (Eugen Ulmer) 2005, 399 p., 18 maps (Handbuch der Geschichte Europas, 1), ISBN 3-8252-2497-X, EUR 24,90.

rezensiert von/compte rendu rédigé par

John F. Drinkwater, Nottingham

Schuller’s book is the first in a series of ten, covering European history from 1000 B.C. to 1990. According to the series editor (P. Blickle, p. 13), each volume will comprise sections examining: the character of the period concerned; the history of all European countries, »Länder«, during it; prevailing European commonalities, »Gemeinsamkeiten«, in terms of constitution, law, politics, international relations, society, economy, culture and religion; and current research. However, as Schuller immediately (p. 14) concedes, this arrangement is unsuitable for Antiquity, which antedates modern European states and is not even their distant forebear (cf. p. 41: their »nächste Fremde«). Instead, therefore, he resorts to a more traditional review of Greece and Rome. He respects the spirit of the remainder of the series by making much of »Rezeptionen«: of eastern culture by Greeks, of Greek culture by Roman, of Roman metropolitan culture by provincials, and of general Greco-Roman culture by medieval and modern Europeans (p. 27–38, 271–273). The result is a book that, at first glance, has little to offer readers of »Francia«. There is no focus on Gallia or Germania, and little on Late Antiquity. (Schuller’s treatment of Celts and Germani is restricted to p. 180–187, though cf. also p. 293.) Indeed, Schuller tells us explicitly (p. 17, 187, 314) that for the history of the Germanic kingdoms we have to wait for Vol. 2: »Europa im frühen Mittelalter, 500–1050«, by (promisingly) Hans-Werner Goetz.

But Vol. 1 is not without interest. On its own terms, it offers an admirable summary of Greco-Roman history and its modern study. There are, inevitably, some errors and omissions. Julian did not fight Franks at Strasbourg in 357 (p. 173). Though Schuller is clearly aware of changes in modern views, these are difficult to reflect within so narrow a scope and so at times he advances some curiously old-fashioned thinking, for example, on the nature of Spartan society (p. 49–53) and the »Antonine peace« (p. 153). There is no citation of the second edition of the »Cambridge Ancient History«. On the other hand, Schuller’s text is generally reliable, engaged and entertaining. He displays immense learning, and deserves credit for maintaining his own interest, and that of his reader, over a massive range of events – helped by a willingness to declare his own opinions on certain issues (e. g., p. 38, 273: the weakness of Classics in most European schools and universities), and by a touch of whimsy (e. g., p. 185 n. 13: a reference to Harry Potter). He informs outsiders to the field, and gives insiders plenty to think about.

Schuller’s book is also historically significant, even disturbing, in its own right. I fear that Blickle’s series is history as propaganda. Its underlying purpose appears to be signalled in the title of Vol. 10, Rainer Hudemann’s »Europa auf dem Weg zur Union, 1945–1990«: to convince us that there is such a thing as »Europe«, whose manifest destiny is integration and renewed greatness. Schuller picks up the strain at, for example, p. 19, 32–33, 40. This is regrettable. History is a science that should serve itself, not ephemeral causes or movements. Propagandistic history is dangerous to others and dangerous to itself: it can be overtaken by events, such as the results of the recent referendums in France and the Netherlands and, underlying this, the emerging debate over how »Europe« should be defined. The one thing that Schuller should have offered, given the peculiar, eastern-centred (e.g., p. 43, 292) nature of his period, is a professional opinion on the issue of Turkey-in-Europe. Though he touches on it, and hints that he might be favourably disposed to a wider, Mediterranean-centred, Community (e. g., p. 20, 271), I was disappointed that he nowhere addresses the controversy head-on.