Sir, – I was pleased to read your report on Peter Brown’s receipt of the Balzan Prize (Home News, September 6th). This is another signal honour richly deserved by a man who is, arguably, the most important Irish historian of recent generations.
Prof Brown's work on late antiquity has led to an international reassessment of that transitional period between antiquity and the Middle Ages: it would be no exaggeration to say that his work has overturned the picture of the era championed in the Enlightenment by Edward Gibbon's celebrated Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It is interesting indeed to read that he regards his Irish background as formative in this project. It might be noted also that Irish historians have been at the forefront of this re-evaluation of the late antique period for more than a century: JB Bury (1861-1927), originally from Clontibret, made contributions so significant that they are still in print (notably his History of the Later Roman Empire, first published in 1923); while EA Thompson (1914-1994), originally from Waterford, effectively redefined the study of barbarians such as the Goths and Huns for the modern age. It is interesting to note that both Bury and Thompson wrote books on St Patrick, while he has featured prominently in a number of Peter Brown's publications.
We might, these days, look askance at Ireland’s reputation as an island of saints and scholars; nevertheless, that heritage has underpinned one of the most significant reassessments undertaken by contemporary historians, and is just cause for celebration. – Yours, etc,