On September 15-17, 1976, a conference of historians was held in Leipzig on the problem of the social revolution in the transition from the slave-owning system to the feudal one in Western Europe. The conference, organized by the History Department of Karl Marx University Leipzig and the Ancient History Section of the Society of Historians of the GDR, was timed to coincide with the 1500th anniversary of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It was attended by historians of the GDR, as well as the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and some capitalist countries. Reports and presentations were devoted to various aspects of the social revolution that marked the change of antiquity to the Middle Ages in Western Europe: the history of the political and economic development of Europe during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the formation of barbarian kingdoms on its territory, the reflection of these events in ancient and Byzantine literature and in modern historiography.

A number of reports examined the general patterns and specifics of the social upheaval that led to the elimination of the slave system in the Western Roman Empire. R. Gunther's report "The Era of Social and Political Revolution" (GDR) analyzed the nature of the process of transition from the slave-owning system to the feudal one in Western Europe. According to the speaker, this transition is characterized by such common features of the social revolution as the existence of a contradiction between the productive forces and production relations, the revolutionary destruction of the power of the ruling class and the creation of the basis for the emergence of a new political power, and the duration of the revolutionary process. But the essential feature of the revolution under consideration is the absence of a revolutionary class capable of independently destroying the old system. Internal forces could only undermine, but not destroy, the prevailing order. This was done by external forces - barbarian federates, who were joined by some of the large landowners of the Roman provinces. The era of social revolution began in the Roman Empire at the end of the fifth century. The Coups of 476 and 486. They played a role in its development, as the overthrow of the old central government cleared the way for parts of the German peoples to feudalization. But the Roman political organization still retained considerable influence, and the ancient city was still alive. There were attempts at restoration (Justinian's policy). The political revolution was carried out through a fierce struggle, during which some new states (Vandals, Ostrogoths) died. From the very beginning, the political revolution was not the result of the struggle of the revolutionary class. But thanks to the synthesis of the feudal elements of two decaying formations, forces capable of taking political power into their own hands have emerged. The author attributes the final victory of feudal relations in the territory of the Roman Empire to the X century.

A. R. Korsunsky in his report "On the problem of the emergence of elements of feudal relations in the Roman Empire" described the main options for solving this issue in bourgeois and Marxist historiography. Analyzing the essence of the new institutions that emerged in the depths of Roman slave society, it is necessary, on the one hand, to take into account,

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to what extent they are still connected with the slave system as a whole, and on the other hand, to what extent they contain the rudiments of the corresponding elements of the feudal system. The late Roman kolonat, the speaker believes, was a specific form of serfdom, but, being closely connected with the entire slave-owning system, it was not a proper feudal institution (just as it was no longer an institution of the slave-owning system). Such phenomena as the convergence of the concepts of property and possession, the emergence of" divided property", did not mean the emergence of a feudal hierarchy. The establishment in the IV-V centuries of legal differentiation among the free (division into honestiores et humiliores) is an indicator of the decomposition of the social structure of slave society. But this cannot be regarded as the emergence of a class division peculiar to feudalism. Individual groups of freemen differed from each other mainly in terms of State duties and criminal law. The differentiation did not cover the social status of the corresponding groups of the free population as a whole, as is typical for the Middle Ages. Among the changes in the ideology of late Roman society, the speaker attributed the emergence of the rudiments of a new attitude to productive work, especially in the ideology of the masses, as well as in Christian literature. Nevertheless, there is no reason to talk about a radical change in the view of labor in this era. Thus, in the late Roman Empire, the beginnings of feudalism emerged, but the slave system that persisted prevented their transformation into proper feudal relations.

In the report of T. Kotula (Poland)" On the decline of the Roman social order in North Africa", it was noted that the results of the latest research contradict the traditional thesis about the beginning of the crisis of the Roman order in Africa in the IV century. According to the speaker, we can talk about the political crisis in this Roman province, which was closely connected with social conflicts, about the elimination of Roman rule due to the invasion of vandals. But it cannot be said that there was an economic and cultural decline, as agriculture and cities flourished during that period. All these facts require, as the speaker believes, a revision of the prevailing opinion on the chronological framework of the period of transition from a slave-owning society to a feudal one, at least for North Africa.

E. M. Shtaerman's report " Ideological preparation for the demise of slaveholding society "(due to the absence of the author) was read out. The report attempts to analyze the symptoms of the crisis of ancient ideology, which arose on the basis of the crisis of the ancient urban community. Among these symptoms, E. M. Shtaerman refers to the deepening sense of" alienation "caused by the disappearance of goals and prospects of human activity, which affected the decline of stoicism, the loss of faith in the integrity and harmony of the existing world order, the spread of dualistic teachings and" utopias", the split of culture into the culture of the elite and the masses as a result of the aggravation of social contradictions. Attempts by Sextus Empiricus and Plotinus to revive the foundations of the ancient worldview on a new basis were not crowned with success. The protest of the masses against the ideology of the state and the upper classes led to the triumph of Christianity, which can be considered an ideological preparation for new social relations.

Some of the reports dealt with the political history of the Western Roman Empire on the eve of its collapse and events that are usually considered as the fall of the Empire. Thus, the report of B. Syuch (Hungary)" Petronius Maximus, Emperor of the senatorial nobility of Italy in 455 " characterized the social base of power of one of the last Western Roman emperors. The speaker noted that Maxim did not have any solid support even among the senatorial aristocracy, which became increasingly indifferent to the affairs and destinies of the empire. L. Varadi (Hungary) in his report "On the illusion of the unity of the Empire on the eve of the revolutionary age of late antiquity" focused on the division of the empire in the IV century. and the reflection of this fact in public opinion. Ammianus Marcellinus 'demand for the creation of an" absolute state governed by the rule of law "and the rule of law, and the thesis of the" eternity " of Rome, reflected, in the speaker's opinion, the desire to restore the unity of the empire. But such unity was only an illusion. The report of I. Burian (Czechoslovakia) was devoted to the interpretation of the historical process by those circles of late Roman society that remained faithful to the ancient Roman traditions.

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traditions. The report of R. Schottlander (GDR) considered Augustine's interpretation of the "catastrophe" as a factor of historical development. E. Demuzhko (France) in the report " Can 476 be considered the date of the end of the Roman Empire in the West?" She compared the significance for the fate of antiquity of the coup committed by Odoacer in 476, and the seizure of power by Theodoric in 488. Based on a thorough analysis of all the evidence from the sources about these two events, she comes to the conclusion that the end of the Western Roman Empire is more correctly considered to be 488. In accordance with the norms of Roman public law, which is valid both in the East and in the West, the East Roman emperor granted his imperial rights to the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, who came to power in Italy.

The problems of the state of production in Rome during the period of the social revolution under consideration, in contrast to the issues of social and political development and ideology, were not widely covered at the conference. In addition to the aforementioned report by T. Kotula, this topic was also touched upon in the report of E. Maroti (Hungary)"Data on the history of technology during the transition from the slave-owning system to the feudal one". The report examined the role of the watermill in production at the specified time.

Some of the reports dealt with social relations and political struggles in the barbarian kingdoms based on former Roman territory, and the fate of these states. The report of D. Klaudet (Germany) "Social clashes in the Visigothic State" covered the speeches of slaves, colonists and peasants in this barbaric kingdom (the report was read out due to the author's absence). E. Reimer (GDR) made a report on the military organization of the Visigothic Kingdom. S. Weber (GDR) made a report on the situation of free communists according to the barbarian Truths, G. Kaleks (GDR) - on the process of feudalization among the Lombards.

A number of reports and reports related to the Byzantine policy towards the barbarian kingdoms and various problems of the early history of Byzantium. The report of G. Hertel (GDR) "On the problem of pragmatic sanctions, especially on the question of Sanctio pragmatica pro petitione Vigilii" reveals the restorative nature of Justinian's legislative act of 554. The content of the Pragmatic sanction is characterized as an attempt to " provide the counter-revolution with a political and legal basis." This policy could not, however, be permanent. Other problems of early Byzantine history were discussed in the reports of E. Polai (Hungary) "The Hermogenian question in the Justinian codification", B. Malich (GDR) "Craft and craft associations in Byzantium during the transition to feudalism", F. Winkelmann (GDR) "On the political role of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the V-VII centuries", I. Rokhov (GDR) "Pagan" customs of the Byzantine population in the 7th century".

Some reports considered the reflection of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in Late Antique monuments. Thus, in the report of I. Irmscher (GDR) "The end of the Western Roman Empire in Byzantine literature" it was noted that the coup of 476 was characterized by Byzantine authors of the VI-IX centuries as an event of local significance. In this literature, there is a tradition to use the description of the demise of the Western Roman Empire and its barbarization to idealize the role of Constantinople as the guardian of the Roman continuum, as the successor of Roman world domination. The report of M. Dummer (GDR) "The events of 476 in the historiography of the Latin Middle Ages" was devoted to the reflection of these events in Latin medieval historiography, and in modern historiography - the report of I. Herman (GDR) "The death of the Western Roman Empire in the historical thought of the XVIII - early XIX centuries in Germany".

The specific problem of applying the concept of "revolution" to the history of the Roman world in the historiography of modern and contemporary times was discussed in the report of P. Catalano (Italy) "Reflection in historiography of the concept of" revolution"in relation to the Roman world". The speaker noted that bourgeois historiography has now developed an interest in Roman public institutions. There is also a noticeable tendency to clarify such concepts as" revolution "and" state", which should be explained by the influence of historical materialism. In Italian historiography, the revolution is now more often considered not only in the political, legal and ideological aspect, but also as a change in the mode of production, in the relations of domination. However, during identification

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Various opinions are expressed about this revolution of the ancient world. P. Catalano focused on the use of the ancient Roman spiritual heritage in the historiography of modern and modern times, in the works of the founders of Marxism-Leninism.

Comparative historical material for studying the problem of the transition from the slave-owning system to the feudal one was contained in the reports of G. Ditten (GDR) "Notes on the oldest manifestations of the formation of statehood among the Slavs", I. Nyamash (GDR) "Changes in forms of ownership during the transition to feudalism in India" and M. Shettelich (GDR) " Some aspects of the transition towards feudalism in India (the specifics of feudal relations)".

The reports of W. Schmitt, W. Kirsch, K. Rudolf, E. Paul, and W. Hermann (all from the GDR) dealt with some problems of Late Antique ideology, literature, and art.

The conference was a fruitful example of cooperation between historians from different countries in developing complex and controversial issues of world history.

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