The World War of Late Antiquity: A Masterpiece of Historical Synthesis

It is rare to encounter a literary debut that shakes the foundations of historiography with such force and refinement as Corneliu Berari does in his monumental work dedicated to the 7th century. In a traditional format, the volume would have easily exceeded a thousand pages—becoming, only half-jokingly, a “blunt object” worthy of the era of warfare it describes. Berari offers us a historical synthesis of rare intellectual acuity, a true tour de force that weaves together archaeology, climatology, geopolitics, and theology into a captivating narrative.

The book focuses on the epochal confrontation between the Byzantine Empire, under the reign of Heraclius (610-641), and the lightning expansion of Islam, placing this clash within the precise context of 7th-century chronology, as revealed by the most recent scholarship (Kaegi, Kennedy, Harper). Berari guides us through key moments: Muhammad’s Hijra in 622, Heraclius’ victory over the Sassanids at Nineveh in 628, followed by the rapid collapse of the Levant after the Battle of Yarmouk (636), and the falls of Damascus (634), Jerusalem (637), and Egypt (641). With the precision of a strategist, the author captures the helplessness of Heraclius—the last Roman Emperor and the first Byzantine Basileus—in the face of what he calls a “world war” of Late Antiquity: an apocalypse of Eastern Christianity, marked by the disappearance of tens of thousands of Christian settlements under the Islamic advance.

However, Corneliu Berari is not content with merely reconstructing great battles. With breathtaking audacity, he questions the Romanian historiographical vulgata, challenging sacrosanct myths such as Daco-Roman Christianity or the size of the Latin-speaking population north and south of the Danube. Is Daco-Roman continuity a reality supported by evidence, or a projection of our desires onto a hazy past? The author offers no easy answers but invites a profound inquiry, supported by primary sources and an exemplary interdisciplinary methodology. From the volcanic eruptions of 535-536, which darkened the skies and weakened the empire, to the withdrawal of Byzantine troops from the Balkans in 614-615—a gesture that left the peninsula vulnerable—Berari constructs a complex narrative where nature, politics, and faith intertwine.

A fervent patriot and Chalcedonian Orthodox Christian, Corneliu Berari proposes a radical reassessment of Romanian ethnogenesis, shifting the focus from the Aurelian Retreat (271-276) to the collapse of the Byzantine order in the 7th century. Balkan Romanity, deprived of the Empire’s shield, nonetheless preserved its Christian identity through Latin words such as “a te ruga” (to pray) or “a te cumineca” (to receive communion)—a subtle yet profound observation. His book, a call to reconsider history as a vortex of chaos rather than a linear continuity, deserves to be translated into English, debated, and awarded by the Romanian Academy.

In a world of hurried simplifications where Wikipedia reigns supreme, Corneliu Berari reminds us of the meaning of true research: exhaustive, uncomfortable, and alive. It is a work that is not read in a single breath—perhaps in ten years, with patience—but which rewards every page with a deeper understanding of our past. A masterpiece that redefines the 7th century and the place of Romanians in the grand history of European civilization.