L'antiquité tardive: périodisations d'un age noir et heureux

This paper is concerned with the development of the idea of ‘Later Empire / late antiquity’ since Ch. Le Beau until us; special care is devoted to J.B.Bury’s thought, to A.Piganiol’s definition of Christian empire, to S.Mazzarino’s definition of Constantinian age, to the arguments of A.Giardina et recent British scholarship against P.Brown’s social and cultural interpretation of late antiquity; religious perspective proves to be deciding in containing late antiquity between Constantine and Muhammad.