The name Mediterranean is derived from Latin and means 'in the middle of the earth', a reference to the fact either that it is almost entirely surrounded by land or that it was deemed to be at the center of the known world by ancient West Afro-Eurasian societies. The fall of the Western Roman Empire shapes the way in which Western history is periodized, as it marks the end of the classical era. The cultural influence of the Assyrians and Egyptians, particularly the Hebrews, Phoenicians, Minoans, and Mycenaeans, who occupied the coasts and islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, was substantial. Within both large political structures, such as the Hellenistic and Roman empires, and smaller cultures and states that did not evolve into large-scale empires, such as those of the Hebrews, Phoenicians, Minoans, and Mycenaeans, expansion invariably led to the emergence of more complex social structures, which explicitly situated various groups, including women and slaves, into more sharply delineated hierarchical structures.

By the early fifth century Western Roman Empire was theoretically Christian. There were still pagan intellectuals among the upper classes, especially among the lower classes of the countryside, but also among those who lived in the cities, including Rome itself, who continued to perform rituals which were condemned as idolatrous by the church. Nor are the Burgundians and the Franks the only peoples for whom Christianisation entailed hesitation between Arianism and Catholicism. Politics would play a major role in the ensuing Christianisation of the English, with powerful rulers putting pressure on their weaker neighbours, sponsoring them in baptism, and supporting missions to their kingdoms. The chief example of the use of force in evangelisation during the early Middle Ages is the Christianisation of the Saxons, which came to be intimately related to their conquest during the reign of Charlemagne.