Table of Contents

Foreword; Note to the paperback edition; Abbreviations; Introduction: imperial triumph as a historical problem; 1. Invincible empire: the ideology of victiry under the principate; 2. Out of the streets and into the circus: the development of imperial victory celebrations in the later Roman empire; 3. Imperial victory celebrations and the public life of the later Roman state; 4. The development of imperial victory celebrations in early medieval byzantium; 5. Organizing a byzantine triumph; 6. A distant echo: victory celebrations in the imperial provinces; 7. Ephemeral empires: triumphal rulership in Barbarian Africa, Burgundy and Italy; 8, The king's victory in visigothic Spain; 9. From late antique to early feudal society: frankish victory celebrations; Conclusion; Epilogue; Bibliography of primary sources cited; Frequently cited secondary sources; Descriptive list of figures; Index.

Reviews

"Michael McCormick has written a I^Decline and Fall for the twenty-first century. [...] his brilliant book will shatter most people's conceptions of the Dark Ages." Times Literary Supplement "McCormick's scholarship is as daunting and profound as might be expected from someone with the boldness to conduct parallel explorations of Byzantium and the West. In the process of fully documenting victory celebrations, he pokes into obscure corners with the gusto of a born antiquarian. He even manages to discover how the Roman state and its heirs communicated their triumphs to distant provincials. His zeal in gathering primary evidence is matched by mastery of the critical literature; based at Dumbarton Oaks, he had an unequalled listening post for tracking scholarship." Canadian Journal of History "...McCormick has made a major contribution to Mediterranean history." Jonathan Shepard, The International History Review