Table of Contents

Part I. The Roman Empire: 1. Reversals of fortune: an overview of the age of Attila Michael Maas; 2. Government and mechanisms of control, east and west Geoffrey Greatrex; 3. Urban and rural economies in the age of Attila Peter Sarris; 4. Mediterranean cities in the fifth century: elites, Christianizing, and the barbarian influx Kenneth G. Holum; 5. Big cities and the dynamics of the Mediterranean during the fifth century Raymond Van Dam; 6. Dynasty and aristocracy in the fifth century Brian Croke; 7. Military developments in the fifth century Hugh Elton; 8. Law and legal culture in the age of Attila Caroline Humfress; 9. Romanness in the age of Attila Jonathan P. Conant; Part II. Attila and the World around Rome: 10. The steppe world and the rise of the Huns Étienne de la Vaissière; 11. Neither conquest nor settlement: Attila's empire and its impact Christopher Kelly; 12. The Huns and barbarian Europe Peter Heather; 13. Captivity among the barbarians and its impact on the fate of the Roman Empire Noel Lenski; 14. Migrations, ethnic groups, and state building Walter Pohl; 15. Kingdoms of North Africa Andy Merrills; 16. The reinvention of Iran: the Sasanian Empire and the Huns Richard Payne; Part III. Religious and Cultural Transformation: 17. Ascetics and monastics in the early fifth century Susanna Elm; 18. Religious doctrine and ecclesiastical change in the time of Leo the Great Susan Wessel; 19. Christian sermons against pagans: the evidence from Augustine's sermons on the new year and on the sack of Rome in 410 Michele Renee Salzman; 20. Mediterranean Jews in a Christianizing empire Joseph E. Sanzo and Ra'anan Boustan; 21. Ordering intellectual life Edward Watts; 22. Real and imagined geography Scott Fitzgerald Johnson.

Promotional Information

This book considers the great cultural and geopolitical changes in western Eurasia in the fifth century CE.

About the Author

Michael Maas is Professor of History and Classical Studies at Rice University, Houston. The focus of his research is late antiquity. His publications include The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge, 2005), Exegesis and Empire in the Early Byzantine Mediterranean (by Mohr Siebeck, translated by Michael Maas, 2003) and Readings in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook, 2nd Edition (2010).

Reviews

'This work is transformational. Although focused on the Roman Empire, it also encompasses Eurasia, including the geopolitical dilemmas of Iran. Systematic treatment of subjects ranging from law and learning to climate change and mass migration serves to calibrate the Huns' impact and identifies a shift in the stance of classical civilizations toward steppe peoples, from aloofness to fertile interaction.' Jonathan Shepard, University of Oxford

'The 'long fifth century' comes to life on a global scale as the internal workings of Roman government and society are treated within the context of larger geopolitical shifts, for which Attila - leader of the Asian steppe nomads who threatened the very existence of the Roman Empire, while at the same time aspiring to appropriate its ways - stands as a cipher.' Claudia Rapp, University of Vienna

'This excellent volume brings together a group of expert scholars who present a detailed and penetrating account of key developments in the history of the fifth-century Roman world. Michael Maas is to be warmly congratulated on putting this helpful collection together. It will surely become a standard companion for all scholars and interested general readers who want to learn more about this crucial period in the history of the Roman world and its neighbors.' John Haldon, Princeton University, New Jersey