This book presents a historical study of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity from the accession of the emperor Diocletian 284 to the death of the emperor Heraclius in 641.
Chapter 1. An Introduction to Late Roman History
The Problem of Christian Sources
The Legal and Administrative Sources
A Military Monarchy 284–395: Overview
The Age of Diocletian and Constantine
The Western Empire and the Barbarians 411–455
The Fall of the Western Empire
Justinian: The Years of Ambition
The Reconquest of the West: Africa
Social and Cultural Transformations
The Origins of the Germanic Kingdoms of the West
The Germanic Kingdoms of Western Europe in the Fifth Century
Religious Pluralism in Late Antiquity
Christianity and the State: Outlawry and Tolerance
Three Conversions and their Consequences
The Bubonic Plague and Other Natural Catastrophes
Setbacks and Recovery in the Mid-Sixth Century
The Challenge of the Sassanians
The Northern Barbarians in the Sixth Century
The Last Great War of Antiquity
Taxation and Diminishing State Revenue
Demographic Regression and Plague in Late Antiquity
Chronological List of Emperors and Other Rulers