This book introduces the Age of Justinian, the last Roman century and the first flowering of Byzantine culture. Dominated by the policies and personality of emperor Justinian I (527–565), this period of grand achievements and far-reaching failures witnessed the transformation of the Mediterranean world. In this volume, twenty specialists explore the most important aspects of the age including the mechanics and theory of empire, warfare, urbanism, and economy. It also discusses the impact of the great plague, the codification of Roman law, and the many religious upheavals taking place at the time. Consideration is given to imperial relations with the papacy, northern barbarians, the Persians, and other eastern peoples, shedding new light on a dramatic and highly significant historical period.

‘The publication of The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian is a major achievement and event in the field of Byzantine studies that promises to raise to a higher level study of the East Roman world at its 6th-century apogee. … contains a vast amount of information and learning for which student and specialist alike will be grateful.‘

Source: The Anglo-Hellenic Review

'… excellent book … extremely readable - comprehensible to the relative beginner, and yet containing enough material to keep the interest of the expert historian … We would also life to recommend it to the acquisition staff of the House of Commons Library and the Library of Congress to perhaps help educate our masters of the dangers of short-term military ventures and the possibilities of setting up peaceful, stable, multicultural societies.'

Source: Reference Reviews

'It will serve as an accessible introduction to the period for students and may also spark some new scholarly trains of thought. it is attractively presented, larded with colour and black-and-white illustrations and a number of particularly helpful maps and diagrams.'

Source: Journal of Ecclesiastical History

'… with this volume, a collection of contributions from well-known specialists, we now have an exhaustive and up-to-date compendium of the sixth century … this volume offers a competent introduction to the reign of one of the most important Roman emperors and its circumstances.'

Source: Bryn Mawr Classical Review