Chapter 7 reconstructs when post-Roman kings and their officials went to church and considers the significance of church membership in shaping their positions in post-imperial palaces. This is (unsurprisingly) much easier to do for Nicene as opposed to Homoian rulers. Prominent officials accompanied Nicene Burgundian and Merovingian kings to church. Brief glimpses of life in Homoian royal palaces imply the potential participation of Nicene courtiers at regular religious observances. It may be that officials were not expected to go to church with the king; concerns for religious accommodation may have shaped the character of these events and allowed Nicene officials to justify attendance. Those who served the king could also be subject to the local bishop. Yet two episodes of excommunication make clear that the ultimate judgement over the continued standing of royal officials—both in palace and church—remained with the king himself. Post-Roman bishops may have been keen to claim the presence of ‘our people’ in the palace (as Victor of Vita put it). Dependence on the king, commitment to legal procedure, and membership of this separate Christian community seems normally to have trumped the claims of church affiliations even when courtiers and bureaucrats interacted with clerics.

Chapter 2 considers how requirements for Christian officials intersected with ongoing debates and disputes over the definition of orthodoxy in East and West. Eastern emperors and post-imperial kings felt the need to establish forms of consensus which might unite potentially opposing churches and church factions amidst new Christological disputes (in the East) and renewed Trinitarian controversies (in the West). This chapter considers how that pursuit of accommodation affected the practical implementation of ideals of a religiously uniform state. What Eastern emperors seem to have sought (and officials provided) was not personal commitment to a particular Christological orthodoxy, but rather, public support of and administrative co-operation with the current imperial line on its definition. Post-imperial kings adopted similar strategies. While the Hasding dynasty eagerly (and self-consciously) deployed the precedents of Theodosian legislation on religious uniformity within the state, these provisions were quietly shelved elsewhere in the West. This tacit acceptance of Christian diversity within the state maps onto the wider attempts of Burgundian and Ostrogothic regimes and their elite subjects to skirt the implications of doctrinal difference as part of wider strategies of accommodation.

This chapter offers a re-examination of P.Ital. 1 (445–6 CE), the well-known documentary dossier on the Sicilian properties of Lauricius, praepositus sacri cubiculi. More precisely, it aims to propose a new interpretation of a formula in the document 2013 ante barbarico fisco praestabatur – which, according to most scholars, starting with Theodor Mommsen, alludes to the existence of a fiscus barbaricus, a special treasury of the empire intended to collect taxes for the sustenance of non-Roman (i.e. barbarian) troops. The structure of the documents that make up the dossier, and the linguistic variations in the texts, suggest that the formula in question does not refer to a fiscus barbaricus, but rather to the fiscus, i.e. the imperial treasury, on the one hand, and to the barbaricum, i.e. the upheavals in Sicily due to the Vandal incursions in the Mediterranean, on the other.

This chapter examines migration in Late Antiquity, focusing on the movement of peoples and its role in shaping the post-Roman world. It challenges traditional narratives of mass invasions, instead emphasising the complexity of migration processes and their varied effects on political, social and cultural transformations. The chapter draws on archaeological evidence, including settlement patterns, burial practices and material culture, alongside historical sources such as chronicles. It highlights key migration episodes, including the movements of the Goths, Anglo-Saxons and Slavs, analysing how their settlements and artefacts reflect patterns of mobility, integration and adaptation. The chapter also considers new methodologies, such as isotope and aDNA analysis, to refine our understanding of ancient migrations. Central is the notion that migration was not always a violent invasion but often a gradual, negotiated process. While some groups displaced populations, others integrated with existing societies. The chapter stresses that the scale and nature of migration varied and calls for an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeology, history and scientific methods, to better assess the role of migration in the transition from the Roman world to medieval Europe.

This chapter examines the urban and architectural transformation of Carthage in Late Antiquity, focusing on how the city evolved under Roman, Vandal and Byzantine rule between the fourth and seventh centuries. It discusses Carthage’s role as a political, economic and religious hub in the Mediterranean, emphasising the continuity of its strategic and commercial significance, particularly as a centre for grain production and trade. The study details how Carthage’s harbours, warehouses and marketplaces adapted to shifting imperial priorities. It also explores urban planning, noting how the city’s grid layout, monumental basilicas and elite residences reflected both Roman traditions and late antique adaptations. Religious transformation is another central theme, with a focus on the growth of Christian architecture, including churches, martyr shrines and cemetery basilicas. The chapter reassesses the impact of Vandal rule (439–533 CE), challenging traditional narratives of decline by presenting evidence of continued economic activity and urban maintenance. Under Byzantine rule (533–698 CE), Carthage experienced renewed investment in fortifications, infrastructure and religious buildings, though signs of urban contraction emerged by the seventh century. Thus this chapter demonstrates that Carthage remained a dynamic and resilient city despite political upheavals and its eventual conquest by Islamic forces.

The perspective of the Greek historian Procopius, narrating the campaigns under Justinian in the East, North Africa, and Italy, proves to coincide with that of Cassiodorus. Procopius’ world is one of cities, with the exception of barbarian zones, which are city free. In Persia, Africa, and Italy was is fought over cities in a series of sieges. Adversaries are judged on their appreciation of critical elements of cities. The Persian Chosroes sacks Roman cities, but builds his own. The Vandals in Africa are sharply criticised for their demolition of city walls, which proves their military undoing. The Goths in Italy have a varied record: Theoderic is given credit for the sort of respect for Roman law, tradition, and city fabric which Cassiodorus documents, but his last successors, especially Totila, earn criticism, and ultimately defeat, for demolishing city walls.

The book is devoted to the relationships between Nicene and Homoian Christianities in the context of broader religious and social changes in post-Roman societies from the end of the fourth to the seventh century. The main analytical and interpretative tools used in this study are religious conversion and ecclesiastical competition. It examines sources discussing Nicene–Homoian encounters in Vandal Africa, Gothic and Lombard Italy, Gaul, and Hispania – regions where the polities of the Goths, Suevi, Burgundians, and Franks emerged. It explores the extent to which these encounters were shaped by various religious policies and political decisions rooted in narratives of conversion and confessional rivalry. Through this analysis, the aim is to offer a nuanced interpretation of how Christians in the successor kingdoms handled religious dissent and how these actions manifested in social practices.

Chapter 6 analyses how the re-emergence of Homoianism among the Visigoths, Vandals, and Suevi was interpreted in the Nicene church in Gaul and Spain and what this reception reveals about Nicene–Homoian relations in the region in the fifth century. It also examines the evidence for the development of the Homoian Church and the increase in the number of Homoians.

A construction like the colonate is known in the Heroninos archive (249–268). It is the paramonè agreement, where the estate owner grants credit and the debtor provides labour at the wish of the creditor, as a kind of interest. For the period from 364 to 293 constitutions are considered as issued originally. Retrogradely, several additions become visible. In the middle of the fourth century the coniugium non aequale is applied to coloni and some groups of workers, as is the senatusconsultum Claudianum. In 319 the coloni on imperial estates may be recalled: the essential mark of subjection. The same is shown in 332 for coloni on private lands: they are alieni iuris, may be recalled, and tax must be paid for them. Connected with the similar condicio for monetarii in 319, the colonate may have existed essentially in the beginning of the fourth century and can now be connected with a rescript of 293/4.

After the violent murders of the emperor Valentinian (March 16, 455) and his senatorial successor, Petronius Maximus (May 31, 455), in a series of coups, the Vandals occupied and then systematically plundered the city. Yet Roman elites – senators, contenders for the imperial throne, and military leaders – marshalled the will and resources after 455 to restore the city. Within a decade, Rome had reconstituted its government, with a stronger senatorial and military presence but a weakened imperial presence. Papal response after 455 focused on restoring clergy and church property.