Stephen Mitchell 
A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-641 

The Second Edition of A History of the Later Roman Empire
features extensive revisions and updates to the highly-acclaimed,
sweeping historical survey of the Roman Empire from the accession
of Diocletian in AD 284 to the death of Heraclius in 641.

* Features a revised narrative of the political history that
shaped the late Roman Empire

* Includes extensive changes to the chapters on regional history,
especially those relating to Asia Minor and Egypt

* Offers a renewed evaluation of the decline of the empire in the
later sixth and seventh centuries

* Places a larger emphasis on the military deficiencies, collapse
of state finances, and role of bubonic plague throughout the Europe
in Rome’s decline

* Includes systematic updates to the bibliography

Table of Content

List of Illustrations viii

List of Maps x

List of Diagrams xi

List of Abbreviations xii

Preface to the First Edition xv

Preface to the Second Edition xviii

1 An Introduction to Late Roman History 1

2 The Nature of the Evidence 15

3 The Roman Empire from Diocletian to Alaric 51

4 The Roman Empire of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries 108

5 The Roman State 165

6 The Barbarian Kingdoms 206

7 From Pagan to Christian 242

8 Conversion to Christianity and the Politics of Religious Identity 277

9 The Political Economy of the Later Roman Empire 325

10 Society and Economy in the Mediterranean and the Near East 355

11 The Challenges of the Later Sixth Century 408

12 The Final Reckoning of the Eastern Empire 441

13 The Fall of the Roman Empire 466

Bibliography 497

Chronological List of Emperors and Other Rulers 522

Index 524

About the author

Stephen Mitchell is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History
at the University of Exeter and a Fellow of the British
Academy. He is also the author of Anatolia. Land, Men, and Gods
in Asia Minor (1993), Cremna in Pisidia (1996), and
Pisidian Antoch (1998).