- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations*
- List of Maps**
- Introduction
- I. Life in the Later Roman World
- 1. Life at the End of the ‘Lead Age’
- 2. Family and Faith
- 3. An Empire of Cities
- 4. Culture, Communications, Commerce
- 5. Constantinople, the New Rome
- II. Power and Politics
- 6. The Theodosian Age, AD 395–451
- 7. Soldiers and Civilians, AD 451–527
- 8. The Age of Justinian, AD 527–602
- 9. The Heraclians, AD 602–c. 700
- III. The End of Antiquity
- 10. The End of Ancient Civilisation
- 11. Apocalypse and the End of Antiquity
- 12. Emperors of New Rome
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index
- * Illustrations
- Black and white illustrations
- Figure 1. The lead coffin of a Roman infant, buried in Syria, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Figure 2. Pilgrim flasks (ampullae) from Abu Mena, Egypt, and Resafa, Syria, sixth to seventh centuries, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
- Figure 3. Papyrus from Apollonopolis Magna, Egypt, dated to the last year of Heraclius’s reign (AD 641), a marriage contract. (Photo: British Library, Creative Commons License)
- Figure 4. Public latrines near the lower agora at Ephesus.
- Figure 5. Tyche of Antioch, sitting above Orontes, a young man with flowing hair. Bronze copy of a statue by Eutychides, Louvre Museum. (Photo: Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Figure 6. Mosaic at the baptistery at Stobi, Northern Macedonia.
- Figure 7. Two statue bases of the charioteer Porphyrius, from the hippodrome at Constantinople, now in Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
- Figure 8. Column of Constantine, Istanbul.
- Figure 9. Theodosian land walls of Constantinople at Blachernae.
- Figure 10. A wooden jetty at the Theodosian harbour (Yenikapı).
- Figure 11. Hunting dogs chasing hares, Great Palace mosaic, Istanbul.
- Figure 12. Theodosian Obelisk and masonry obelisk in the hippodrome at Constantinople.
- Figure 13. Theodosian Obelisk, imperial scene on upper base. Obelisk above is supported on bronze cubes.
- Figure 14. Knotted columns, alluding to the club of Hercules, raised at the Forum of Theodosius on the Mese, now Divan Yolu, Istanbul.
- Figure 15. Column of Marcian, Istanbul.
- Figure 16. Hagia Irene and Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.
- Figure 17. Column base inscribed ‘Hecuba’ (ΕΚΑΒΗ), once at the Baths of Zeuxippus, Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
- Figure 18. Cistern of Aetius, a large open-air water reservoir that is today a football stadium, Istanbul.
- Figure 19. Trier ivory depicting the arrival of holy relics at the Great Palace of Constantinople. (Photo: Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Figure 20. Militant Christ, Archbishop’s Chapel, Ravenna. (Photo: German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Rome (58.599), with permission)
- Figure 21. Silver consular dish (missorium) of Aspar, National Archaeological Museum, Florence.
- Figure 22. Dedicatory inscription at Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.
- Figure 23. Golden coin (solidus) of Justinian II, showing Christ as ‘King of Kings’. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Figure 24. Great oval piazza at Gerasa (Jerash), Jordan.
- Figure 25. Hippodrome at Gerasa, Jordan.
- Figure 26. Great Mosque at Damascus, Syria. (Photo: Judith McKenzie/Manar al-Athar)
- Figure 27. Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. (Photo: Ross Burns/Manar al-Athar)
- Figure 28. Portrait bust of a young man, possibly Arcadius or Theodosius II, Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
- Figure 29. Gold coin (solidus) of Heraclius and two sons. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Figure 30. David Plate, showing David speaking to a soldier, his confrontation with Eliab. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Colour plates
- Plate 1. Mosaic of a solar chariot, Chapel of Sant’Aquilino, Milan.
- Plate 2. Silver chalice, inscribed for Symeonius. (Walters Art Museum, Creative Commons License)
- Plate 3. The stoa or embolos at Ephesus, once a grand colonnaded street, looking towards the theatre.
- Plate 4. Fourth-century mosaic showing Dionysus and Hermes, from a bath at Antioch. (Photo: Worcester Art Museum, excavation of Antioch and vicinity funded by the bequests of the Reverend Dr Austin S. Garver and Sarah C. Garver, with permission)
- Plate 5. Fortunes (tychai) of Constantinople, Antioch, Rome and Alexandria. (From the Esquiline Treasure, British Museum, with permission)
- Plate 6. Mosaic of Magerius, from Smirat, now in Sousse Archaeological Museum, Tunisia. (Photo: Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Plate 7. Mosaic of Dominus Julius, Carthage. (Photo: Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Plate 8. Mosaic at the episcopal basilica, Heraclea Lyncestis, Northern Macedonia.
- Plate 9. Peutinger map, location and Fortune (tyche) of Constantinople. (Photo: Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Plate 10. Sea walls of Constantinople, looking towards the Theodosian harbour.
- Plate 11. Basilica Cistern, today Yerebatan Sarnici, Istanbul.
- Plate 12. Sarcophagi of porphyry (purple marble), Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
- Plate 13. Sketch of the eastern face of the Column of Arcadius. (Freshfield Album, Trinity College, Cambridge, with permission)
- Plate 14. Barberini ivory, Louvre Museum, Paris.
- Plate 15. Ivory consular diptych of Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Plate 16. Dome of Hagia Sophia.
- Plate 17. Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, also known as Little Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.
- Plate 18. The largest of nine David Plates, showing David slaying Goliath. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Plate 19. Monogrammed glass coin weight, sixth to seventh century. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)
- Plate 20. Mosaic showing St Demetrius before walls of Thessalonica.
- Plate 21. Apse mosaic of Virgin and Christ child flanked by angels, Kiti, Cyprus.
- Plate 22. Fragment of mosaic from the ‘House of the Bird Rinceau’, Antioch, Baltimore Museum of Art.
- Plate 23. Madaba mosaic map, showing Jerusalem and the cities of the Jordan river valley, Madaba, Jordan. (Photo: Sean Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar)
- Plate 24. Three Fortunes (tychai), Rome (Constantinople), Gregoria and Madaba, in a floor mosaic at the Hippolytus Hall, Madaba. (Photo: Steve Walsh/Manar al-Athar)
- Plate 25. Floor mosaic at Church of St Stephen, Umm ar-Rasas, Jordan. (Photo: Sean Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar)
- Plate 26. Floor mosaic at Church of St Stephen, Umm ar-Rasas, detail of Philadelphia (Amman) and Madaba. (Photo: Miranda Williams/Manar al-Athar)
- Plate 27. Detail of the mosaic inscription recording the construction of the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. (Photo: Elias Khamis/Manar al-Athar)
- Plate 28. Portrait bust of a young woman wearing a bonnet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Plate 29. Mosaic of Justinian processing during the liturgy’s Great Entrance, San Vitale, Ravenna.
- Plate 30. Transfiguration mosaic, Monastery of St Catherine, Mt Sinai. (Wikimedia commons, public domain)
- Black and white illustrations
- ** Maps
- Map 1. Britain, Gaul and Spain
- Map 2. The Roman Empire, c. AD 400
- Map 3. The Northern Balkans
- Map 4. Asia Minor
- Map 5. Syria (with plan of Antioch)
- Map 6. The Persian Empire
- Map 7. Egypt (with plan of Alexandria)
- Map 8. North Africa
- Map 9. Italy
- Map 10. The city of Constantinople (with detail of the Great Palace complex)
- Map 11. Constantinople and its hinterland
- Map 12. Greece and the Aegean
- Map 13. The Roman Empire, c. AD 550
- Map 14. ‘Byzantium’, c. AD 700
Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library
I Tatti Renaissance Library
Loeb Classical Library
Murty Classical Library of India