The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila

Michael Maas is Professor of History and Classical Studies at Rice University, Houston. The focus of his research is late antiquity. His publications include The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge, 2005), Exegesis and Empire in the Early Byzantine Mediterranean (by Mohr Siebeck, translated by Michael Maas, 2003) and Readings in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook, 2nd Edition (2010).

• Part I. The Roman Empire: 1. Reversals of fortune: an overview of the age of Attila Michael Maas; 2. Government and mechanisms of control, east and west Geoffrey Greatrex; 3. Urban and rural economies in the age of Attila Peter Sarris; 4. Mediterranean cities in the fifth century: elites, Christianizing, and the barbarian influx Kenneth G. Holum; 5. Big cities and the dynamics of the Mediterranean during the fifth century Raymond Van Dam; 6. Dynasty and aristocracy in the fifth century Brian Croke; 7. Military developments in the fifth century Hugh Elton; 8. Law and legal culture in the age of Attila Caroline Humfress; 9. Romanness in the age of Attila Jonathan P. Conant; Part II. Attila and the World around Rome: 10. The steppe world and the rise of the Huns Étienne de la Vaissière; 11. Neither conquest nor settlement: Attila's empire and its impact Christopher Kelly; 12. The Huns and barbarian Europe Peter Heather; 13. Captivity among the barbarians and its impact on the fate of the Roman Empire Noel Lenski; 14. Migrations, ethnic groups, and state building Walter Pohl; 15. Kingdoms of North Africa Andy Merrills; 16. The reinvention of Iran: the Sasanian Empire and the Huns Richard Payne; Part III. Religious and Cultural Transformation: 17. Ascetics and monastics in the early fifth century Susanna Elm; 18. Religious doctrine and ecclesiastical change in the time of Leo the Great Susan Wessel; 19. Christian sermons against pagans: the evidence from Augustine's sermons on the new year and on the sack of Rome in 410 Michele Renee Salzman; 20. Mediterranean Jews in a Christianizing empire Joseph E. Sanzo and Ra'anan Boustan; 21. Ordering intellectual life Edward Watts; 22. Real and imagined geography Scott Fitzgerald Johnson.

'This work is transformational. Although focused on the Roman Empire, it also encompasses Eurasia, including the geopolitical dilemmas of Iran. Systematic treatment of subjects ranging from law and learning to climate change and mass migration serves to calibrate the Huns' impact and identifies a shift in the stance of classical civilizations toward steppe peoples, from aloofness to fertile interaction.' Jonathan Shepard, University of Oxford