An introduction to late Roman history -- The nature of the evidence -- The Roman Empire from Diocletian to Alaric -- The Roman Empire of the fifth and sixth centuries -- The Roman state -- The barbarian kingdoms -- From pagan to Christian -- Conversion to Christianity and the politics of religious identity -- The political economy of the later Roman Empire -- Society and economy in the Mediterranean and the Near East -- The challenges of the later sixth century -- The final reckoning of the Eastern Empire -- The fall of the Roman Empire.