Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of maps -- Preface -- Companion website resources -- Part I Introduction -- 1 Why study this period? -- Formative character -- Challenges to study -- This book's aims -- Questions, models, and experiments -- Part II Empires and peoples -- Introduction -- 2 From Roman Empire to barbarian kingdoms: cataclysm or transition? -- The First Doom and Gloom Model -- The Second Doom and Gloom Model -- The Deliberate Roman Policy Model -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- 3 The dismemberment and survival of the Byzantine Empire -- The First Doom and Gloom Model -- The Second Doom and Gloom Model -- The Deliberate Byzantine Policy Model -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- 4 The Arab conquests -- Approach 1: Accepting the validity of the written sources -- Approach 2: Being sceptical of the sources -- Approach 3: Reading back from the heyday of the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- 5 The making of peoples -- The Biological Model -- The Constitutional Model -- Why did peoples form? -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- Conclusion -- Timeline: Part II -- Part III Power and society -- Introduction -- 6 Pagan, Roman, and Christian beliefs about rulers: ideological power -- Paganism and rulership -- Roman ideology and kingship -- Christianity and rulership -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- 7 Edicts, taxes, and armies: bureaucratic power -- Written documents -- Oral communication, symbolism, and ritual -- Government departments and staff -- Capabilities of governments -- Companion website resources -- Research and study -- 8 Kings, warriors, and women: personal power -- War-bands -- Feasting, drinking, and the hall