Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364-425

Perhaps for the first time we are introduced to the world of the later governing classes seen in the round; to their otium as well as their offices, their religion as well as their politics, their literary culture as well as their wealth...A lively and pleasantly written book.

• The governing classes; the ascendany of Ausonius; the accession of Theodosius; Christianity and the court - Constantinople; the provincial upper classes - evangelism and heresy; the usurpation of Maximus; Christianity and the court - Milan; Theodosius and the West; the regime of Stilicho; Alaric, Rome, Ravenna; Gaul and Spain (406-418); "Ordo Renascendi" - Gaul, Italy; East and West; Olympiodorus and Rome.