The papers in this volume are contributed by leading historians, art historians and archaeologists and focus on five key themes: the evolution of settlement patterns in the Byzantine Empire; the impact of barbarian elites in Spain, Gaul, Italy and Pannonia; the role of the Church in the definition of new links between town and territories; the situation in culturally homogeneous territories such as Constantinople and the minor Langbard polities; and the situation in economically-defined territories. The contributors include Gian Pietro Brogiolo, Pablo C. Diaz, Michel Fixot, Neil Christie and Bryan Ward-Perkins.