Constructing Communities in the Late Roman Countryside

The first comprehensive treatment of the 'small politics' of rural communities in the Late Roman world.

Introduction: studying rural communities in the Late Roman world; 1. Constituting communities: peasants, families, households; 2. What really matters: risk, reciprocity, and reputation; 3. Small politics: making decisions, managing tension, mediating conflict; 4. Power as a competitive exercise: potentates and communities; 5. Resistance, negotiation, and indifference: communities and potentates; 6. Creating communities: taxation and collective responsibility; 7. Unintended consequences: taxation, power, and communal conflict; Conclusions.