Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. List of Illustrations xi
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. Abbreviations xv
6. Introduction 1
7. 1. Historical Overview 11
8. Part One. The Making of the Peasant Consumer
9. 2. Rural Consumption in Early Imperial North Africa 31
10. 3. A Late Antique Consumer Revolution? 62
11. Part Two. The Struggle for Community
12. 4. Frustrated Communities: The Rise and Fall of the Self- Governing Village 101
13. 5. Bishops Where No Bishops Should Be: The Phenomenon of the Rural Bishopric 125
14. Part Three. Preaching and Rebellion
15. 6. Preaching to Peasants 147
16. 7. Reinterpreting Rebellion: Textual Communities and the Circumcellions 173
17. Conclusion 195
18. Appendix. The Identifiable Rural Bishoprics 205
19. Notes 209
20. Bibliography 293
21. Index 333