This book treats such topics as the structure of archaic Roman society; social changes from the beginning of Roman expansion to the Second Punic War; slave uprisings and other conflicts in the society of the Late Republic; the social system of the early Empire; the crisis of the Roman Empire; and late Roman society to the fall of the Empire.

English summary: The 4th edition of "Romischen Sozialgeschichte" (Roman Social History) is an updated version of the 3rd edition from 1985. This new edition contains a significantly broadened scope, an extensive annotation apparatus, and a description of new literature that appeared since the publication of the 3rd edition. This edition is still the only summary representation of the history of the society of Rome from origins through late-antiquity. Its subject matter range over questions concerning the origins of the social arrangement, the individual classes and groups of the...