ABSTRACT
The 5th century saw the end of Roman imperial power in the West. Academic debate continues about whether the Empire collapsed or transformed and survived in the form of the barbarian successor states in Gaul, Italy and Spain.1 For the purposes of this chapter, the key matter is that the century began with structures of official power still apparently robust throughout the West and ended with both Empire and structures seemingly supplanted by incoming barbarians.2 Yet, while the process of invasion eventually vanquished Roman political authority, Roman provincial elites survived and strove to find new ways of preserving their social, political and economic status in this new post-Roman World.
