TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction to Leo the Great and the Late Roman World That Was His Stage -- 1. The study of Leo the Great -- 2. Imperial regimes and the Roman senate -- 3. Structure of the empire in Italy and the West -- 4. Ecclesiastical administration -- 5. Advance of the barbarian kingdoms -- 6. Survey of the life of Leo the Great -- Chapter 1: The Relationship between Rome and the Western Churches -- 1. A controversy develops with the see of Arles in southern Gaul -- 2. Ecclesiastical law is debated and settled in North Africa -- 3. Priscillianism is confronted in Spain -- 4. The vicariate of Illyricum -- 5. Persecution and discipline in Italy -- Chapter 2: The Idea of Justice and its Bearing upon Law and Mercy -- 1. Justice and its human failings -- 2. Ecclesiastical law as the expression of justice -- 3. The practical manifestation of justice in the application of mercy -- Chapter 3: Suffering, Compassion, and the Care of the Poor -- 1. The theology of poverty, charity, and altruism -- Chapter 4: The Humanity of Christ as a Model for Compassion -- 1. Assembling a christology -- 2. Polemics shape the development of Christ's human nature -- 3. The quality of Christ's humanity -- 4. Christ as example -- 5. The symmetry of justice -- Chapter 5: Overturning the Robber Synod and Preserving Christ's Human Nature -- 1. Negotiating with the imperial court -- 2. Enlisting the help of the bishops -- Chapter 6: The Elaboration of the Roman Primacy -- 1. The idea of apostolic succession and the primacy of Rome -- 2. The controversy over the 28th canon -- 3. The focus shifts to Anatolius -- Chapter 7: Striving for Unity after Chalcedon -- 1. Eliciting the support of the eastern imperial court -- 2. The apocrisiarius in Constantinople -- 3. A renewed correspondence with Anatolius.

Chapter 8: The 'City of God' Unfolds in History -- 1. Christian intellectuals respond to the sack of Rome in 410 -- 2. A new idea of history emerges -- Bibliography of Primary Sources -- Bibliography of Secondary Literature -- Index.