<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type> The social transformation of the Roman world is a highly topical and much-discussed subject among historians. The importance of kinship in this epochal process has been largely neglected until now. This compendium seeks to close this gap by examining the role of kinship in transforming the social order. It significantly expands our perspective on the epochal upheaval between late antiquity and the middle ages.