In this chapter we explore the textual and material evidence for the transformation of the city of Antioch in northern Syria from the seventh through ninth centuries. Through observations of the environmental shocks, including the Justinianic Plague, which first arrived in AD 542, as well as the effects of a series of major earthquakes, we assess demographic changes that likely accompanied these events. Following this, we explore some possible reconstruction of the population of Antioch and its hinterland. In the early medieval period, a reassessment of the material evidence, read together with descriptions from medieval texts, demonstrates that a level economic and social activity, probably significantly exceeding previous estimates, persisted through the ‘Dark Ages’ of the seventh-ninth centuries.

The chapter details early medieval riverine infrastructure, looking at ways that medieval leaders and communities understood the challenges and opportunities posed by the many rivers that supported and surrounded them. Working across the broadest range of sources, this chapter is the most focused on material culture and human infrastructure. It surveys practical responses, economic solutions, concerns about riverine sustainability, and the construction and maintenance of infrastructure (canals, mills, fish weirs, bridges, etc.), presenting the ways that medieval people responded to rivers on a daily basis. It also includes discussion of the regulation of riverine resources and the conflicts that could arise over rivers, ultimately arguing that rivers were actively contested, constructed, and integrated into the full economy, culture, and experience of medieval Europe.

This is a brief consideration of the cities of early medieval Italy and the role of urbanism in social and political forms. It summarises the main discoveries and claims of the book, situating the strands of research within different disciplinary contexts and in terms of broader questions about the early medieval past.