Introduction : new paths to theory
Mesopotamia : fission-fusion of the first city polities and empires
The sources and limits of central authority in mesopotamia
Greece : structural features of a watershed civilization
The Polis : triumph and challenge of citizenship
Ancient China : overlapping polities in an imperial framework
The mandate of heaven : authority in ancient China
Mesoamerica : a multitude of polities
Mesoamerica and the Spanish conquest : the collision of civilizations
Islam : the evolution of a messianic movement
The caliphate : the limits of dynastic power
Italy after Rome : complexity at the nexus of the ancient and modern worlds
Medieval Italy : competing visions of unity and authority
