The Shields of the Empire: Eastern Roman Military Elites during the Reigns of the Emperors Theodosiu

Byzantina Lodziensia XLVII

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When the emperor Valentinian III murdered the general Flavius Aetius, it has been observed that he had ‘cut his right hand with his left’, and the story of the fall of the ‘last Roman’ has been put in the greater context of the subsequent dissolution of the Roman Empire in the West. However, a similar deed committed by the emperor Leo in the East in 471, when he ordered the killing of the general Aspar, certainly did not gain such a legendary status. The underappreciated story of the survival of the Eastern Roman Empire in the turmoil of the fifth century is however no less dramatic, and the role that powerful military leaders played in those events was certainly paramount.
This publication aims to reconstruct the involvement of the Eastern Roman military elite in various matters of the state on the wider background of political history marked by the reigns of the emperors Theodosius II (408-450), Marcian (450-457), and Leo I (457-474). On its pages, the author presents the history of the numerous wars in which the Empire found itself entangled in during that uneasy time, as well as the periods of conflict and cooperation between the generals and the emperors. The focus is not only on the military elite as a group, but also on outstanding individuals, such as generals Plintha, Flavius Zeno, Aspar or Zeno-Tarasikodissa, the aforementioned emperors and their civilian advisors. The result is a comprehensive study and a novel interpretation of the nearly seven decades of turmoil that, contrary to what happened in the West, curiously did not result in the collapse of the Eastern Roman state; perhaps, as the author argues, in no small part due to those military leaders, who were serving and protecting it.


Rok wydania2023
Liczba stron242
KategoriaHistoria wojskowości
WydawcaWydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
ISBN-13978-83-8331-095-4
Numer wydania1
Język publikacjiangielski
Informacja o sprzedawcyePWN sp. z o.o.

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Spis treści

  Introduction    9
  
  Chapter I. The Military in the Fifth Century    13
  Who Constitutes ‘Military Elites’?    13
  An Overview of the Sources    15
  The Roman Army    20
  The Foederati    23
  Commanding the Roman Army    24
  The Prerogatives of Magistri Militum    27
  Sources of Power and Influence     29
  
  Chapter II. The Military Elite during the Reign of Theodosius II    33
  The Regime of Anthemius    34
  The Fall of Anthemius and the New Regime of Pulcheria     40
  The War with Persia    43
  The Campaign against the Usurper John    49
  The First Vandal Expedition    52
  Plintha and the Huns in the Twenties and the Thirties    55
  The Second Vandal Expedition (441)    60
  The Developments in the East    64
  The War against the Huns of 441–442    65
  The Road to the Next War    68
  The War of 447: A Conflict Shrouded in Mystery     69
  The Course of the War    71
  The Peace of 447    77
  The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back: The Conflict over the Hunnic Question    79
  The Curious Case of Berichus    81
  The Developments of 448–450    83
  Conclusion    85
  
  Chapter III. The Military Elite during the Reign of Marcian    87
  The Perception of Marcian by his Contemporaries and in the Scholarship    87
  Accession to the Throne…    89
  … and Its Presentation    90
  The Month of Power Struggle    92
  Aspar’s Right Hand Man    94
  All Marcian’s Men    96
  The Wars of Marcian    101
  The War of 452     104
  The Conclusion of the Hunnic Problem    108
  The Northern Border and the Career of Procopius Anthemius    111
  The Problem of the Vandals    113
  The Eastern Policy of Marcian    116
  The Arab Raids    117
  The Blemmyes and Nobades    118
  The Expeditions to Lazica    119
  The Soldier Emperor    121
  The Emperor of the Soldiers    121
  The Puzzling Last Years of Marcian’s Reign    122
  Conclusion    126
  
  Chapter IV. The Military Elite during the Reign of Leo I    127
  The Question of Succession    127
  The Role of Aspar in the Succession    129
  A Dangerous Precedent     130
  Leo, the comes et tribunus Mattiariorum    131
  The Influence of Aspar    133
  Leo’s Own Ambitions    134
  The Ostrogoths and Marcellinus of Dalmatia    135
  Timothy Ailuros and the Religious Unrest in Alexandria    138
  463: the Birth of Leo’s Dynastic Ambitions?    139
  Behind Every Great Man… The Role of Verina    141
  The Turn to the West    143
  The Arrival of Tarasikodissa and the Situation in the East    145
  The Conflict between the Goths and the Sciri    147
  The War with Dengizich     149
  Aspar’s Opposition    155
  The Expedition of Basiliscus    156
  The Aftermath of the Defeat    161
  The Campaign of Heraclius and Marsus    163
  The Revolt of Anagastes    166
  Aspar’s Return to Power    169
  Leo the Butcher    171
  A Pyrrhic Victory    173
  Conclusion    174
  
  Conclusion    177
  Ethnicity: Solidarity and Division    177
  Kinship and Family Matters    180
  Faith and Religious Policy    182
  The Question of Identity: Becoming Byzantine?    183
  Closing Thoughts    185
  
  Appendix 1    189
  The Question of the Illyrian Command    190
  Tenures of Magistri Militum    192
  
  Appendix 2    195
  
  List of Abbreviations    201
  
  Bibliography    203
  Primary Sources    203
  Secondary Literature    207
  
  Index of People    217
  
  Index of Ethnic and Geographic Names    223
  
  Abstract    227
  
  Maps    229
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