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The Shields of the Empire: Eastern Roman Military Elites during the Reigns of the Emperors Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I. Byzantina Lodziensia XLVII

The Shields of the Empire: Eastern Roman Military Elites during the Reigns of the Emperors Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I. Byzantina Lodziensia XLVII

Łukasz Pigoński

Ebook

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.

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

  • Title: The Shields of the Empire: Eastern Roman Military Elites during the Reigns of the Emperors Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I. Byzantina Lodziensia XLVII
  • Author: Łukasz Pigoński
  • ISBN: 978-83-8331-095-4, 9788383310954
  • Date of issue: 2023-05-26
  • Format: Ebook
  • Item ID: e_3ag4
  • Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego