Ralph W. Mathisen

Provinciales, Gentiles , and Marriages between Romans and Barbarians in the Late Roman Empire

Codex Theodosianus 3.14.1, issued in the early 370s, has been understood in the past to indicate a ban on all marriages between ‘Romans’ and ‘barbarians’. But this interpretation contradicts evidence that Roman-barbarian marriages occurred with great frequency, and the lack of any other evidence for such a ban. This study argues that the specific wording of the law, referring to gentiles (barbarian soldiers) and provinciales (residents of provinces), suggests that the ban was imposed to ensure the continued performance of specific duties incumbent upon these two classes of individuals, and had nothing to do with ethnicity-qua-ethnicity.

PEOPLE: PERSONAL EXPRESSION: AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Late Antiquity, which lies between Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages (ca. A.D. 250-750), heralded the gradual decline of Mediterranean classical civilization, and the initial formation of a strictly western European, Christian society. During this period, three momentous developments threatened the paternalistic Roman social system: the rise of the Christian church, the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the west, and the establishment of the barbarian kingdoms.The first of its type, this volume presents a collection of Latin source documents illustrating the social upheaval taking place in the Late Roman and early medieval worlds. The texts included in this volume provide the original Latin for the selections that are translated in People, Personal Expression, and Social Relations in Late Antiquity, Volume I. The 140 selected texts gathered from 70 different sources offer the reader firsthand experience with the ways that the Latin language was being used during the transformative period of Late Antiquity.Ralph W. Mathisen is Professor of Ancient and Byzantine History; Louise Fry Scudder Professor of Humanities; and Director, Biographical Database for Late Antiquity at the University of South Carolina.

PATRICIANS AS DIPLOMATS IN LATE ANTIQUITY

During the later Roman Empire, Roman Senators seem to have become even more Statusconscious than they had been before, and they looked to the emperor s the bestower of this Status. One of the many innovations of the emperor Constantine I (A. D. 306-337) that was concerned with senatorial Status was the reintroduction of the old Roman title of patrician. In its new form, however, the title no longer was an hereditary one of a privileged upper class; it became rather an honorary title, held for life, which conveyed very high Status. Indeed, s of 382, patricians ranked directly below ordinary consuls.

The battle of Vouillé, 507 CE : where France began

This volume highlights the heretofore largely neglected Battle of Vouille in 507 CE, when the Frankish King Clovis defeated Alaric II, the King of the Visigoths. Clovis victory proved a crucial step in the expulsion of the Visigoths from Francia into Spain, thereby leaving Gaul largely to the Franks. It was arguably in the wake of Vouille that Gaul became Francia, and that France began. The editors have united an international team of experts on Late Antiquity and the Merovingian Kingdoms to reexamine the battle from multiple as well as interdisciplinary perspectives. The contributions address questions of military strategy, geographical location, archaeological footprint, political background, religious propaganda, consequences (both in Francia and in Italy), and significance. There is a strong focus on the close reading of primary source-material, both textual and material, secular and theological.

“Becoming Roman, Becoming Barbarian”: Roman Citizenship and the Assimilation of Barbarians into the Late Roman World

one of the great questions that has confronted historians for the past 1500 years is the nature of and reasons for the decline and fall of the western Roman empire in the 5th century ce. all too often, this question has been posed in the context of opposition between the Romans and the barbarians who eventually established their own kingdoms in the Western empire. When looked at from the perspectives of citizenship and identity, however, a rather different picture emerges. Rather than being invariably viewed as ‘outsiders’, barbarians had a long history of immigrating into the Roman empire and then becoming integrated under the social and legal umbrella of Rome. in the 3rd century ce, Rome’s inclusive citizenship policy became extended to include new barbarian settlers. By the time of the barbarian invasions of the 5th century, Romans and barbarians had more similarities than differences, a consideration that helps to explain the largely non-violent nature of the barbarian occupation of the western Roman empire. at the beginning of the Roman empire, Roman citizenship was an elite legal status to which certain rights, privileges, and obligations accrued under civil and criminal law.2 for example, in private life, citizens (or cives Romani) could marry, make wills and carry out business under the protection of Roman law. Under the criminal code, citizens could not be questioned under torture, had the right of appeal, and if sentenced to death, were given a simple execution rather than crucifixion or death in the arena. But not everyone living in the Roman empire at this time was a citizen. far from it. the majority of the free population in the empire lived

Sigisvult the Patrician, Maximinus the Arian, and political strategems in the Western Roman Empire c. 425–40

This study investigates the roles played by the barbarian general Sigisvult and the Arian bishop Maximinus in western imperial politics during the reign of Valentinian III. In c. 426/7 Sigisvult was sent to North Africa to subdue the rebel Count Boniface. He was accompanied by Maximinus, who, in the course of the campaign, engaged in a celebrated debate with Augustine. Maximinus helped achieve a non-violent settlement that returned Boniface and his German troops to the imperial fold. Sigisvult then returned to Italy and was appointed Patrician and Master of Soldiers after the assassination of Felix in 430. In 435, however, this position was transferred to Fl. Aetius, who spent most of his time campaigning in Gaul. In 440, the Vandals attacked Sicily, and Sigisvult was placed in charge of the defence of the Italian coast. At the same time, an Arian bishop Maximinus, apparently the one who had debated with Augustine, was in contact with the Vandals. He may have planted disinformation that Sebastianus, the son of the now-deceased Boniface, was about to invade Africa. This resulted in a Vandal withdrawal, and both Italy and Sicily were saved. Sigisvult last appears in the mid-440s, and his subsequent demise, perhaps in the early 450s, may have resulted in the breakdown of a precarious balance of power and the murders of Aetius and Valentinian in 454 and 455, which hastened the demise of the Western Roman Empire. In an appendix it is suggested that although Boniface called in Vandal auxiliaries in 427, he was not responsible for the Vandal crossing in 429.

Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity

Part I: section A, how Roman, how barbarian? - filling the imperial void section B, redefining the social frontiers of frontier populations section C, redrawing internal frontiers. Part II: section A, reshaping the frontiers of person and gender section B, rethinking the frontiers of ritual, piety and spirit.

TheCodex Sangallensis 190 and the transmission of the classical tradition during late antiquity and the early middle ages

TheCodex Sangallensis 190 was written at an undetermined location in the late eighth or early ninth century. With the exception of two hagiographical pieces, it contains various epistolographic works, including a number of documents known from no other source, such as letters of Faustus of Riez (ca. 460–495), Ruricius of Limoges (ca. 485–510), and Desiderius of Cahors (ca. 630–655). This study reconstructs the manner in which the material in theSangallensis was assembled, preserved, and used. It suggests that the collection arose in Ruricius’ private archive and was later preserved and expanded in the time of Desiderius. Subsequently, additional documents were attracted into the compilation. By the ninth century, the collection had made its way to the area of St. Gallen, where it appears to have been cited in the context of a literary circle that included the bishops of Constance. TheSangallensis 190 therefore has much to say about how the literary works of Late Antiquity were preserved and used in literary-cum-family circles from the fifth through the ninth centuries.

Roman Aristocrats in Barbarian Gaul: Strategies for Survival in an Age of Transition.

* Preface * Introduction. The Barbarians in Gaul: In Search of an Identity * Part One. Setting the Stage: Romans and Barbarians in Conflict * Chapter One. The Aristocratic Background of Late Roman Gaul * Chapter Two. Gaul, Italy, and Isolationism in the Fifth Century * Chapter Three. The Barbarian Settlement: Impressions of Harassment, Interference, and Oppression * Part Two. Immediate Responses: The Disruption of Old Institutions * Chapter Four. The Intellectual Response: Conflicting Perceptions of the Barbarians * Chapter Five. Gallic Traditionalists and the Continued Pursuit of the Roman Ideal * Chapter Six. Flight and Dislocation, Emigrants and Exiles * Chapter Seven. Between Romania and Barbaria: The Barbarian Alternative * Chapter Eight. Conflicting Loyalties: Collaborators, Traitors, and the Betrayal of Territory * Part Three. Coming to Terms with the Barbarians: The Restructuring of the Gallo-Roman Aristocracy * Chapter Nine. The Acquisition of Church Office and the Rise of an Ecclesiastical Aristocracy * Chapter Ten. The Pursuit of Literary Studies: A Unifying Element * Chapter Eleven. Coming to Terms with the Barbarians * Chapter Twelve. The Final Resolution: Aristocratic Options in Post-Roman Gaul * Epilogue * Appendix A. Roman Emperors * Appendix B. Barbarian Rulers * Glossary * Abbreviations * Notes * Primary Bibliography * Secondary Bibliography * Index