The Historians of Late Antiquity

THE HISTORIANS OF
LATE ANTIQUITY

The fourth and fifth centuries AD were an era of religious conflict, political change, and military struggle. The responses of contemporary historians to these turbulent times reflect their diverse backgrounds – they were both Christian and pagan, writing in Greek and Latin, and documenting church and state.

This volume is the first accessible survey of the lives and works of these historians. Chapters
1
–
12
explore the structure, style, purpose, and nature of their writings. Chapters
13
–
19
compare and contrast the information they provide, and the views they express, on topics central to the period. These range from historiography, government, and religion to barbarian invasions, and the controversial emperors Julian ‘The Apostate’ and Theodosius I.

This much-needed introductory work is an invaluable guide and reference tool for the study of late antiquity.

David Rohrbacher
is Assistant Professor of Classics at New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida.

THE HISTORIANS
OF LATE
ANTIQUITY

David Rohrbacher

First published 2002

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

© 2002 David Rohrbacher

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow,

Cornwall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or

reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,

mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,

including photocopying and recording, or in any

information storage or retrieval system, without permission in

writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0–415–20458–5 (hbk)

ISBN 0–415–20459–3 (pbk)

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people aided me in the writing of this book. I thank Richard Stoneman and Catherine Bousfield at Routledge for their patience. The completion of the manuscript was aided by a grant from the Division of Sponsored Research at the University of South Florida. Thanks are also due to Holly Barone, Ed Foster, and the staff at interlibrary loan at New College of Florida and the University of South Florida, the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham, Anne Ankers and the staff at Hatfield College, my colleagues in the Department of Classics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the staff at interlibrary loan at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, my colleagues and students at New College of Florida, Michael Clater and the staff of the library at Clearwater Christian College, Katherine Maynard, Leo Allen, Jared and Casey Wilson, Julie Hayward, Donn D’Alessio, and my mother and father. This book, like so many other things, suffers from the absence of the discriminating eye of my father-in-law, Paul Latowsky, who passed away during its preparation.

I owe an incalculable debt to my wife, Anne, who edited the manuscript and suffered with me through its creation. I dedicate this book to her, with thanks and love.

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Interest in late antiquity has increased dramatically in recent decades, and the profusion of scholarly work on the subject shows no sign of abating. The scope of “late antiquity” itself has undergone an expansion both chronologically and geographically. Events as early as the second and as late as the tenth centuries have been described as “late antique,” as have events in the histories of Iran, Africa, and Arabia. This book takes a comparatively restricted view of the term “late antique,” treating only what seems still to be the core of the late antiquity, the fourth and fifth centuries in the Roman empire. During these two centuries, the empire became Christian, and the political unity of the Mediterranean was sundered by the end of imperial rule over the western provinces. (Useful modern introductions to the period include Jones 1964, 1966; Brown 1971; Cameron 1993a, 1993b; Bowersock
et al
. 1999.)

Scholarly interpretations of the transformations which took place during late antiquity have been altered by the continual accumulation of new sources of information, such as new archaeological exploration and analysis. Just as important as the new data, however, have been changes in attitude and perspective. What had once been seen only as a melancholy time of “Decline and Fall” is now more likely to be celebrated for its new and innovative approaches to religion, art, and culture. Modern judgements on late antiquity are certain to be influenced by modern sentiments about Christianity, empire, and multiculturalism. This study seeks not to pass new judgement on this complex period, but to better illuminate how it was perceived by those living and writing at the time.

The Roman empire in the fourth and fifth centuries: political history

The later empire must be considered in the light of the events of the third century, and, more specifically, the events of the years between the murder of Alexander Severus in 235 and the accession of Diocletian in 284. The degree to which the political and economic instability of the period impinged upon the life of the average citizen of the empire has been disputed. Nevertheless, several aspects of the so-called “crisis of the third century” are worthy of note. The rise to power of a new, aggressive, and westward-looking dynasty in Persia, the Sasanians, resulted in major military losses on the eastern frontier. This threat may have emboldened or enabled enemies on other frontiers, who struck repeatedly during this period. The military crisis was exacerbated by a political crisis, which saw approximately two dozen emperors serve in a mere fifty years, almost every one assassinated or killed in civil war. Military and political turmoil was joined by an economic meltdown, as frequent debasement of the currency led to massive inflation and the virtual demonetization of the empire.

The emperor Aurelian (270–5) restored the unity of the empire and made some economic reforms, but was assassinated after five years in office. The reign of the reforming emperor Diocletian, who came to power ten years later, is more often considered a major turning point in imperial history. During Diocletian’s reign, the Persians were soundly defeated and the empire remained generally at peace. In what appears to have been an attempt to establish clear lines of succession, and thereby to reduce the prevalence of civil war, Diocletian established a system of government called the Tetrarchy. The emperor selected two senior and two junior emperors, known as “Augustus” and as “Caesar.” It was expected that the
Caesares
would one day succeed the
Augusti
, and select
Caesares
of their own. Emperors by this time had long ceased to reside at Rome, and the four tetrarchs tended to be in constant motion along the frontier with their
comitatus
, their administrators and bodyguard. Diocletian doubled the number of provinces of the empire by subdivision, which allowed imperial functionaries to more efficiently control their smaller jurisdictions, and he also revamped the system of taxation after an empire-wide census. Diocletian was the first emperor to fully embrace the regal and absolutist stylings of a Hellenistic or Persian king, and the late empire is sometimes called the Dominate after the new title for the Roman emperor,
dominus
or lord. Diocletian’s restoration of order to the empire through the use of an
enlarged army and an increasingly autocratic and bureaucratic style of administration set the tone for the governments of the next two centuries.

The tetrarchic system was one of Diocletian’s reforms which did not long outlast its inventor, as the tetrarchs and their relatives fell into a series of bloody civil wars shortly after Diocletian’s abdication in 305. When the smoke cleared, it was Constantine I who emerged as sole emperor in 324. In addition to Constantine’s momentous conversion to Christianity, about which more will be said below, the emperor ratified and extended many of Diocletian’s reforms. In particular, he successfully restored a gold currency to the empire after Diocletian’s failed attempts at monetary reform, in part thanks to the massive confiscation of gold from pagan temples toward the end of his reign. Constantine was also responsible for the founding of “New Rome,” Constantinople, the eastern capital which grew rapidly in size and importance in the fourth century.