The army were the undisputed kingmakers in the tumultuous imperial politics of the later Roman Empire. The Emperor and the Army in the Later Roman Empire, AD 235-395 is the first study solely dedicated to understanding how the Roman emperor tried to maintain the loyalty he needed from his army to survive. It examines the military role the emperor played as imperator and reveals the 'political propaganda' he employed to persuade the army to back him. It also details the myriad of financial and honorific inducements the emperor offered to keep the support of an unpredictable yet politically crucial institution.
Autorentext
Mark Hebblewhite completed his PhD at Macquarie University, Australia, in 2012 and has taught widely in the field of Ancient History. His research interests centre on the ideology and politics of the later Roman Empire, with particular reference to the role of the army. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Zusammenfassung
With The Emperor and the Army in the Later Roman Empire, AD 235-395 Mark Hebblewhite offers the first study solely dedicated to examining the nature of the relationship between the emperor and his army in the politically and militarily volatile later Roman Empire. Bringing together a wide range of available literary, epigraphic and numismatic evidence he demonstrates that emperors of the period considered the army to be the key institution they had to mollify in order to retain power and consequently employed a range of strategies to keep the troops loyal to their cause. Key to these efforts were imperial attempts to project the emperor as a worthy general (imperator) and a generous provider of military pay and benefits. Also important were the honorific and symbolic gestures each emperor made to the army in order to convince them that they and the empire could only prosper under his rule.
Inhalt
List of Figures
Preface and Acknowledgements
Selected Roman Emperors and Usurpers
Abbreviations
Introduction
Fides, the Army and the Emperor
The Ancient Sources
Modern Perspectives
Chapter 1 - Dawn of the Warrior Emperor
Dynastic Rule Redefined?
A Dynastic Resurgence?
The Emperor as Commilito?
Chapter 2 -Advertising Military Success
Coinage and the Projection of Military Power
Virtus, Victoria and an empire in crisis
Virtus: The courage to lead
Victoria: An emperor's duty
Emperors Armed for battle
Diocletian to Theodosius the Great: new messages for a new age
Portraits of Power
The Titulature of Military Success
Projecting success in crisis
Tetrarchs and dynasts: the titulature of shared military success
Chapter 3 - Praemia Militiae
Praemia Militiae of the Republic and Early Empire
A Severan Mercenary Army?
Praemia Militiae 235-395
Donativa
Regular donativa
Irregular donativa
Ceremony and the donativum
Fides guaranteed?
Stipendium: A Dying Praemium?
The Annona Militaris: Dona
Praemia Veteranorum
The Economics of Praemia Militiae
Chapter 4 - The Emperor, The Law and Disciplina Militaris
Legal Benefits
The later empire
Soldiers and their families
Barbarians in a citizen army
Disciplina Militaris
Chapter 5 - Rituals of Identity
Acclamatio: The First Act of Fidelity?
Acclamatio in the age of the soldier emperors
Ceremonial legitimisation
Adlocutio: Presence and Power
The ceremony of adlocutio
The impact of adlocutio
Sacramentum Militiae: The Military Oath of Fidelity
Empty words in an age of chaos
The imperial perspective
An oath honoured?
Chapter 6 - Symbols of Power
Signa Militaria and Imagines
Signa Militaria: Heart of the Unit?
Imperial Co-option of the signa militaria
Images of Identity, Images of Power
Potestas Purpurae?
Christ's Emperor?
Epithets of Identity
Emperors of the Third Century Crisis: Caracalla's Heirs?
Diocletian, Constantine and the honorific epithets of the Notitia Dignitatum
Honorific Coinage
Concordia, Fides and Crisis
Virtus, Gloria and the Fourth Century Army
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index