Information and Frontiers: Roman Foreign Relations in Late Antiquity

236 Pages·1993·13.16 MB·English

by  A. D. Lee

The Roman empire of classical antiquity was a great power without any serious
rivals. By contrast, the Roman empire of late antiquity faced another great power
to the east, as well as increasingly troublesome barbarian tribes to the north. The
ability of the empire to cope with these changed circumstances was affected in part
by its access to reliable information and intelligence about these neighbours. This
book offers the first systematic investigation of this dimension of late Roman
foreign relations.
Adopting a comparative framework, it examines the theme of information in
Roman relations with Sasanian Persia to the east and with a variety of northern
peoples - Goths, Franks, Huns, and others. It aims to assess how well-informed
the empire was about these peoples, and to account for differences in the
availability of information between east and north. This involves consideration of
institutional features of the empire and levels of organisational complexity among
these neighbours, as well as variations in the socio-cultural character of the
relevant frontier regions and their effect on the interchange of people and
information. As a result, the book deals with a wide range of subjects beyond the
traditional confines of military/diplomatic history, from geographical and ethno-
graphical knowledge and assumptions, to levels of urbanisation and the role of
religious and economic factors, and thereby helps to place late Roman foreign
relations in a much broader context.
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
INFORMATION AND FRONTIERS
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
INFORMATION
AND FRONTIERS
ROMAN FOREIGN RELATIONS
IN LATE ANTIQUITY
A. D. LEE
S CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521392563
© Cambridge University Press 1993
First published 1993
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Lee, A. D.
Information and frontiers: Roman foreign relations in late antiquity /
A. D. Lee.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o 521 39256 x
1. Rome - Foreign relations - 284-620. 1. Title.
DG312.144 1993
92-34199 CIP
ISBN-13 978-0-521-39256-3 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-39256-X hardback
Transferred to digital printing 2005
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
To my parents
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
CONTENTS
Preface page xi
Chronological list of selected Roman emperors (early third to
early seventh century) xiii
Chronological list of Sasanian kings (220S-628) xv
Maps xvi
List of abbreviations xx
Introduction 1
Scope and aims 1
Previous work 4
Sources 5
PART i: CONTEXTS
1 The protagonists 15
Sasanian Persia 15
The empire's northern neighbours 25
Roman resources for foreign relations 32
2 At the interface: the frontier regions 49
The east 49
The north 66
IX
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009