Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian

408 Pages·2018·3.7 MB·English

by  Peter Heather

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Rome Resurgent
Ancient Warfare and Civilization
series editors:
richard alston robin waterfield
In this series, leading historians offer compelling new narratives of the
armed conflicts that shaped and reshaped the classical world, from the wars
of Archaic Greece to the fall of the Roman Empire and the Arab conquests.
Dividing the Spoils:
The War for Alexander the Great’s Empire
Robin Waterfield
By the Spear:
Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of
the Macedonian Empire
Ian Worthington
Taken at the Flood:
The Roman Conquest of Greece
Robin Waterfield
In God’s Path:
The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire
Robert G. Hoyland
Mastering the West:
Rome and Carthage at War
Dexter Hoyos
Rome’s Revolution:
Death of the Republic and Birth of the Empire
Richard Alston
The Plague of War:
Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Ancient Greece
Jennifer T. Roberts
Rome Resurgent:
War and Empire in the Age of Justinian
Peter Heather
ROME RESURGENT
War and Empire in the Age of Justinian
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Peter Heather
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1
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ISBN 978– 0– 19– 936274– 5
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Contents
Maps  vii
Introduction: Justinian and the Fall of the Roman East  1
1. ‘In This Sign Conquer’  19
2. The Military- Fiscal Complex  43
3. Regime Change in Constantinople  69
4. The Last Desperate Gamble  97
5. Five Thousand Horse  123
6. Rome and Ravenna  147
7. The Culture of Victory  181
8. ‘Our Brother in God’  211
9. Insurgents  237
10. The Western Empire of Justinian  269
11. The Fall of the Eastern Empire  303
Timeline  333
Glossary  339
Notes  349
Primary Sources  371
Bibliography  373
Index  383
v

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Maps
vii
The eastern Roman Empire and
PICTS the western Successor States C. 525
North JUTES
SCOTS Sea DANES
ANGLES
CELTIC LANDS
BRITONSSAXONS SAXONS TH
London U
KINJGUDTOEMSParisCologneRhiAneL R.A M A NRINNGIIANS LOMBARDS AVARS
ATLANTIC OF THE KINGDOM
OCEAN FRANKSBUROGFU TNHDEIANS DERIC GEPIDS SLAVS
SUEVI THE GOToTuHloIuCse KINLyGonD O M OF THEORRaovmenena Danube R. CBonlsatacnktin oSpleea
CORSICA
Toledo SARDINIA EAST ROMAN EMPIRE
Antioch
KINGDOM OF
THE VANDALS Athens Damascus
AND ALANSCarthage SICILY
CYPRUS
CRETE Jerusalem
A E T U L I Mediterranean Sea
G A Alexandria
0 km 500
N
0 miles 500 ile R
.
Map 1
East Rome and the Western Successor States ad 525
Paris
AVARS
ATLANTIC KTIHNEG FDROAMN KOSF Geneva LOMBARDS HERULS ANTAE AVARS ALANS
GEPIDS BULGARS
OCEAN
RavennaDALMATIA SLAVS AVARS
KINGDOM OF
THE SUEVI Marseille THRACE Black Sea LAZICA
KINGDOM OF CORSICA Rome MACEDONIA Sinope IBERIA
THE VISIGOTHS PREFECTURE OF Thessalonica Constantinople Trebizond ARMENIA
Toledo Valence SARDINIA ITALY PREFECTURE OF
Cordova BALEARIC ISLANDS Messina ILLYRICUM
PREFECTURE OF Carthage SICILY Syracuse Athens ISAURIA
AFRICA NE
MAURETANIANS MOORS MediTrtipeolir r a n e a nC RESTEe a PRETFHEECC TEYUPARRSTUE SOF Tyre EMWP PIREERSIACNt esiphon
Cyrene Alexandria Jerusalem Babylon
GHASSANIDS LAKHMIDS
EGYPT
R
BJuysztainnitainne’s ERmepiginre ( a5t2 b7e CgEi)nning of 0 km 400 ed S ARABS
e
Justinian’s conquests a
0 miles 400
Map 2
The Conquests of Justinian