Theodosius: The Empire at Bay (Roman Imperial Biographies)

225 Pages·2005·1.72 MB·English

by  Gerard Friell

THEODOSIUS

THEODOSIUS
THE EMPIRE AT BAY
Stephen Williams
and
Gerard Friell
First published 1994 by B T Batsford Ltd
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”
First published in paperback 1998 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA by Yale University Press
© 1994 Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell
The right of Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell to be identified as the Author of
this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised 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
ISBN 0-203-98198-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-415-17040-0 (Print Edition)
CONTENTS

List of plates viii
List of maps x
Acknowledgements xi

Part I The Crucible

1 Adrianople and After 2
2 The Burdens of Empire 10
3 Imperial Divisions 21
4 Catholic Ascendancy 30
5 Victory in the West 42

Part II The Changed Background

6 The War Machine 54
7 The Barbarian Settlements: from Laeti to Foederati 68
8 The Topheavy Empire 78

Part III Confrontation

9 Contra Paganos 90
10 Triumph and Death 118
Part IV The Unravelling

11 Stilicho: Last Guardian of a United Empire 125
12 The Inevitable? 139

Appendices
I The Battle of Adrianople 152
II The Roman Army in the Later Fourth Century 157
III Dynastic Stemmata: Valentinian and Theodosius 163
IV Barbarian Settlements 164
V Fourth-Century Barbarians in the Roman Army 166
References and Notes 170
Bibliography 198
Index 204

PLATES

(Between pages 128 and 129)

1 The missorium of Theodosius

2–
The obelisk of Theodosius, the Hippodrome, Constantinople
3

4 Coin of Valens

5 Coin of Gratian

6 Coin of Theodosius

7 Coin of Maximus

8 Bishop Ambrose of Milan

9 Valentinian II

10 Reconstruction of the Imperial baths, Trier

11 The basilica of St Paul, Rome

12 The sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

13 Ivory of the Symmachi

14 The Emperor Honorius
15 Flavius Stilicho

16 A military belt buckle

17 Gemstone of Alaric

18 Coin hoard from Hoxne

19 Reconstruction and modern view of the land walls of

Constantinople