Theodosius

The Empire at Bay
1. Auflage 1998
ISBN: 978-0-415-17040-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 246 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 383 g

Reihe: Roman Imperial Biographies

Emperor Theodosius (379-95) was the last Roman emperor to rule a unified empire of East and West and his reign represents a turning point in the policies and fortunes of the Late Roman Empire. In this imperial biography, Stephen Williams and Gerry Friell bring together literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence concerning this Roman emperor, studying his military and political struggles, which he fought heroically but ultimately in vain.

Summoned from retirement to the throne after the disastrous Roman defeat by the Goths at Adrianople, Theodosius was called on to rebuild the armies and put the shattered state back together. He instituted a new policy towards the barbarians, in which diplomacy played a larger role than military might, at a time of increasing frontier dangers and acute manpower shortage. He was also the founder of the established Apostolic Catholic Church. Unlike other Christian emperors, he suppressed both heresy and paganism and enforced orthodoxy by law.
The path was a diffucult one, but Theodosius (and his successor, Stilicho) had little choice. This new study convincingly demonstrates how a series of political misfortunes led to the separation of the Eastern and Western empires which meant that the overlordship of Rome in Europe dwindled into mere ceremonial. The authors examine the emperor and his character and the state of the Roman empire, putting his reign in the context of the troubled times.

Zielgruppe

Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Friell, Gerard

Williams, Stephen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of plates List of maps Acknowledgements Part 1: 1. Adrianople and After 2. The Burdens of Empire 3. Imperial Divisions 4. Catholic Ascendancy 5. Victory in the West Part 2: 6. The War Machine 7. The Barbarian Settlements: from Laeti to Foederati 8. The Topheavy Empire Part 3: 9. Contra Paganos 10. Triumph and Death Part 4: 11. Stilicho: Last Guardian of a United Empire 12. The Inevitable? Maps Appendices I The Battle of Adrianople II The Roman Army in the Later Fourth Century III Dynastic Stemmata: Valentinian and Theodosius IV Barbarian Settlements V Fourth-Century Barbarians in the Roman Army References and Notes Bibliography Index

Über Autor(innen)

Gerard Friell, Stephen Williams