Warfare was a defining feature of the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian (r. 527565). His extensive military campaigns spanned multiple fronts, including conflicts in the East against the Persians and in the West against the Vandals in North Africa, as well as the Ostrogoths and Franks in Italy and the Visigoths in Spain.
Across the Mediterranean during this period, influential generals and military leaders both Roman and non-Roman played increasingly prominent roles in both military affairs and civil governance. This volume is the first to bring together a comprehensive study of sixth-century Roman and non-Roman generals. While contemporary analyses often drew upon traditional Graeco-Roman ideals of leadership, this era also witnessed notable innovations in military and political authority.
To explore these transformations, each chapter focuses on either Roman or non-Roman generals, adopting a broad geographical perspective to compare major military figures in the late antique Roman world. Through this comparative approach, the volume highlights significant social and political developments in the late antique Mediterranean world. It will appeal to scholars and readers interested in the military, political, and social history of Late Antiquity, as well as those working in the fields of History, Gender Studies, War Studies, Political Science, and Ancient History.
Contributors ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Justinian and his Magistri Militum at the Crossroads of a New
Age 1
MICHAEL EDWARD STEWART
1 Emperors of War: Belisarius, Narses, Germanus, and the Problem of Enacting
Imperial Authority 20
CLEMENS KOEHN
2 Solomon, the Eunuch General Extraordinaire 57
CONOR WHATELY
3 Sittas: The Armenian Specialist 73
DAVID ALAN PARNELL
4 Dashing John: Insubordination, Social Networks, and Marriage Alliances
during the Gothic War, 537553 94
MICHAEL EDWARD STEWART
5 Generalship and Literature in the Sixth Century: The General Martinus in
Procopius and Agathias 120
JONATHAN THOMAS WILD
6 He Was Defeated by His Own Bad Planning: A Reappraisal of Baduilas
Generalship and Statecraft 142
MARCO CRISTINI
7 Artabanes: Divided Loyalties and Political Necessities in the Reign of
Justinian I 164
MIRANDA WILLIAMS
8 The Generalship of Philippicus: Commanding, Fighting, and Attaining Martial
Masculinity and Virtue in the Late Roman Near East 184
SEAN STRONG
9 Bahram Chobin: General, Rebel, and King 208
MICHAEL BONNER
10 Loving the Standards of Rome 223
CHRISTOPHER HEATH
Coda 239
LEONORA NEVILLE
Index 243
Michael Edward Stewart is an honorary Research Fellow of the University of Queensland, Australia. He researches issues of culture, gender, and identity in Late Antiquity and is the author of Masculinity, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Power Politics in the Age of Justinian (2020).
