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2012, Published in N. Lenski (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, 2nd ed. (New York) pp. 35-58
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2012, G. Bonamente, N. Lenski, and R. Lizzi Testa (eds), Costantino prima e dopo Costantino: Constantine Before and After Constantine (Munera 35; Bari) pp. 3-15
Throughout Roman history, members of the imperial family featured regularly in central coinage, on reliefs and statues, and in inscriptions – both in Rome and the provinces. Roman emperorship was a de facto dynastic system, which explains the sustained emphasis on imperial fathers, mothers, wives and children. Only very rarely was lineage wholly ignored. This posed major problems for imperial representation under the so-called Tetrachy; an explicitly non-dynastic imperial system, not organised by bloodline but governed through collegiate rule. How could such ‘corporate government’ present itself in a society that was used to dynastic terminology when indicating predecessors and intended successors? This article explores some of the alternative modes through which tetrarchic representation aimed to present non-dynastic rule, and shows how these alternatives proved ultimately unsuccessful. Apparently, the constraints of tradition in imperial imagery were too stringent to overcome.
2008, Published in A. Barrett (ed.), Lives of the Caesars (Malden MA and Oxford, 2008) pp. 228-254
2008, Journal of Late Antiquity
Modern scholarship, following the template laid down by Lactantius and Eusebius, has viewed the achievements of Constantine chiefly through the prism of his Christianity, with the result that his secular achievements have been comparatively neglected. This article addresses those secular policies, focusing on how Constantine sought to assert his legitimacy during the various stages of his rise to power. It takes as its starting point the modern debate on the legitimacy of Constantine’s elevation to the purple and whether or not he can be justifiably described as a usurper. Through close scrutiny of a variety of documentary sources—particularly inscriptions, but also coins—it establishes how Constantine sought to affirm the legitimacy of his position as emperor at a number of critical moments, and to have that legitimacy accepted both by other members of the imperial college and by the empire’s populace at large. It emerges that Constantine appealed to a variety of means to assert his legitimacy, for example, as a member of a college of emperors, as the preferred candidate of the army or Senate, as victor in civil war, or as a member of a dynasty. Furthermore, he invested considerable effort in buttressing his claims by actively deconstructing the legitimacy of his rivals, notably Maxentius and Licinius, whom he designated instead as tyranni. Thus Constantine made a notable contribution to the articulation of ideas of imperial legitimacy in the fourth century, and his strategies were adopted, most immediately, by his sons.
2015, S. Procházka, L. Reinfandt and S. Tost (eds), Official Epistolography and the Language(s) of Power. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the NFN Imperium and Officium (Papyrologica Vindobonensia 8; Vienna) pp. 219-236
2006
The figure of Maxentius emerged through interesting circumstances during the Late Tetrarchy, and his status as ‘usurper’ of the title of emperor was criticized and despised by the other leaders, namely the Augustus Galerius. Rome’s Praetorian Guard brought Maxentius into power from imposed retirement primarily to become the conservator urbis suae, which was further emphasized by his coinage and architecture. But Maxentius remained a usurper, as his position was not officially recognized, and he instead sought to legitimize his reign through political propaganda, and through an elaborate building program he instituted in Rome. This program was situated mainly at the eastern end of the Forum Romanum, and was marked most prominently with the Basilica of Maxentius. The massive Basilica was combined with the newly constructed Temple of Romulus and the refurbished Temple of Venus and Roma to create a ‘Forum of Maxentius’ in the pattern of prior emperors Augustus, Vespasian, and Trajan. The Basilica solidified the presence of Maxentius in this section of the Forum, a fact reiterated by the existence of a Republican-era tie to the Velian Hill that it punctuates. I contend that the Basilica’s placement and spatial referencing attempt to change the political and architectural topography of the most visible area of Rome, and that its distinctive construction and material technique was used to enhance and reinforce the status of its creator, thereby legitimizing Maxentius’ status as Rome’s true Emperor. This thesis combines the elements outlined above to create a picture of Maxentius’ hopes for a new and more powerful Rome. I investigate the ability of Maxentius’ program to influence the power of his illegitimate reign in Rome, and how he used allusions to previous Roman monuments to increase their validity, including the basilica building type, and its new attachment of bathhouse concrete vaulting technologies.
2017, Faces of Power. Roman gold coins from the Victor A. Adda Collection
2018
This article deals with self-representation of Maxentius, who ruled over Italy and North Africa between 306 and 312. It focuses on the imagery and language that was distributed through coins and portraits during Maxentius’ reign, as well as their reception under Constantine immediately after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312). It argues that Maxentius revitalized the tradition of a princeps at Rome in order to play upon sentiments of neglect felt at Rome and the time. In coinage, this was most explicitly done through the unprecedented use of the princeps title on the obverse, which initially may have caused a misunderstanding in the more distant parts of the Maxentian realm. The idea of the princeps was captivated in portraiture through visual similarities with revered emperors, especially with Trajan, and through insertion of Maxentius’ portraits in traditional togate capite velato. When Constantine defeated Maxentius in 312, he took over some of the imagery and language that had been employed by his deceased adversary. Constantine, too, presented himself as a princeps. This not only shows that Maxentius’ representational strategies had been effective, but also brings to light how Constantine managed to deal with the memory of someone who had been one of Rome’s greatest benefactors.
The central question of this research is: to what extend does Constantine present himself as a traditional Roman emperor? Chapter one will look at Constantine’s representation through buildings and iconography. The subject of the first paragraph is Constantine’s building activity in Rome. His appropriation of Maxentius’ buildings will be discussed, most notably the Basilica Nova and the Temple of Venus and Roma, as well as Constantine’s own building activity: the Thermae Constantinianae and his restoration of the Circus Maximus. The second paragraph of this chapter discusses Constantine’s representation through the iconography on the Arch of Constantine. It will be argued that Constantine is placed in the tradition of his renowned predecessors by the use of a traditional iconography on the Arch and by the re-use of decorative panels from the second century. The second chapter provides an analysis of Constantine’s coinage. Firstly, it is placed in the context of the Tetrarchs and of Maxentius. In the second paragraph, Constantine’s portrait is discussed. It will be argued that his portrait was modelled to resemble the portraits of Augustus and Trajan and that it had a distinctly different style than the Tetrarchs. The third paragraph considers the influence of Sol on the reverse side of Constantine’s coinage and the probable reference it makes to a ‘golden age’. Also a concise overview of the other themes on the reverse sides of Constantine’s coinage will be given and these themes will be placed in their proper context. In the conclusion both chapters will come together and some final remarks will be made on the themes that can be viewed both on coinage and by looking at Constantine’s building activity.
1999, Mediterraneo Antico
by Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie
2017, University of Ottawa
Roman emperors came to power through a hybrid dynastic/elective selection system that was never formally codified. This lack of codification has caused problems for modern scholars looking to identify and categorize those who were involved in selecting the next Roman emperor. This thesis believes that these problems exist because scholars are not distinguishing the names of key ancient institutions from the underlying types of power which backed their capability for action. This thesis seeks to solve this problem by creating a categorization system for imperial accessions based around a basic unit called the “political interest.” At its core, a political interest is a combination of the name of the individual or group as listed in the primary sources, the different types of power they possessed, and the level of decision-making authority they wielded during an imperial selection. Using this system, this thesis creates a database of Late Roman emperors with information on when they came to power, the various stages of their accessions, what political interests supported them, and where these interests were located. This thesis then analyzes the political and geographic trends from the database and supplies provisional explanations as to why changes in the Late Roman accession process occurred.
2015
Vesselina Vachkova & Dimitar Dimitrov (eds.), Serdica Edict (311 AD): Concepts and realizations of the Idea of Religious Toleration, Sofia 2014
The proposed paper endeavours to survey and analyze the main features of the imperial intervention into religious affairs during the Tetrarchy. Principal discussion will be centred around what motivated the tetrarchic rulers to initiate an openly intolerant and strongly coercive policy against Christianity after several decades of relative calm, how this policy was implemented in different parts of the Empire, and what finally precipitated the profound change in which Christians and their religion were to be treated by official authorities, that is to say, in what manner, to what end and with what consequences the transition from hostility to tolerance, to favouritism, was effected. Special attention will be paid to the question to what extent the religion was viewed by the tetrarchic imperial governments as a mere tool for specific policy goals, and, on the other hand, how much emperors’ personal religious persuasions or affinities might have influenced their respective policymaking. With regard to the attitude of the imperial authorities towards religious issues, it will be contended that there was no real change between their perceived tolerance before and intolerance after Christianity became a religio licita and the Christian values were adopted and imposed by the emperors as exclusively valid. In other words, the shift that occurred from polytheistic “tolerance” – notwithstanding the fact that Christianity was not among religions enjoying such forbearance – to monotheistic “intolerance” was rather a matter of implementing the same political notions and governmental mechanisms to a newly created situation. Several other issues will also be addressed: how contemporary and later sources perceived the Diocletianic Persecution; what degree of participation in the persecution of non-Christian ordinary people can be determined from the sources; and why there is no mention of the persecution in the works of non-Christian late antique writers.
2012, Journal of Roman Studies 102 (2012)
University College London
in K. Galinsky and K. Lapatin (eds.), Cultural Memories in the Roman Empire (Los Angeles: Getty, 2016), 240-62.
2019, Graeco-Latina Brunensia 24
The article argues that Constantine the Great, until he was recognized by Galerius, the senior Emperor of the Tetrarchy, was an usurper with no right to the imperial power, nothwithstanding his claim that his father, the Emperor Constantius I, conferred upon him the imperial title before he died. Tetrarchic principles, envisaged by Diocletian, were specifically put in place to supersede and override blood kinship. Constantine’s accession to power started as a military coup in which a military unit composed of barbarian soldiers seems to have played an important role.
2005, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine
Bachelor Thesis about Julian the Apostate’s 'imperial tradition', being a combination of his policy, ideas and representation thereof, it contains an analysis of the effectiveness of these topics in regard to later emperors as well as a comparison with predecessors in regard to what extent Julian's imperial tradition is itself a continuation on the policies of his predecessors. The thesis deals with the following subjects in four chapters, 'representation on coinage', 'the military', 'imperial administration and economy' and 'religion'. This thesis was graded with an 8.0/10.0. For further information or questions, contact me.
2018
Julian the Apostate’s short rule has left in the historical records a clearly divisive picture. This thesis starts with that divisive nature of the reign of Rome’s last pagan emperor and aims to analyse some of the Apostate’s coinage iconography. Can the symbols used on the coins minted during his reign say something about his allegedly revolutionary rule? By choosing to focus on a set of ten symbols found of Julian’s coins, this thesis was subsequently divided in a three-phased analysis in order to approach the subject. Julian’s coin iconography was first analysed in comparison to the totality of the Roman Emperors, stretching back to Octavian/Augustus. The second step was to put Julian’s rule within its own context and compare his coinage iconography to that of his predecessors in his own family, the second Flavian dynasty. The last step was to observe the changes during Julian’s two periods of time in power: being first a Caesar – subordinate to his cousin Constantius II – and later on the sole ruler/Augustus. Julian’s iconography was also compared to Constantius’. The results tend to show that most of Julian’s coin iconography could be characterised as conventional. The true departures can be divided into either obvious or surprising ones.
Abstract. Coins provide source material for the study of the Later Empire explicitly from what is written and portrayed on them, and the place and authority in which they were struck, and implicitly by the style of portrait and the choice of reverse type. The use and control of the metals makes a series of political points. Portraiture changed very sharply around the year 294 from individuality to the representation of authority. Reverse types in the later empire were much more limited and concentrated than the wide variety of representations in the earlier empire. The changes crystallised around 274 to 294, the date at which all city mints ceased local production. These are signs of a move towards a heavily centralised money supply dictated by more strongly emphasised authority. Control of metals, especially gold, followed the same path, though reforms in the middle of the fourth century may suggest that silver was let out of state control and 'privatised'.
2018, American Journal of Archaeology
This paper provides a comprehensive re-examination of the epigraphic, legal and literary evidence for the administration of Lusitania after the provincial reforms of Diocletian until c. 340. It concentrates on the evidence for the praesides of the province of Lusitania, the vicarii of the diocesis Hispaniarum and the comites per Hispaniam attested both inside and outside the frontiers of Lusitania.
The aim of this article is to reexamine the use of the African grain supply during late Roman civil wars. The main point of contention is that while cutting o the African grain supply to Italy could make a sporadic difference during civil war, most of the time this tactic was, in fact, not considered. Moreover, even when it was used, the results could be devastating yet insufficient to achieve the strategic aims it pursued. Nevertheless, during the transition from the fourth into the fifth century, there was a slight but conspicuous intensification of this method. This chronology is not coincidental and suggests a correlation between North Africa’s growing importance at a time the imperial West was at bay. More importantly, the increased use of this tactic can also be linked to the changing nature of late Roman civil wars in the western Mediterranean.
2012, S. Crogiez-Pétrequin and P. Jaillette (eds.), Société, économie, administration dans le Code Théodosien (Villeneuve d'Ascq) pp. 265-284
The Caesariani were officials of the res privata, against whose corrupt excesses several laws of the late third and early fourth centuries were directed. Most of the few such laws in the Theodosian Code are attributed to Constantine and appear part of his consistent policy of controlling fiscal abuses. However, there survive also various epigraphic texts on the same subjects. Not only are they unusual as long Latin pronouncements erected in the Greek East, but they are among the very few such texts present in multiple copies and found at overlapping sites. The only dating information they give and other correlations between them suggest that they were issued in the summer of 305 by Galerius and actively promulgated as a coherent dossier in his portion of the empire. One of these texts, the Edictum de Accusationibus, is also attested in the Theodosian Code (IX, 5, 1), attributed to Constantine in 314. Inconsistencies in the Code details and the correct interpretation of the epigraphic evidence mean that both date and emperor as given in the Code must be rejected. This serves to remind us of the problems of relying so much upon the Theodosian Code. Thus there survives much legislation of Constantine, but little of Galerius due to a large lacuna in our evidence for the period prior to 313, the start-date of the Theodosian Code. Further, because of the corruptions and confusions already present in the material and the subsequent editorial decisions of the Theodosian commissioners, the texts that appear in the Code, especially their headings and subscripts, may be extremely unreliable.
The archaeology and history of the Roman centres in the southeastern Anatolia has been a subject that has been generally neglected by modern scholarship. In this thesis I hope to help fill this major gap in scholarship. In general, the thesis critically examines the known history and recent archaeological identity of the Upper Tigris Basin from the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus to that of Anastasius I. It is based on a detailed analysis of the primary and secondary sources for the historical geography of the region and the results of surveys and salvage excavations that have mostly been obtained in connection with the Ilısu dam project. As such, it sheds light on current thinking and the available evidence on how the Romans considered and viewed the Tigris as an eastern borderland and in this way achieves a better understanding of the character and the nature of Roman military and diplomatic strategy on the Upper Tigris and the concomitant border region.
One of the most spectacular literary sources for the reign of Constantine the Great has been largely been neglected by modern historical research: During the years 317-326 AD, the Roman senator Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius composed a series of panegyrical pattern poems which were presented as a gift to the emperor Constantine the Great on the occasion of his vicennalia. This collection is the only contemporary textual evidence that allows us closer insight into the development of imperial court culture in these years. The aim of this paper is to carve out what the carmina can tell us about the formation of the Constantinian dynasty as one of the most profound development processes of the aetas Constantini. This requires a detailed analysis of the literary and performative dimensions of Optatian’s carmina figurata.
Nenad Cambi - Joško Belamarić - Tomislav Marasović (eds.), Dioklecijan, tetrarhija i Dioklecijanova palača o 1700. obljetnici postojanja / Diocletian, Tetrarchy and Diocletian's Palace on the 1700th Anniversary of Existence, Split 2009
Since the Marcomannic wars of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in the second half of the 2nd century A.D., Illyricum gained steadily on importance because of its strategic significance: the security of Italy depended on stability of the middle Danube frontier. Illyricum was also perceived as the empire's most valuable and reliable recruiting ground. The 3rd century with its almost continous crisis saw heavy internal and external fighting especially in Illyrian provinces. As a result, the Illyrian troops and their commanders were advanced into position of not only providing the decisive defence for the Empire, but also of deciding on the holder of the imperial power. Many important military commanders of that time were of Illyrian origin or stationed in Illyricum, and a number of them rose to the throne, or tried to do so. Diocletian, who himself was an Illyrian by birth, recognized the role of Illyricum in his attempts to restore the Empire. Virtually all of the Augusti and Caesars of Diocletianic era were Illyrians. Galerius, who received Illyricum and Greece by Diocletian in A.D. 293 as his portion of the Empire, maintained the control of the middle Danube frontier having two of his nominees put in charge of the west Illyrian provinces: both Severus and Licinius received diocese of Pannonia, in A.D. 305 and 308 respectively, while Galerius commanded the rest of Illyricum, as well as Thrace. Galerius' direct control over Illyricum was of considerable importance for his move against Maxentius in Italy, athough Galerius failed to suppress the usurper. In the autumn of 308, Diocletian, urged by Galerius, called a conference at Carnuntum in Upper Pannonia (Pannonia Prima) to resolve the problems caused by civil war. The place of conference was deliberate: it was in the relative vicinity of Diocletian's palace in Dalmatia, was under Galerius' control, and was situated in the central part of the Empire, close to the main traffic routes connecting East and West. Illyricum played even more important role in the events following Galerius' death in A.D. 311. Illyricum and its adjacent region of Thrace were regular battlegrounds in the struggle between the pretenders for control over the Empire. There were decisive battles fought there between Licinius and Maximinus Daia (Campus Ergenus at Tzirallum near Adrianople in A.D. 313), and Constantine I and Licinius (Cibalae near Sirmium and Mardia near Adrianople in A.D. 316 (314?), Adrianople in A.D. 324). Both Licinius and Constantine tried to secure their positions in Illyricum as to neutralize the oponent and win upper hand. In A.D. 316 (314?), Licinius was left only in control of diocese of Thrace, while Constantine acquired all of Illyricum. This proved crucial, for in A.D. 324, the year of final confrontation, Constantine was able to use his strategic advantage and in three-month campaign inflict ultimate defeat on Licinius. This was the last act of tetrarchic wars, in which Illyricum played a prominent role.
2018, B.A. Thesis
This dissertation explores the reforms of DIocletian, covering: the tetrarchy, administrative, military, economic, religious and external factors that allowed Diocletian above all others to bring the 'Third Century Crisis' to an end.
It is usually difficult to identify the watershed that marks the demise of an old system and the birth of a new one, but AD 284 has become an iconic example. In that year, the accession of Diocletian ushered in a new style of Roman government in which the emperor’s official title, hitherto Princeps (‘first citizen’) or, more formally, Imperator Caesar (‘Caesar the commander’), became instead Dominus Noster (‘our Master’). In conjunction with this change of attitude, scholars have sought to identify changes in policy, and it is common to attribute the beginnings of a new style of Roman army to the reforming zeal of Diocletian. But was he really a reformer, or did he merely strive to restore a broken system? Was he really an innovator, or did he simply take the old system to its logical conclusion? (Illustrated by Angel Garcia Pinto.)
Diocletian's price edict of 301 CE listed maximum prices for over 1200 consumer items. The prices in the edict were expressed as denarii, although the denarius coin had not been commonly struck for many years. Most of the coins actually used to pay for the goods were the product of reforms by Diocletian in c. 294 CE. These were the gold aureus, silver argenteus, billon nummus, and two lighter copper coins. The earlier billon antoninianus also remained in mass circulation, although it was no longer struck. The value of these coins was not stated on them, and their purchasing power in price edict denarii could be varied by the state. Their relative values in late 301 CE when the edict was published are examined in this paper. Three criteria are used: the intrinsic bullion value of the coins, epigraphic evidence, and the internal pricing structure of the edict. Values of 4 denarii for the old antoninianus and the new copper radiate, 25 denarii for the nummus, 100 denarii for the argenteus, and 2000 denarii for the aureus are suggested. The last of these valuations is higher than any that have been previously considered for the aureus. KEYWORDS Diocletian, price edict, coins, argenteus, nummus, aureus, denarius, radiate, laureate, Roman
This thesis is about Constantine the Great and his bronze coinage. The first chapter talks about the inter-disciplinary aspects of numismatics and how it can be a great asset to historians. The second chapter is about Constantine and Christianity and this chapter will use coins and other sources to demonstrate his sincere religious beliefs and refute those that talk of his syncretism. The third chapter starts with Constantine defeating Licinius and becoming the sole ruler of the Empire. After becoming the sole ruler, Constantine then shifted the power of the Roman Empire to Constantinople. Several coin types are discussed to demonstrate the importance of Constantine’s new city. The last chapter shows how Constantine and one coin type influenced the German people for many years to come.
2009, The Two Eyes of the Earth
The Two Eyes of the Earth: Art and Ritual of Kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran (Berkeley 2009 [2010]), was awarded the 2010 James Henry Breasted Prize from the American Historical Association for best book in any field of history prior to 1000 CE. Canepa had made an comparative study between Late Roman/Byzantine and Sassanian Empire about their ideologies on Majesty. With artisitic sources Canepa suceed to show how the dialogue between the two rivals empires illustrate this Fernand Braudel quote : "At first glance, every civilization is similar at merchandise station whom did'nt cease to receive and send disparate baggage" (Fernand Braudel , Grammaire des Civilisations , Paris, Flammarion coll.Champs Histoire first edition 1963, p.46, personal traduction from French Geoffroy Feugier). The two Eyes of the Earth show the Roman-Persian coexistance and rivalry during the Sassanian era ( 224-642). A classic for every historian interest about Sassanian , Byzantine, Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Middle East . Source: https://archive.org/details/TheTwoEyesOfTheEarth_201303/page/n9/mode/2up