Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West, 411–533

Analysis of diplomatic communication in the period of the 'fall of Rome'.

Andrew Gillett (Author)

9780521096386, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 January 2009

364 pages, 2 maps 3 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.53 kg

Review of the hardback: '… Gillet has produced an extremely learned and engaging study that deserves a very warm welcome from everyone interested in the transformation of the Roman world and the emergence of the early Middle Ages. It is lucid, fully documented, and it lays a very strong basis for any further research in the field.' Scripta Classica Israelica

Warfare and dislocation are obvious features of the break-up of the late Roman West, but this crucial period of change was characterized also by communication and diplomacy. The great events of the late antique West were determined by the quieter labours of countless envoys, who travelled between emperors, kings, generals, high officials, bishops, provincial councils, and cities. This book examines the role of envoys in the period from the establishment of the first 'barbarian kingdoms' in the West, to the eve of Justinian's wars of re-conquest. It shows how ongoing practices of Roman imperial administration shaped new patterns of political interaction in the novel context of the earliest medieval states. Close analysis of sources with special interest in embassies offers insight into a variety of genres: chronicles, panegyrics, hagiographies, letters and epitaph. This study makes a significant contribution to the developing field of ancient and medieval communications.

Preface
1. Embassies and political communication in the post-imperial world
2. The provincial view of Hydatius
3. The hero as envoy: Sidonium Appollinaris's Panegyric on Avitus
4. The saint as envoy: fifth and sixth century Latin bishops' Lives
5. Cassiodorus and Senarius
6. Negotium Agendum
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], European history [HBJD], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Palaeography [history of writing CFL]