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23990 results in Ancient history

Page 607 of 1200

Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration
  • Jonathan J. Arnold
  • Published online:
    05 February 2014
    Print publication:
    24 February 2014
  • This book provides a new interpretation of the fall of the Roman Empire and the 'barbarian' kingdom known conventionally as Ostrogothic Italy. Relying primarily on Italian textual and material evidence, and in particular the works of Cassiodorus and Ennodius, Jonathan J. Arnold argues that contemporary Italo-Romans viewed the Ostrogothic kingdom as the Western Roman Empire and its 'barbarian' king, Theoderic (r.489/93–526), as its emperor. Investigating conceptions of Romanness, Arnold explains how the Roman past, both immediate and distant, allowed Theoderic and his Goths to find acceptance in Italy as Romans, with roles essential to the Empire's perceived recovery. Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration demonstrates how Theoderic's careful attention to imperial traditions, good governance, and reconquest followed by the re-Romanization of lost imperial territories contributed to contemporary sentiments of imperial resurgence and a golden age. There was no need for Justinian to restore the Western Empire: Theoderic had already done so.

  • 12 - Epilogue

  • Matt Waters, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
  • Book:
    Ancient Persia
    Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    20 January 2014, pp 217-220

  • Summary

    Alexander cast himself in the role of Darius III’s avenger. As he consolidated and expanded his conquests, it was necessary to put the Empire on a stable footing as he prepared for the future. Just as the Persians were “new” conquerors two centuries earlier under Cyrus, Alexander was likewise. But there were many differences, not least of which was familiarity. The Persians had lived in close proximity with the neighbors whom they conquered, in the core regions of Iran and Mesopotamia, for centuries previous. The Macedonians were an entirely foreign element to the region. And what Cyrus built almost from scratch Alexander conquered as a mature, unified entity. Cyrus’ task had been to build; Alexander’s was to prevent dissolution.

    Alexander’s fusion policy – the joining of Iranian and Macedonian elites – is debated in its particulars. Alexander recruited Iranian troops from throughout the eastern satrapies, including a specialized troop of 30,000 young men who were to learn Greek and to train in Macedonian tactics (Arrian 7.6.1 and compare Quitus Curtius 8.5.1). In 327 BCE Alexander married Rhoxane, the daughter of Oxyartes, an Iranian nobleman who was appointed as a satrap. Whatever other reasons motivated Alexander, this act secured allegiances among the eastern Iranian nobles. After his return from the Indian campaign in 324, Alexander also married the Achaemenid princesses Stateira (daughter of Darius III) and Parysatis (daughter of Artaxerxes III). At the same time he staged a mass marriage ceremony at Susa between members of his Companions (his own elite Macedonian corps) and Iranian noble women. This act recalls Darius I’s marriage to Cyrus’ daughters, but Alexander took the symbolism to an entirely new level by including dozens of his own nobility in the same process. The mass marriage in particular reveals Alexander’s large-scale plan to integrate the Iranian and Macedonian elite, to form effectively a new ruling class.

Page 607 of 1200