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Summary of the Contents Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version when available. Title The endgame of treason: Suppressing rebellion and usurpation in the late roman empire AD 397-411 Author(s) Doyle, Christopher Publication Date 2014-08-15 Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/4631 Downloaded 2021-09-23T10:03:50Z Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS This thesis examines how rebellion, usurpation and conspiracy to usurp imperial power (all crimes of high treason) were suppressed by the state during the Late Empire, with a particular focus on the years 397-411, during the reign of the western Emperor Honorius. The thesis starts with a table of contents, followed by an abstract and then a section of abbreviations and a list of figures and tables. The introductory chapter details the aims, current state of the research and the methods used in order to research the thesis. Chapter one, Defining Rebels and Usurpers, examines what characteristics determined whether an individual was perceived as either a rebel or a usurper within the Roman world. Chapter two, The Endgame of Treason, examines what was common to the suppression of rebellion and usurpation during the fourth and early fifth-centuries: the seeking of sanctuary, ritual mutilation, especially of the right hand, before death or exile, poena post mortem, and the practice of damnatio memoriae. Chapter three, The Eagle and the Snake; Gildo’s revolt, 397-8, deals with the revolt of the comes Africae, Gildo, in 397-8. Chapter four, Shared Fates; Stilicho, Eucherius and Serena, 408, concerns the coup which toppled the comes et magister militum, Stilicho, in 408. Chapter five, The Usurpation of Flavius Claudius Constantinus, 407-11, deals with the usurper Constantine III, his numismatic self- representation, his dynastic propaganda, and his eventual defeat and beheading. The concluding chapter brings together the main findings of the thesis and a bibliography follows. The Endgame of Treason Suppressing Rebellion and Usurpation in the Late Roman Empire, AD 397-411 PhD thesis, submitted by: Christopher Cathal Doyle Supervised by: Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín Roinn na Staire Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh August, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.....................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements................................................................................................vii Abbreviations and Terminology.........................................................................viii 1. Ancient authors...................................................................................viii 2. Epigraphy............................................................................................xiii 3. Journals...............................................................................................xiv 4. Laws.....................................................................................................xv 5. Modern................................................................................................xvi 6. Numismatics.......................................................................................xvii Figures..................................................................................................................xxii Tables...................................................................................................................xxiv Introduction..............................................................................................................1 1. Defining Rebels and Usurpers..........................................................................11 1.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................11 1.1.1. A ‘short’ African rebellion.............................................................................13 1.1.2. Two ‘long’ western usurpations.....................................................................14 1.2. Coinage.............................................................................................................17 1.2.1. The public image of coinage.............................................................18 1.2.2. Political purposes of coinage............................................................19 1.2.3. Practical uses of coinage...................................................................22 1.3. The labels of treason.........................................................................................26 1.3.1. Tyranni..............................................................................................27 1.3.2. Hostes publici...................................................................................29 1.3.3. Praedoni and latrones.......................................................................32 1.3.4. Other terms applicable to treason.....................................................33 1.4. Rebellion and usurpation as a form of madness...............................................35 1.4.1. The folly of common criminality......................................................35 1.4.2. ‘Mad’ rebels and usurpers.................................................................36 1.4.3. Barbarian madness............................................................................39 1.5. They made me do it! recusatio imperii.............................................................43 1.5.1. Recusatio imperii in Late Antiquity..................................................44 1.6. Shared familial fates.........................................................................................49 1.7. Conclusion........................................................................................................51 ii 2. The Endgame of Treason..................................................................................52 2.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................52 2.2. The seeming futility of seeking sanctuary in Late Antiquity............................53 2.2.1. Pre- and early Christian sanctuary....................................................56 2.2.2. Imperial laws on sanctuary, 386-432................................................58 2.2.3. By any means necessary; ‘acceptable’ violations of sanctuary........63 2.2.4. Conclusion........................................................................................64 2.3. The treatment of state enemies in captivity......................................................68 2.3.1. Symbols of Victory; dexterae triumphalis and manus Dei...............68 2.3.2. Removing the hand of power............................................................72 2.3.3. Non-Augusti and dexterae triumphalis.............................................74 2.3.4. Conclusion........................................................................................77 2.4. Poena post mortem...........................................................................................79 2.4.1. Mutilation, decapitation and ritual head display...............................80 2.4.2. Conclusion........................................................................................81 2.5. Damnatio memoriae..........................................................................................83 2.5.1. The mechanics of damnatio..............................................................84 2.5.2. Damnatio in Late Antiquity..............................................................86 2.5.3. Conclusion........................................................................................87 3. The Eagle and the Snake; Gildo’s revolt, 397-98............................................90 3.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................90 3.2. Rome in the Maghrib........................................................................................96 3.3. The annona, Africa’s eternal duty....................................................................99 3.4. Loyalty and disloyalty.....................................................................................103 3.5. Western intervention.......................................................................................108 3.6. Nowhere to hide; the long reach of Rome........................................................110 3.7. The eagle and the snake; Gildo’s punishment..................................................112 3.8. Gildo’s damnatio.............................................................................................117 3.9. Prosecuting Gildo’s satellites..........................................................................124 3.10. Conclusion.....................................................................................................127 iii 4. Shared Fates; Stilicho, Eucherius and Serena, 408......................................130 4.1. Introduction.....................................................................................................130 4.2. Stilicho’s star ascendant..................................................................................134 4.3. Sympathy for the barbarian..............................................................................137 4.4. The August 408 coup.......................................................................................142
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