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The Making of an Emperor: Categorizing Power and Political Interests in Late Roman Imperial Accessions (284 CE – 610 CE)

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The Making of an Emperor: Categorizing Power and Political Interests in Late Roman Imperial Accessions (284 CE – 610 CE) The Making of an Emperor: Categorizing Power and Political Interests in Late Roman Imperial Accessions (284 CE – 610 CE) By JaShong King A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Classical Studies Supervisor: Dr. Geoffrey Greatrex Department of Classics and Religious Studies Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © JaShong King, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2017 Abstract 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. ii Acknowledgments As we all know, no project exists in a vacuum. The fruition of this thesis is by no means the result of my sole efforts, but one made possible by the assistance of many others behind the scenes. I apologize in advance if I have forgotten to thank anyone for their help. I would like to first thank my advisor, Geoffrey Greatrex, who has been a calming and collaborative presence throughout the past two years. It was an innocuously simple question of his that started this project, and the search for its answer has been a most rewarding adventure. I would like to thank all of the professors at the University of Ottawa with whom I have worked, Jitse Dijkstra, Louise Stephens, Karin Schlapbach, Dominique Coté, Marie-Pierre Bussières, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Rajiv Bhola, Theodore De Bruyn, Efharis Kostala, and Richard Burgess, as well as Hugh Elton from Trent University. Their instruction, advice, and patience, especially with all of my unending questions, have made this Masters degree and the researching of this thesis quite an enjoyable experience. I would like also to give a thanks to the online history communities, most notably Reddit’s AskHistorians forum, that have acted as sounding-boards for many of these ideas. They have been vital in not only developing my interest in history, but also in critically engaging and challenging my thoughts in their various states of formation. An additional thank you is warranted to all of my peers, both undergraduate and graduate, for their moral and academic support. I want to give a special thanks in particular to J.-P. Rehr at the Université de Lyon and Scott Winges at the University of Ottawa for their close editing of this unexpectedly lengthy thesis. I expect I will be reading both of your equally lengthy theses soon enough. My parents, Hsang and Mei-Fong King, have my eternal gratitude for their good cheer and optimism toward me joining their ranks as a fellow graduate degree holder. Finally, the absolute deepest of all thanks to my partner, Leah Schnurr, without whom none of this would be possible. Thank you for being there for me, and know that I will always be there for you, to make both of our dreams come true. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................... iv List of Illustrations ................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Previous Accession Analyses ........................................................................... 2 Reaction to Kaldellis and Pfeilschifter ............................................................... 5 Project Purpose ................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER ONE: METHODS ........................................................................... 9 Definitions and Categorizations ........................................................................... 9 Time Frame and Sources ........................................................................... 9 “Emperors” ................................................................................................... 10 Accession Types ....................................................................................... 12 Accession Stages ....................................................................................... 15 Identifying Political Power ....................................................................................... 21 Master List of Political Interests ............................................................... 21 Political Interests ....................................................................................... 23 Power Types ................................................................................................... 26 Interest Types ............................................................................................................... 29 Executive ................................................................................................... 30 Military ................................................................................................... 33 Administrative ....................................................................................... 35 Religious ................................................................................................... 37 Popular ................................................................................................... 38 Non-Roman ................................................................................................... 39 Levels of Decision-Making Power ........................................................................... 40 Deciders, Affirmers, Mentions ............................................................... 41 Tacit Assent vs. Refusal ........................................................................... 42 CHAPTER TWO: SYNTHESIS ........................................................................... 44 Sample Accession Analysis (Diocletian) ............................................................... 44 Political Interests by Power Type ........................................................................... 50 Influence of Power Types ....................................................................................... 55 Charts and Explanations ........................................................................... 55 Trends ................................................................................................... 58 Geographic Range of Political Interest Power ................................................... 60 iv Explanation of Maps ....................................................................................... 63 Analysis ................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER THREE: THEORIES ........................................................................... 67 Implications ............................................................................................................... 67 Origins ............................................................................................................... 67 Inheritance ................................................................................................... 67 Election ................................................................................................... 70 Late Roman Evolution ....................................................................................... 72 Child Emperors and the Capital ............................................................... 72 Precedents and Political Interests ............................................................... 74 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 80 Caveats ............................................................................................................... 80 Uses and Applications ....................................................................................... 82 APPENDIX A (Late Roman Emperors, 284 CE – 610 CE) ....................................... 86 Sample Entry ............................................................................................................... 86 Tetrarchy ..............................................................................................................
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