Barbarians and brothers-in-arms
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David Alan Parnell
Abstract
The modern explanation of the Byzantine distinction between Roman and barbarian has focused on a dichotomy based on political allegiance to the emperor. In this interpretation, while individuals could change identity by changing loyalty, the categories themselves did not change. This essay argues that sixth-century Byzantine military elites had more complex opinions about identity and loyalty. In particular, they could accept that many who served the emperor loyally were in fact non-Romans and even barbarians, even if they liked them and refrained from using that term pejoratively. In fact, Byzantines could exhibit approval and fondness of non-Romans in loyal service to the emperor. The application of the pejorative label “barbarian” to non-Romans serving in the Byzantine military was limited to occasions when criticism was deemed appropriate (such as the misbehavior of the non-Roman) and those situations in which a reference to traditional barbarian tropes served a literary purpose.
© 2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Siglenverzeichnis
- I. Abteilung
- East Central Europe: the gate to Byzantium
- The invocation of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel attributed to Metrophanes metropolitan of Smyrna (BHG 1292)
- The Church of St. Catherine in Thessalonike: its topographical setting and the current state of scholarship
- Zwischen Wüste und Welt: die Konstruktion des Raumes in den byzantinischen erbaulichen Erzählungen
- Nature and deliberation in Bessarion’s De natura et arte
- The Historia Ekklesiastike kai Mystike Theoria: a symbolic understanding of the Byzantine church building
- The pleasure of mudslinging: an invective dialogue in verse from 10th century Byzantium
- An unedited antirrhetic discourse by the patriarch of Constantinople Kallistos I
- Barbarians and brothers-in-arms
- Kaiser Justin II. (565–578) als Konsul auf Folles der Münzstätte Kyzikos
- La ‹monnaie› présumée et perdue de l’impératrice Théophano (959–969)
- II. Abteilung
- III. Abteilung
- Bibliographische Notizen Und Mitteilungen
- Totentafel
- Autoren- Und Herausgeberverzeichnis Zu Band 108, Heft 1 Und 2
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Siglenverzeichnis
- I. Abteilung
- East Central Europe: the gate to Byzantium
- The invocation of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel attributed to Metrophanes metropolitan of Smyrna (BHG 1292)
- The Church of St. Catherine in Thessalonike: its topographical setting and the current state of scholarship
- Zwischen Wüste und Welt: die Konstruktion des Raumes in den byzantinischen erbaulichen Erzählungen
- Nature and deliberation in Bessarion’s De natura et arte
- The Historia Ekklesiastike kai Mystike Theoria: a symbolic understanding of the Byzantine church building
- The pleasure of mudslinging: an invective dialogue in verse from 10th century Byzantium
- An unedited antirrhetic discourse by the patriarch of Constantinople Kallistos I
- Barbarians and brothers-in-arms
- Kaiser Justin II. (565–578) als Konsul auf Folles der Münzstätte Kyzikos
- La ‹monnaie› présumée et perdue de l’impératrice Théophano (959–969)
- II. Abteilung
- III. Abteilung
- Bibliographische Notizen Und Mitteilungen
- Totentafel
- Autoren- Und Herausgeberverzeichnis Zu Band 108, Heft 1 Und 2
