Political Activities of Roman Senators during the Visigothic Siege of Rome (408–410 AD)
This article analyses the position of the Roman senatorial aristocracy in the early fifth century, namely in 408–410 AD. Based on a set of sources, primarily, information obtained from the works of Zosimus and Olympiodorus, the author concludes that representatives of the Roman Senate were independe...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
Ural Federal University Press
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8191 |
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| Summary: | This article analyses the position of the Roman senatorial aristocracy in the early fifth century, namely in 408–410 AD. Based on a set of sources, primarily, information obtained from the works of Zosimus and Olympiodorus, the author concludes that representatives of the Roman Senate were independent subjects of the political process, especially after the fall of the Stilicho regime, when the aristocrats lost their usual patronage from the central government due to Alaric’s siege of Rome in 408. In their new position, senators needed to quickly get used to performing a wide range of political, primarily diplomatic, functions, and mainly, find ways to reach a compromise on various issues within the class. The actions of the senators, led by Alaric's protégé Priscus Attalus, to resolve the food crisis in Rome, normalise the situation in the capital and reach a consensus with Honorius' government in Ravenna were unsuccessful. The Roman senators were unable to fulfil their duties because of the discrepancy between their ideas about the conduct of political affairs and reality, the habit of acting on the basis of personal interests, the refusal to act in the interests of the corporation and of Rome as a whole, and ethnic hostility towards the Visigoths. It should also be taken into account that the failure of the Roman senators to pursue an independent policy could be linked to the lack of leaders recognised by all, or at least most, of the senators. Finally, Zosimus' comments on the political incompetence of Roman senators and their economic self-interest in the early fifth century should be treated with caution. |
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| ISSN: | 2227-2283 2587-6929 |