Late Roman Aristocracies

""""“Barbatuli iuvenes”. Political Activity of Young Roman Aristocrats during the so-called First Triumvirate. 

On the turn of the 60’s  B.C. we could notice a political activity of young men in their twenties who were often termed in Cicero’s speeches and letters as barbatuli iuvenes. Such an activity was facilitated due to the fact that a relative stability of the political system of the Republic was threatened by Cn. Pompeius Magnus, C. Iulius Caesar and M. Licinius Crassus.
The first recorded action carried out by young aristocrats was the trial of P. Claudius Pulcher (aka Clodius) in 62 B.C. Barbatuli iuvenes were led by C. Scribonius Curio, sometimes called princeps iuventutis. In the first half of the 50’s B.C. during the first triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar, became the Opposition aiming at the primacy in the state of Pompey and Caesar.
Contemporary researchers use the term barbatuli iuvenes to refer to a large circle of the sons of meritorious nobles. For example, besides the earlier-mentioned Curio, who was the son of C. Scribonius Curio (cos. 76), they also mention other people belonging to barbatuli iuvenes, namely a triumvir-to-be, M. Antonius, Dec. Iunius Brutus Albinus, little-known C. Megabocchus and perhaps M. Caelius Rufus and C. Licinius Macer Calvus.
""""

In the IVth century AD, Rome is no longer an imperial capital. Brought to power by the army, the emperors made strategic choices and leave Rome for Constantinople, Milan or Trier. The Roman senatorial aristocracy, fortified by its traditions, is still an important social element of the high administration in Occident. Slowly the new Christian faith wins the Senate where competition phenomenons between pagan and christian political networks are obvious. The pagan literary sources, Ammianus Marcellus or Symmaque, for example, show us these intrinsic rivalries in the Roman senatorial aristocracy. Confronted with the epigraphic or judicial documents, these extracts question the interdependence links created by the aristocrates at the imperial court or in the high administration of Constance II (337 – 361) or the Valentinians (364 – 392) to keep themselves politically, socially and economically on track. Our reflections offer hypotheses about the establishment of these political networks thanks to Prefecture of the City, for example, or through the Italian provinces. The networks of the pagan Neratii and the christian Anicii will be presented, showing how the Anicii rise in power under the Valentinians. The offensives of the Anicii against the Neratii are noticeable through three decades. They convey the imperial political choices regarding the pagan aristocrates and, more generally, go along with the religious policy.

Reflections on the Meaning of the Brands of the So-Called Master of Hunt-Horse in the Mosaic of the Centcelles Cupola

The brands of the master of hunt-horse have not been appreciated sufficiently and involved into the discussion on the monument’s interpretation up to now. The LC-brands seem to indicate the ownership of the master of hunt. The letters possibly represent his monogrammed initials, whilst a connection with the local upper-class is conceivable. The significance of an unremarkable c-shaped brand cannot be determined clearly. In the context of late antique private representation
brands are considered to be elements which increase the reality content of hunting images. With regard to the overall interpretation of the mosaics from the domed hall, the brands seem to fit perfectly in the context of the aristocratic self-expression, whereas an explanation within the often mentioned imperial interpretation is not convincing.

Those who visit the tourist attractions of the Villány-Siklós wine route may not even suspect that a ruin of a high-status Roman villa is hiding under the picturesque landscape with vineyards at the foot of the Szár-somlyó Mountain. The Mediterranean beauty and climate of this region attracted the late imperial elite of the Roman Empire, among whom an influential, senatorial family built its luxury villa here. This villa only revealed its significance and treasures slowly. After the excavation of its bathhouse, an unfortunately commissioned deep ploughing twisted large pieces of the mosaic floors out of the ground. After a long pause, the Hungarian National Museum continued the investigation of the site in 2016. The excavations brought to light the villa's banquet hall, the floor of which was once covered with colourful mosaics representing the highest quality of Roman mosaic art. Masterpieces of Roman glass craftmanship-pieces of a wine set-were also found here. The villa of Nagyharsány plays an important role in the research of the Seuso Treasure too. The luxury reflected by the interior decoration and the artefacts of the banquet hall proved that the educated and wealthy imperial aristocracy was present in late Roman Pannonian provinces, the members of which could afford a set of silver tableware comparable to the Seuso Treasure in quality, understood the literary and visual culture based on the classical education of the elite, and spoke its sophisticated language.

Contested Monarchy reappraises the wide-ranging and lasting transformation of the Roman monarchy between the Principate and Late Antiquity. The book takes as its focus the century from Diocletian to Theodosius I (284–395), a period during which the stability of monarchical rule depended heavily on the emperor’s mobility, on collegial or dynastic rule, and on the military resolution of internal political crises. At the same time, profound religious changes modified the premises of political interaction and symbolic communication between the emperor and his subjects, and administrative and military readjustments changed the institutional foundations of the Roman monarchy. This volume concentrates on the measures taken by emperors of this period to cope with the changing framework of their rule. The collection examines monarchy along three distinct yet intertwined fields: Administering the Empire, Performing the Monarchy, and Balancing Religious Change. Each field possesses its own historiography and methodology, and accordingly has usually been treated separately. This volume’s multifaceted approach builds on recent scholarship and trends to examine imperial rule in a more integrated fashion. With new work from a wide range of international scholars, Contested Monarchy offers a fresh survey of the role of the Roman monarchy in a period of significant and enduring change. // – – –

“This exceptionally valuable book offers multiple perspectives on the development of the institutional, ideological and religious aspects of the Roman empire’s first Christian century. Breaking away from traditional divisions according to dynasty or religion, we see how the Roman state developed new answers to the central question of its own legitimacy. Eschewing simplistic generalizations, the diverse contributions offer multiple perspectives on the way the Roman system of government interacted with its subjects. Wienand has performed an invaluable service by facilitating a wide ranging encounter among scholarly styles to promote a well-articulated discussion of significant themes in the governance of the Roman Empire, illuminating not only the period under consideration, but earlier and later periods as well.”
—David Potter, University of Michigan

Reviews

Journal of Roman Studies 106 (2016), 361-363 [Alexander Skinner]; Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015.11.34 [Jan Willem Drijvers]; Sehepunkte 15 (2015) Nr. 11 [Adrastos Omissi]; H-Soz-Kult 18.5.2015 [Raphael Brendel]

Reviewers Quotes:

"This is a book that deepens our sense of the complexity, and unexpectedness, of the late Roman Empire. It is a landmark."
—Alexander Skinner

"Contested Monarchy is an enormously valuable volume without a weak link in its chain of articles. It is a must have for any scholar working on late Roman political, social, or religious history and for the library of any university that offers courses on the fourth century. Its depth of inquiry and range of coverage means that it will be of great value to researchers but the articles are all sufficiently accessible that advanced students will be able to gain much from them as well. The articles can be read individually, but the volume repays reading as a whole."
—Adrastos Omissi

"This is a fine collection of articles articulating the contested Roman imperial rule of late antiquity. Everybody interested in the late Roman empire will profit from it."
—Jan Willem Drijvers

CONTENTS

<Introduction>
1. Johannes Wienand: "The Cloak of Power: Dressing and Undressing the King"

<Part One: Administering the Empire>
2. John Weisweiler: "Domesticating the Senatorial Elite: Universal Monarchy and Transregional Aristocracy in the Fourth Century AD"
3. John Noël Dillon: "The Inflation of Rank and Privilege: Regulating Precedence in the Fourth Century AD"
4. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner: "Ostentatious Legislation: Law and Dynastic Change, AD 364–365"
5. Doug Lee: "Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century"
6. Joachim Szidat: "Gaul and the Roman Emperors of the Fourth Century"
7. Michael Kulikowski: "Regional Dynasties and Imperial Court"

<Part Two: Performing the Monarchy>
8. Mark Humphries: "Emperors, Usurpers, and the City of Rome: Performing Power from Diocletian to Theodosius"
9. Johannes Wienand: "O tandem felix civili, Roma, victoria! Civil-War Triumphs from Honorius to Constantine and Back"
10. Hartmut Leppin: "Coping with the Tyrant’s Faction: Civil-War Amnesties and Christian Discourses in the Fourth Century AD"
11. Christopher Kelly: "Pliny and Pacatus: Past and Present in Imperial Panegyric"
12. Henning Börm: "Born to Be Emperor: The Principle of Succession and the Roman Monarchy"
13. Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning: "Performing Justice: The Penal Code of Constantine the Great"

<Part Three: Balancing Religious Change>
14. Harold Drake: "Speaking of Power: Christian Redefinition of the Imperial Role in the Fourth Century"
15. Bruno Bleckmann: "Constantine, Rome, and the Christians"
16. Noel Lenski: "Constantine and the Tyche of Constantinople"
17. Steffen Diefenbach: "A Vain Quest for Unity: Creeds and Political (Dis)Integration in the Reign of Constantius II"
18. Johannes Hahn: "The Challenge of Religious Violence: Imperial Ideology and Policy in the Fourth Century"
19. Rita Lizzi Testa: "The Famous ‘Altar of Victory Controversy’ in Rome: The Impact of Christianity at the End of the Fourth Century"

<Epilogue>
20. Johannes Wienand: "The Empire’s Golden Shade: Icons of Sovereignty in an Age of Transition"

The development of the senate of Constantinople as an imperial senate, on a par with the senate of Rome, has been attributed to Constantius II to the exclusion of Constantine and dated to 357. The present paper argues that the evidence for this dating is fundamentally flawed and that the decisive change came at the outset of the reign of Constantius II, while developments under Constantine foreshadowed it in significant respects. Conclusions are also drawn about what the evidence reveals of relations between Hellenic gentry and imperial rule in the fourth century.

The paper explores the ideological reasons for the late-antique expansion of the imperial aristocracy. It suggests that in the fourth century the senate transformed from a Republican élite, whose legitimacy derived from the institutions of the Roman city-state, into an explicitly global class, whose authority was an emanation of the beneficence of a sacred ruler towards the human species.

This paper discusses the widely held view that politics in fthand sixth-century Italy were largely driven by rivalry between the two great families of the Anicii and the Decii, supposedly following distinctive policies (pro-or anti-eastern, philo-or anti-barbarian, etc.). It is probable that individual members of these (and other) families had feuds and disagreements from time to time, but there is absolutely no evidence for continuing rivalry between Decii and Anicii as families, let alone on specic issues of public policy. Indeed by the mid-fth century the Anicii fell into a rapid decline. The nobility continued to play a central rôle in the social and (especially) religious life of late fthand early sixth-century Italy. Their wealth gave them great power, but it was power that they exercised in relatively restricted, essentially traditional elds, mainly on their estates and in the city of Rome. The quite extraordinary sums they spent on games right down into the sixth century illustrate their overriding concern for popular favour at a purely local level. In this context there was continuing competition between all noble families rich enough to compete. Indeed, the barbarian kings encouraged the nobility to spend their fortunes competing with each other to the benet of the city and population of Rome.

The Interpretation of the Cathedra Scenes: ›Mappa‹, ›Censer‹ and Cathedra in the Mosaic of the Centcelles Cupola

Within the discussion on the interpretation of the four cathedra scenes in the mosaic dome at Centcelles the depicted realia are readily used as arguments for controversial interpretative approaches. A critical analysis of the three central realia has provided significant evidence: as for the so-called censer, the conserved finding does not support such an interpretation. ›mappa‹ and cathedra form no viable arguments for an episcopal or an imperial interpretation, whereas they could be easily defined in an aristocratic representation context.

Since 1905, when Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro published his important book about the life of Melania the Younger, scholars have believed that the estate of the Valerii, mentioned in Melania’s Vita as situated on a beautiful site, should be located on the coast south of Messina, a place from where its occupants could look out both at the sea and at the woods teeming with wild animals. However, if we read more carefully the passage and its context, the location suggested by Rampolla seems probable but not incontestable. This paper aims to illustrate the reasons why it is possible to propose various different hypotheses about the location of the villa of the Valerii.

ABSTRACT
The Last of their Kind. Archaeological and Cultural Historical Observations on the Persistance and the
End of the ›Statue Habit‹ in the 6th Century A.D. in Asia Minor
New dedications of portrait statues became increasingly rare in Late Antiquity. However, especially in the flourishing
cities of Asia Minor, the statue habit persisted well into the 6th century, much longer than in most of the
other provinces of the Roman empire. This paper examines the reasons for this phenomenon. Late Antique literary
sources demonstrate that the specific form of a portrait statue was perceived as an almost ancient, but not outdated
type of honouring already in the 4th century A.D. Therefore, the distinctive character of the portrait statue as a social
symbol for prestige was reinforced in Late Antiquity. Nevertheless, this practice rapidly went out of fashion during
the 6th century. The disappearance and misunderstanding of the old statues in the early Middle Ages were closely
connected with overriding factors relating to the change of urban structures from the 5th century onwards. With
the emergence of churches as new urban foci, older political structures such as the agorai and bouleuteria became
less important. The images of dedicators and euergetai now instead appeared in two dimensional form in the new
religious buildings. In contrast, the old honorary system including the statues, which was related to the old type of
the Graeco-Roman polis, disappeared slowly and so the statues became almost imperceptibly obsolete.

ÖZET
Türünün Son Örneği. Küçük Asya’da MS. 6. yüzyılda ›Statue Habit‹’in Sonu ve Kalıcılık Üzerine Kültürel-
Tarihsel ve Arkeolojik Gözlemler
Geç Antik Dönemde yeni adanan portre heykelleri artık gittikçe azalmıştır. Ancak özellikle Küçük Asya’nın gelişen
şehirlerinde bu heykel alışkanlığı Roma İmparatorluğu’nun çoğu diğer eyaletlerinde olduğundan çok daha uzun
bir sure, MS. 6 yy.’ın içlerine kadar devam etmiştir. Makale bu fenomenin nedenlerini incelemektedir. Geç Antik
Dönemi’n yazılı kaynakları, portre heykeli spesifik formunun 4. yüzyılda zaten onurlandırmanın neredeyse antik
ama daha modası geçmemiş bir şekli olarak görüldüğünü gösterirler. Bu nedenle prestijin sosyal bir sembolü olarak
portre heykelinin kendine has karakteri Geç Antik Dönem’de tekrar güçlenmiştir. Ancak bu uygulamanın modası
MS. 6. yüzyılda çok hızlı bir şekilde geçmiştir. Erken Orta Çağ’da eski heykellerin kaybolması ve artık anlaşılmaması
MS. 5. yüzyılda itibaren kentlerin yapılarının değişmesine ilişkin genel etkenlerle ilişkilidir. Kiliselerin
yeni kentsel merkezler olarak ortaya çıkması ile agoralar ve bouleuterionlar gibi eski politik yapılanmalar gitgide
önemsiz hale gelmişlerdir. Bağışçıların ve eugerteslerin tasvirleri artık iki boyutlu şekilde yeni dini yapılarda görülmektedir.
Buna karşın eski Yunan-Roma polisi tipine bağlı olan ve heykelleri de kapsayan eski onurlandırma sisteminden
yavaş yavaş ortadan kaybolmuş ve böylece heykeller de neredeyse farkedilmeden kullanılmaz olmuştur.

Abtract: In many passages of the Res Gestae, Ammianus criticizes contemporary individuals and groups that lack a literary culture befitting their rank. These passages were commonly interpreted as a reflection of Ammianus' class prejudices. In contrast, the main thesis of this paper is that Ammianus' perspective on paideia can also be seen as part of the self-fashioning strategy deployed in his work. Ammianus establishes almost a direct equivalence between the possession of paideia and elite membership. In criticizing the ignorance of emperors, officials, and aristocrats, Ammianus is indirectly asserting his own superiority , not only in the intellectual field but also in the social sphere. Throughout his work, Ammianus does not spare any effort to convince his readers of his erudition and literary culture, constructing for himself the identity of a Greek intellectual. Name-dropping and the digressive style he employs in the Res Gestae constitute the main means to construct this identity, because they allow Ammianus to display his encyclopaedic learning in a way not common in historical works.

Mit Beginn der Spätantike konstituieren sich ganz neue Modi der politischen Repräsentation in der römischen Gesellschaft. Im Zuge der sukzessive gesteigerten distinktiven und auch distanzierten kaiserlichen Repräsentation, die in der exklusiven Nutzung von Juwelenschmuck und mit der Einführung des Diadems unter Konstantin dem Großen eine dezidiert monarchische Qualität erhält, werden auch in in der Selbstdarstellung der aristokratischen Eliten des römischen Reiches neue Formen entwickelt. Diese reagieren dabei einerseits auf eine zunehmende hierarchische Differenzierung der Amtsstrukturen sowie andererseits auf die gesteigerte Abhängigkeit der Aristokratie von der Person des Kaisers. Die Folge sind einerseits partiell neue Gewänder wie die Chlamys, distinktiver Ornat wie kostbare Fibeln und Gürtel, sowie eine Neubesetzung und Rangerhöhung älterer Insignien und Trachtelemente wie im Falle der Toga. Erkennbar wird, dass die Entwicklung neuer Formen des Ornats schrittweise im 4. Jh. n. Chr. erprobt und entwickelt wurden. Die Chlamys als Ausweis für Amtsträger mit zivilen Machtbefugnissen scheint bereits in konstantinischer Zeit aufzutreten. Alte Insignien wie der kaiserliche Purpurmantel können, wie die Neuinterpretation des σχῆμα Ἀχίλλειoν der Reiterstatue Justinians auf dem Augustaion in Konstantinopel jetzt zeigt, sogar eine zusätzliche heroische Imprägnierung erfahren. Ausgehend von der Schilderung des Corippus vom Antritt des Konsulats Kaiser Justins II. 566 n. Chr. in Konstantinopel wird die politische Konstituierung der spätantiken Gesellschaft sowie die Sichtbarkeit ihrer visuellen Distinktionsstrategien entfaltet. Es zeigt sich, wie diese visuelle Neuformierung auf spezifische Transformationen der politischen Ordnung reagiert und die zunehmende Wahrnehmung gradueller Unterschiede von Rang und Prestige signifikant erhöht.

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El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar algunos aspectos sobre la estructura social de los pueblos cantábricos en la época tardoantigua de transición entre el mundo antiguo y el medieval (ss. VII-IX) a través de la revisión del registro arqueológico: asentamientos rurales, sitios funerarios y artefactos.

Forum, thermes publics, marché, théâtre, amphithéâtre, thermes publics, capitole, temples d'Apollon, d'Isis, de Saturne… privés 2. Il faut préciser que certains d'entre eux sont d'iden-, l'esplanade du théâtre, 3 , les monuments en face du marché, l'esplanade pour chiens, objet de cette contribution, fait lui aussi partie 4 .

"Nel primo decennio del V secolo d.C., mentre la stabilità politica, militare ed economica della pars Occidentis appariva sempre più compromessa, Melania e Piniano, due coniugi che, per ricchezza e nobiltà di natali, avevano pochi rivali in tutto l’impero, decisero di vivere in continenza e di dedicarsi alla preghiera. In un primo momento, trasformarono alcune loro proprietà in luoghi di ritiro spirituale e le abitarono alternatamente, attuando quella che è stata definita una sorta di “errabondaggio ascetico” (S. Pricoco); successivamente, vollero spogliarsi dei loro innumerevoli beni per raggiungere la perfezione evangelica (Mt. 19.21): vendettero così quasi tutte le tenute sparsae per orbem, offrendone il ricavato in beneficenza; in un solo caso, donarono alle chiese i possedimenti con le relative rendite. Partirono poi alla volta della Terrasanta, meta prediletta di pellegrini e asceti, dove conclusero la loro esistenza terrena.
Nel presente volume riscorriamo le tappe di questa straordinaria vicenda umana, dalla scelta di rinunziare alla vita mondana fino alla vendita delle ultime proprietà, non indulgendo a ricostruzioni più o meno dettagliate al fine di svelare particolari a noi effettivamente ignoti, ma cercando di integrare tra loro i dati provenienti dalle fonti letterarie, epigrafiche ed archeologiche per ripercorrere l’itinerario “geografico” e “spirituale” che portò Melania e Piniano dalla fastosa residenza sul Celio alle anguste celle di Gerusalemme.


INDICE


Premessa

INTRODUZIONE

I. LE PROPRIETÀ DEI VALERII: PROBLEMI SPAZIOTEMPORALI
1. Patrimonia sparsa per orbem: considerazioni preliminari
2. Questioni di cronologia
3. Dislocazione dei patrimonia sparsa per orbem
4. Tappe della “carità eversiva”: la vendita delle proprietà

II. LE RESIDENZE ABITATE DA MELANIA E PINIANO
1. La dimora sul Celio. Caratteristiche della vita coniugale di Melania e Piniano
2. La villa suburbana
3. Il soggiorno campano e i contatti con Rufino
4. L’abbandono di Roma
5. La permanenza in Sicilia
6. Le proprietà africane

III. LA «RAGGUARDEVOLE PROPRIETÀ»
1. Ostacoli alla “carità eversiva”: le tentazioni di Melania
2. Sulla localizzazione della «ragguardevole proprietà»

CONCLUSIONI

Bibliografia

Abbreviazioni e sigle

Edizioni delle fonti

Indice delle fonti

Elenco delle immagini"

In Symmachus Discourses (Orationes I-IV) we find a wide variety of references to the Roman political and military past, particularly in the Republican period. Generally speaking, the Ancients get a negative assessment on his part, since their knowledge in terms of political, military and even geographical matters from the imperial expansion perspective are deemed to be lower to the knowledge held at present (the rhetorical topos of happiness in emperors' time). We shall therefore review this specific interpretation of the past as given by the orator within the broader encomiastic context that the latter is inserted in. Starting from the records found in his correspondence (Epistulae) we shall also consider the overall picture of the past, mainly assessed particularly from a moral and cultural perspective. Finally, this choice can be explained by the role played by the senatorial elite in the 4 th century. Lacking the authority it traditionally exercised while leading the Empire, showing consistency in exercising loyalty to its sovereigns and the relevant political party the latter were already represented for ages, the elite was making its standing legitimate by its ancient cultural and moral ideals (mores maiorum) which it was still cultivating a discursive level.

Las fuentes escritas sobre la Antigüedad tardía hacen frecuentes menciones de miembros de la élite hispana, sin aclarar si se tratan de senadores o de curiales. Estudios anteriores han sacado diversas conclusiones sobre el estatus de estos individuos. El presente estudio examina de nuevo varios ejemplos de notables hispanos, discutiendo su estatus probable.

The roles of saints and bishops in the later Roman empire have been extensively studied, most obviously in their role as religious figures. More recently, extensive research has been performed on the non-religious motivations of bishops in late antique Gaul, particularly on their role as envoys and in maintaining continuity between outlying populations of the empire and the imperial center. The purpose of this paper is to look at how bishops maintained Roman unity and Roman identity among the populace as they travelled the empire combating heresy in the Theodosian period. This will be explored through the vitae of men like Germanus of Auxerre, the chronography of Hydatius of Lemica, and the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris. In these historical accounts, and others as well, it can be shown how these diplomatic and administrative actions are emblematic of a role which connected the populace with a regional network, which in turn was connected to the imperial center, helping maintain Roman identity through both adherence to orthodoxy and aristocratic affiliation. This also shows how the role of the church in these affairs reflected the failings of the imperial bureaucracy to maintain the empire in the beginnings of the final years of the west, and a shift of loyalty from the Roman state to the Roman church.

THE LAST LUSITANIAN SENATOR "Conimbriga" XLIX (2010) p. 87-96 summAry: The last known senator from Lusitania is Valerius Fortunatus, known to us from Oration VIII by Symmachus. The author presents an annotated translation of this speech, together with a discussion of this senator's family and career.

According to this study Q. Curius was quaestor or aedile by 70. At this time he was expelled from the Senate due to his gambling passion, but he reached the praetorship in 68 or 67, sought unsuccessfully the consulship of 64, joined the Catiline conspiracy and finally informed Cicero about this plot. Since he was senator as per Q. Cic., pet. 10, he wasn’t index, even if he was almost rewarded for his help. To rebuild his career, true testimony of the decay of the aristocratic ethos, we reconsidered two ciceronian texts: in Cic. Att. 1.1.2 we go back to Curium instead of Turium for the name of the candidate for the consular elections of 65; in Cic. tog. cand. frg. 27 Crawford (ap. Ascon., p. 93 Cl.) we confirm F. Schoell’s intuition correcting quaestorius in quaestuarius which is in keeping with Q. Curius’ venality as a gambler and resolves the contradiction with his rank in 64.

"Transformation of Roman aristocracy in the Gaul territory in the V century"
The article aims to present transformation of Roman aristocracy in the Gaul territory in the V century. Analyzing rich legacy of Sydoniusz Apollinaris, who represented Gaul-Roman elites, we can recreate the picture of Gaul of his days – shown against the background of transformations taking place in the Roman Empire.
The V century seems to be critical in the history of Gaul, as it was then that various barbaric tribes, wading through the defense line of Rhine, “flooded” the Gaul territory. Simultaneously numerous usurpations of imperial power occurred in the West, causing weakening of Rhine influence in the dependent provinces. Tn this situation, Roman aristocracy, playing until that moment a key role in preservation of traditional Roman administration and of Church organizations – deeply rooted in the territories belonging to the Empire, and thus guaranteeing the continuity of the imperial authority – was bound to answer a difficult question: what to do, when the territorial dependency disappears together with the disappearance of the Western Empire?
That is why the West a certain transformation was to occur; a new order, based on three interconnected elements; Romanitas, Germanitas i Christianitas, was to be created.