From Rome to Constantinople: Peculiarities of Senatorial Embassies between the Second Half of the 5th and First Half of the 6th Centuries

Abstract

This article concerns the interaction of the barbarian kingdoms of Italy and Constantinople between the second half of the 5 th and first half of the 6 th centuries. The author of the article considers the role of the Roman senatorial aristocracy in the diplomatic communication of Western rulers with the Byzantine emperor caused by both political necessity and religious differences in the Christian Church. The initiative to send senatorial embassies to Constantinople came from the secular and ecclesiastical authorities. Using the comparative and historical and anthropological approaches, the author of the article analyses the goals and results of the Roman senators’ stay in Constantinople, as well as the reasons that prompted the reges Odoacer and Theodoric to involve aristocrats in embassies. The study is based on reports by Procopius of Caesarea, Liber Pontificalis , Anonymus Valesianus , as well as letters from the Popes. The author concludes that senatorial trips to the East during the period in question acquired special significance in connection with the aggravation of church contradictions. Discussion at the diplomatic level of religious issues led to a more thorough selection of applicants for the role of representatives of the West in negotiations with the emperor. The ambassadors under kings Odoacer and Theodorich had a high social status (titles of patricius , caput senatus , and rank of vir inlustris ), which was also recognised on the international stage. The author puts forward an idea that the decisive factors in the appointment of senators as envoys of the West were, along with their origin, their diplomatic abilities, education, and rhetorical training, which gave them an advantage over the non-noble officeholders and church officials. An additional argument for the barbarian kings was the fact that Roman nobles were Catholics.