Property and Power of the Senatorial Aristocracy of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries

Abstract

In the fifth and sixth centuries the senate of Constantinople was not the same as it had been in the days of its foundation under Constantine in the early fourth century. Recent scholarship has argued that since the mid-fifth century a “new service elite” emerged from among holders of imperial office and became increasingly dominant within the senatorial class. At the same time, in the whole eastern Mediterranean members of the senatorial order could be found as benefactors of poleis and founders of churches and monasteries. These benefactions raise the question of how eastern senators were able to finance their activities. The economic background of these senators has thus far been studied mainly using the evidence of Egypt, especially the family of the Apiones. Concentrating instead on the flourishing regions of Asia Minor and Syria, the home of many wealthy senators, this paper shows that in the fifth and sixth centuries many senators held large landed properties both in Asia Minor and the Near East.