A Forced Way to Resolve Rome’s Conflicts with Barbarians in the Second Half of the Fourth Century AD
Russian State University for the Humanities
For citation: Ermolova, Irina E. A Forced Way to Resolve Rome’s Conflicts with Barbarians in the Second Half of the Fourth Century AD // Drevneishie gosudarstva Vostochnoi Evropy (The Earliest States of Eastern Europe). 2025: Ways and Means of Conflict Resolution / Editor of the volume Т.N. Jackson. Мoscow: GAUGN-Press, 2025. S. 37–43.
DOI: 10.32608/1560-1382-2025-46-37-43
Abstract: The Roman emperors played a major role in the foreign policy of the state. Therefore, relations with neighboring tribes were also within their sphere of competence. Since these relations mostly resulted in armed conflicts, not only the conditions for restoring peace, but also the way in which a peace agreement was concluded, became very important. While the Romans were successful in war, they demanded that the ambassadors of the defeated should come to their territory, since meetings of the emperors with them on the borders of the state, or near the line of military contact, were not considered prestigious. But in the second half of the fourth century, the policy of the Roman Empire was no longer so successful; the empire was forced, mainly, to defend itself, fighting in its own territory. The Romans had to deviate from long-established traditions and rules that used to formalise their relations with barbarians. Sometimes the emperors were forced to start negotiations right on the line of contact with the enemy. Since this did not add to their authority, in the description of such events by Roman historians one can notice the subjective attitude of the authors towards the actors.
References
Аммиан Марцеллин. Римская история / Пер. с лат. Ю.А. Кулаковского при участии А.И. Сонни; под ред. Л.Ю. Лукомского. 2-е изд. СПб., 1996 (Античная библиотека). [Ammian Martsellin. Rimskaya istoriya (Ammianus Marcellinus. Roman History) / Per. s lat. Yu.A. Kulakovskogo i A.I. Sonni; pod red. L.Yu. Lukomskogo. 2-e izd. St. Petersburg, 1996. (Antichnaya biblioteka).]
Вольфрам Х. Готы. От истоков до середины VI века (опыт исторической этнографии). СПб., 2003. [Vol’fram Kh. Goty. Ot istokov do serediny VI veka (opyt istoricheskoi etnografii) (The Goths. From the Sources to the Middle of the VI Century: Experience of Historical Ethnography). St. Petersburg, 2003.]
Захаров Г.Е. Переход через Дунай как пересечение границы готского мира: к проблеме обращения готов в арианство // ДГ. 2009 год: Трансконтинентальные и локальные пути как социокультурный феномен. М., 2010. С. 371–383. [Zakharov G.E. Perekhod cherez Dunai kak peresechenie granitsy gotskogo mira: k probleme obrashcheniya gotov v arianstvo (Crossing the Danube as Crossing the Border of the Gothic World: on the Problem of Converting Goths to Arianism) // Drevneyshie gosudarstva Vostochnoy Evropy. 2009 god: Transkontinental’nye i lokal’nye puti kak sotsiokul’turnyy fenomen. Moscow, 2010. S. 371–383).]
Эвнапий Сардиец. История // Византийские историки: Дексипп, Эвнапий, Олимпиодор, Малх, Петр Магистр, Менандр, Кандид Исавр, Ноннос и Феофан Византиец / Пер. Г.С. Дестуниса (Византийская историческая библиотека). Рязань, 2003. С. 62–143. [Evnapiy Sardiets. Istoriya (Eunapius. History) // Vizantiyskie istoriki: Deksipp, Evnapiy, Olimpiodor, Malkh, Petr Magistr, Menandr, Kandid Isavr, Nonnos i Feofan Vizantiets / Per. G.S. Destunisa (Vizantiyskaya istoricheskaya biblioteka). Ryazan’, 2003. S. 62–143.]
Heather P.J. Goths and Romans. 332–489. Oxford, 1991.
Lenski N. Failure of Empire. Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2002.
Millar F. Emperors, Frontiers and Foreign Relations, 31 B.C. to A.D. 378 // Britannia. 1982. Vol. 13. P. 1–23.
Origo Constantini imperatoris sive Anonymi Valesiani pars prior / Ed. Th. Mommsen // MGH AA. T. 9. Chronica Minora saec. IV–VII. Vol. 1. B., 1892. P. 1–11.
Peretz D. The Roman Interpreter and His Diplomatic and Military Roles // Historia. Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 2006. Bd. 55. H. 4. S. 451–470.
Seager R. Roman Policy on the Rhine and the Danube in Ammianus // CQ. 1999. Vol. 49. No. 2. P. 579–605.