Wienand J. (ed.) Contested Monarchy. Integrating the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century AD

New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. — 553 p. — (Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity). — ISBN 978-0-19-976899-8.The aim of this volume is to reappraise the wide-ranging and lasting transformation of the Roman monarchy between the Principate and Late Antiquity. The focus lies on the period from Diocletian to Theodosius I and thus on a major phase of the development of the Imperium Romanum. During this period, the stability of the empire depended heavily on the mobility of the emperors along the Roman frontiers, on collegial or dynastic rule, and on the military resolution of internal political crises. At the same time, profound religious changes altered 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. These basic conditions provided the framework for specific social and political cleavages that necessitated intense effort on the part of the ruler to integrate and legitimize the monarchic regime.This volume focuses on the measures taken by the Roman emperor to cope with the changing framework of his rule. It seeks to analyze the imperial struggle for political and cultural integration within a communicative framework characterized by the interplay of the imperial administration, the performance of monarchic leadership, and religious policy. The contributions to this volume analyze the contested monarchy of the late third and fourth centuries along the lines of these three distinct, yet interconnected fields: Administering the Empire (Part One), Performing the Monarchy (Part Two), and Balancing Religious Change (Part Three). Each field possesses its own historiography, methodology, and analytical concepts. As a result, they have traditionally been treated separately. However, the role of the Roman monarch in a geographically extensive transcultural empire – an empire of enormous social diversity, shaken by severe political and military crises, and undergoing far-reaching religious changes – can be understood properly only if the mutual interdependence of the historical dynamics shaping these fields is taken into account. This volume intends to make a timely contribution to the increasing scholarly efforts toward bringing these different fields of research together.This unification can only be achieved by transcending the chronological boundaries of traditional historiography: The period from Diocletian to Theodosius has hitherto been examined primarily within the confines of individual reigns or imperial dynasties. Accordingly, most available studies focus on the Tetrarchy, on Constantine, on the Constantinian dynasty, on Julian, on the Valentinian dynasty, or on the Theodosian dynasty. The contributions to this volume intend to demonstrate how important it is also to examine the longue durée of the institutional framework, imperial representation, and religious policies.Preface and Acknowledgments

ContributorsJohannes Wienand. The Cloak of Power: Dressing and Undressing the KingAdministering the Empire
John Weisweiler. Domesticating the Senatorial Elite: Universal Monarchy and Transregional Aristocracy in the Fourth Century AD
John Noël Dillon. The Inflation of Rank and Privilege: Regulating Precedence in the Fourth Century AD
Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner. Ostentatious Legislation: Law and Dynastic Change, AD 364–365
Doug Lee. Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century
Joachim Szidat. Gaul and the Roman Emperors of the Fourth Century
Michael Kulikowski. Regional Dynasties and Imperial CourtPerforming the Monarchy
Mark Humphries. Emperors, Usurpers, and the City of Rome: Performing Power from Diocletian to Theodosius
Johannes Wienand. O tandem felix civili, Roma, victoria! Civil-War Triumphs from Honorius to Constantine and Back
Hartmut Leppin. Coping with the Tyrant’s Faction: Civil-War Amnesties and Christian Discourses in the Fourth Century AD
Christopher Kelly. Pliny and Pacatus: Past and Present in Imperial Panegyric
Henning Börm. Born to Be Emperor: The Principle of Succession and the Roman Monarchy
Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning. Performing Justice: The Penal Code of Constantine the GreatBalancing Religious Change
Harold Drake. Speaking of Power: Christian Redefinition of the Imperial Role in the Fourth Century
Bruno Bleckmann. Constantine, Rome, and the Christians
Noel Lenski. Constantine and the Tyche of Constantinople
Steffen Diefenbach. A Vain Quest for Unity: Creeds and Political (Dis)Integration in the Reign of Constantius II
Johannes Hahn. The Challenge of Religious Violence: Imperial Ideology and Policy in the Fourth Century
Rita Lizzi Testa. The Famous ‘Altar of Victory Controversy’ in Rome: The Impact of Christianity at the End of the Fourth CenturyEpilogue
Johannes Wienand. The Empire’s Golden Shade: Icons of Sovereignty in an Age of TransitionBibliography
Index Locorum
General Index