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east and west: common trends 209
the east, civil provincial governors proved unable to keep order, and
Justinian saw himself obliged to combine military and civilian administration.
23 Soon after, provincial notables were given a voice in the appointment
of the men who were to govern them; in other words, the office was localized.
24 In the barbarian west, the provincial system disappeared altogether,
and the rulers attempted to control cities directly by appointing counts over
at least the most important of them. 25 It is doubtful whether barbarian
rulers were in fact able to exercise stronger control than the emperors. Many
of the counts, too, were local magnates. It is likely that many cities enjoyed
greater independence in the sixth century than they had done since the reign
of Diocletian. Independence was greater in proportion to a city’s distance
from the centres of imperial or royal power, and particularly in situations
where city authorities had to decide whether or not to resist an invader, 26 or
to support one or the other contender in a civil war. 27
A positive development in east and west was the growth of the power
of the bishop. The importance of the church became increasingly conspicuous
in the structure of the town. There had, of course, been a significant
amount of church building in some towns since the early fourth century,
but the building of monumental churches only became general towards the
end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century. In many parts of
the empire, and particularly in the west, church building was interrupted by
the military crises of the mid fifth century. It resumed in the late fifth and
sixth century and continued to the end of our period and beyond.
Ecclesiastical buildings became particularly prominent in the reduced fortress
cities of the west, which became centres of prayer dominated by an
episcopal complex of sometimes two cathedrals, a bishop’s palace and a
baptistery, with nunneries and smaller churches within the walls, and cemetery
basilicas and monasteries in suburbs beyond the fortifications. 28 The
east did not see the development of church- or monastery-centred
suburbs, but the periods of high activity in church building in towns and
villages were earlier than corresponding periods in the west, and the donors
seem to have come from a much wider social range. 29 Of course, the whole
process came to a stop with the Muslim conquest and subsequent raids all
over Asia Minor.
Another development which had a strong impact on cities everywhere
was the growth of monasticism, though in this case the effect was, at least
23 Just. Nov. 24–5, 27–31; on the reorganization, Jones, LRE 280–1.
24 In reconquered Italy: Just. Nov. App. vii (Const. Pragm.) 12 (552), for east Nov. (Justin II) 149 (569).
25 Claude (1964); Spandel (1957); Declareuil (1910); Lewis (1976); Murray (1986); Thompson (1969)
139–43; Ewig (1976) 451–62.
26 Many examples in Procopius’ accounts of the wars in the east and in Italy.
27 E.g. Greg. Tur. Hist. vii.24 (Poitiers), 26 (Périgueux), 27 (Toulouse), 31 (Bordeaux).
28 Testini et al.(1989) – Italy; J.-P. Sodini (1989) – Asia Minor; N. Duval (1989) – North Africa.
29 Dagron (1989).
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