Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

472 17. armies and society in the later roman world
would be eliminated when abandoned by his military backers, as Gundovald
discovered at St Bertrand-de-Comminges in 585; an ambitious heir like
Chramn might even attempt to pre-empt his father’s death by carving out a
personal kingdom. Lombard Italy was another society whose political
superstructure was dominated by its military nobility: after the deaths of
Alboin and Cleph, the nobles decided to do without a king for ten years until
military needs led them to proclaim Cleph’s son, Authari, in 584. 7
Ostrogothic Italy during Theoderic’s long reign might appear more civilized
and civilian than other kingdoms, but this was an impression deliberately
fostered by the regime and propagated to its civilian Italian subjects
by its spokesman, Cassiodorus. Theoderic seems to have appreciated the
benefits of cultivating the non-military ingredients of royal power, perhaps
in imitation of contemporary developments at Constantinople, but his
daughter Amalasuintha’s attempts to give her son Athalaric a Roman education
were frustrated, since the majority of Goths were not prepared to
move so rapidly from the traditional warlike ethos of their society.
Theoderic had never forgotten the military basis of his position, as is indicated
by his concern, like a Persian monarch, to ensure that his military subordinates
attended court regularly to receive the king’s gifts. 8 After his
death, Amal authority quickly disintegrated, to reveal the fragility of the
dynastic aspects of his power. Theodahad could rely on disgruntled
members of the nobility in his manoeuvres against Amalasuintha, and,
after his own military ineptitude became clear in the early stages of the
Byzantine reconquest, the Goths chose a sequence of warriors as kings:
Vitigis, Ildibad, Eraric (who indeed was Rugian rather than Goth),Totila
and Teias.
The military units which helped influence the choice of royal or imperial
master also enhanced the standing of their commanders, so that
warfare was an important determinant of social prominence. The fifth
century appears as a period of warlords and kingmakers in both halves of
the empire. For two decades the west was dominated by the patrician and
magister militum Aetius. Although his father Gaudentius held military
command, it was Aetius’ personal connections with sources of troops that
made him important: Huns, recruited perhaps through contacts established
while serving as a hostage, permitted him to survive his involvement
with the usurper John and various later mishaps; he may also have annexed
the followers of his rival Boniface, whose wife and estates he certainly took
over. Aetius’ career as military protector of Valentinian III appeared to
achieve the dream of many late Roman soldiers – namely, marriage into the
imperial family – when his son Gaudentius was betrothed to Valentinian’s
7 Wood, Merovingian Kingdoms 56–60; Bachrach (1972) 31; Wickham (1981) 30–2.
8 Heather (1995b).
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