Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

italy transformed: the ruling ilite 539
senate was still fêted by the court. 65 It was not, however, quite so powerful
as it had been in the fourth century. The shrinkage of the empire meant
that there were fewer offices open to senators. Moreover, officials were
increasingly selected from outside its ranks, among local Italian élites or
educated professionals. As a result, the senate’s influence outside Rome
contracted, forcing its members to look increasingly inward. Some turned
to cultural pursuits, preserving the literary heritage of Rome. Others turned
to the church, but not to the same extent as their fellow aristocrats in Gaul.
In Rome, the alliance suffered periodic breakdowns; one such, the
Laurentian schism (499–507), led to lasting recrimination. The Gothic
wars, with their several sieges of Rome, had a devastating effect on the city
and its institutions, and the increasing Lombard threat reduced the importance
of civilian administrators. By the late sixth century, the senate itself
had ceased to function as an institution, and in the early seventh, the curia
was converted into a church. Members of the senatorial order lived on, but
they did so now on their rural estates, particularly in southern Italy and
Sicily. For some, the trauma of post-imperial experience was too much, and
they left Italy for the surviving empire at Constantinople. 66
The retrenchment of some members of the senatorial aristocracy points
to one of the major transformations of the ruling élite in this period. Local
aristocrats became increasingly important, not just in their own regions but
as agents of the ruling power. Some, such as the Cassiodori of Squillace or
the Opiliones of Patavium (Padua), sought to infiltrate the senatorial aristocracy,
either by marriage or by holding office at Rome. They also maintained
a strong interest in the affairs of their home provinces, where they
were particularly prominent as patrons of the church. Ultimately, most saw
their destinies on their estates rather than at Rome: when Cassiodorus
retired to his monastic foundation at Squillace, he was acting in a fashion
typical of his class. Others, however, never even saw Rome as a political
goal, and, like Parecorius Apollinaris, governor of Venetia and Histria and
sponsor of the basilica apostolorum at Aquileia, they limited their ambitions
to their native regions. 67
By the early seventh century, however, power was moving away from such
traditional élites to a new military aristocracy. To an extent, this had been
prefigured by the dominance of important military figures in the last days of
the western empire, such as Ricimer, Orestes, Odoacer and Theoderic. But,
by c. 600, even the most mundane business of administration was being
invested in military officials, who acted as judges in a variety of civilian and
ecclesiastical matters. This ascendancy in military and civil affairs was
enhanced as leading members of the army came to possess considerable
65 Chastagnol (1966).
66 Barnish (1988) 120–30; Brown, Gentlemen and Officers 21–38; Matthews (1967) 502–5.
67 Barnish (1988) 130–66; Pietri (1982); Schäfer (1991).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008