The Shields of the Empire

The Shields of the Empire: Eastern Roman Military Elites during the Reigns of the Emperors Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I aims to reconstruct the involvement of the Eastern Roman military elite in various matters of the state against the wider backdrop of political history marked by the reigns of the emperors Theodosius II (408-450), Marcian (450-457) and Leo I (457-474).

On its pages, the author presents the history of the numerous wars in which the Empire found itself entangled during that uneasy time, as well as the periods of conflict and cooperation between the generals and the emperors. The focus is not only on the military elite as a group, but also on outstanding individuals, such as generals Plintha, Flavius Zeno, Aspar, or Zeno-Tarasikodissa, the aforementioned emperors, and their civilian advisors.

The result is a comprehensive study and a novel interpretation of the nearly seven decades of turmoil that, contrary to what happened in the West, curiously did not result in the collapse of the Eastern Roman state—perhaps, as the author argues, in no small part due to those military leaders, who were serving and protecting it.