sehepunkte 25 (2025), Nr. 10

Christian Barthel: Die Grenzorganisation der spätantiken Kyrenaika

One of the longest and most important inscriptions from the long sixth century in the late antique world is the edict of Anastasius from Cyrenaica, which has come down to us in more than one copy, and is best known as SEG 9, 356 and 414. In this wide-ranging new book, Christian Barthel looks more closely at this somewhat neglected edict and its broader context, particularly Anastasius' military policies and success (or lack thereof) as emperor. Detailed and well-researched, this book should be essential reading for anyone interested in military affairs and frontier life in the late antique Mediterranean.

The book is divided into six chapters, which includes the introduction and conclusion. It also includes an appendix, which reproduces several fragments of Anastasius' military edict. One of Christian Barthel's chief goals is to use this edict to offer insights into relations between centre and periphery in the late Roman Empire, but also to consider the inscription in as broad a context as possible, so considering other relevant matters, like the material(s) used, the location (findspot), and more. While much of the discussion is situated within the larger realm of frontier studies, the perspective adopted here is very much that of the Romans and how they deployed their resources, like troop numbers. Indeed, Christian Barthel also delves into Roman strategic objectives and touches on the influential (if not always widely accepted) views of Edward Luttwak with a view to examining Cyrenaica's place in wider Roman strategy, and the degree to which it was adapted to the local conditions. All this is set out in the introduction.

Chapter two provides an overview of the history of Cyrenaica in the fourth and fifth centuries. Christian Barthel touches on the geography of Libya Superior and Inferior and notes the need to rely on older archaeological analyses owing to contemporary geopolitical challenges. Like other parts of the eastern Mediterranean, the region is full of military installations, some seemingly still well preserved. The absence of the requisite section in the Notitia Dignitatum, however, makes trying to determine the size of the regional garrison more difficult than it would otherwise have been. Other topics include the role of natural catastrophes in influencing military policy changes, and Synesius (of Cyrene's) interesting comments on a range of local issues, like the imperial response to the presence of nomads.

In chapter three, Christian Barthel turns to Romans and 'barbarians'' in the Gulf of Sidra, or the Great Syrtis. Here, the Vandals feature prominently from the Battle of Cape Bon onward. But Christian Barthel also covers other neighbouring peoples, like the Moors and the Garamantes. Christian Barthel comments on our much greater appreciation of the latter owing to an abundance of new work, which has also served to support some of Herodotus' account of these people. Indeed, in this chapter, Christian Barthel regularly comments on the sometimes (even often?) contradictory picture provided by the textual and the archaeological record for the region, a problem well attested elsewhere too. Another key topic in this chapter is the role of migration, a topic usually reserved for migrations further to the north in central Europe. The migrations here involve people from the Sahara, assorted Moorish tribes especially, like the Laguatan. These large-scale movements over the course of the fifth century required some big changes on the part of the Roman state, which Christian Barthel turns to in the next chapter.

In chapter four, the longest chapter in the book, Christian Barthel turns to the edict itself. The chapter includes an account of the discovery of the edict, the material used, and its size, and there are several clear (if black and white) pictures of assorted fragments and some maps of Ptolemais, Taucheira, and Apollonia. The maps are connected to its findspot, and so Christian Barthel gets into the relevant structures, like the headquarters building and barracks. Next, Christian Barthel includes a (combined, of the two versions) text and German translation of the edict, followed by a detailed commentary of all of its attendant parts.

The commentary includes a redating of the edict, with a fixed date of 501 rejected in favour of a wider range between 492 and 502. As for the edict's purpose, Christian Barthel makes a strong case that Anastasius recognized some of the problems caused by raiders and decided to make changes, despite some of the ongoing challenges in other parts of the empire, like the Isaurian revolt. Just like the edict itself, Christian Barthel's commentary is expansive covering the separation of the office of dux from the military ranks, and the emperor's supervision of reports requesting additional troops and related needs. We find discussions of corruption and pay (the annona), and the rights and duties of the soldiers. Christian Barthel also gets into the state's seeming desire to improve the quality of the soldiers through the recruitment of younger, fitter men, and the various means that were employed to make service more attractive.

It is not all soldiers and their terms of service, however, for Christian Barthel also covers, for example, the edict's inclusion of the term fossata (τοῖς φοσσάτοις as it appears in the inscription, which he translates as der Grenzposten, (122), "the border/frontier posts", which is better than "the camp duties" translated by Alan Chester Johnson et al. in Ancient Roman Statutes, 1961, #321, (253-255)). The North African fossatum is best known from Jean Baradez's classic study which focused on the archaeologically visible remains much further to the west in southern Numidia. There has been hardly any discussion of this later (chronologically), more eastern, location. Ultimately, Christian Barthel lays out the circumstantial evidence for the fossatum in Cyrenaica, like this edict and the known military installations, though he notes the lack of concrete physical evidence. That lack of much sustained earlier attention, however, makes Christian Barthel's treatment here all the more valuable.

In the penultimate chapter, five, Christian Barthel turns to the geopolitical context, especially Anastasius' military and frontier reforms. Starting with soldiers, he notes there were three sources of recruits, those enlisted as per state regulations, those recruited from amongst the pot of veterans' sons, and those who volunteered. Thanks to the recruitment challenges the empire faced, Anastasius made changes to make service more attractive, which we can see in the edict, and which is reflected in some of the textual evidence (like Procopius of Gaza). Building on the work of Clemens Koehn (Justinian und die Armee des frühen Byzanz, de Gruyter, 2018) and drawing, in part, on Urbicius, Christian Barthel argues for signs of tactical change even earlier (than Justinian). Some of the other conflicts of Anastasius' reign attract attention in this chapter too, like the aforementioned Isaurian revolt, though affairs (construction of the Long Walls) in the Balkans and the conflict with the Persians feature too. Chapter six, the conclusion, summarizes the findings of the previous chapters and brings the book to a close.

Overall, this book is deceptively (based on its title) wide-ranging. Yes, it includes a great deal of material on late antique Cyrenaica, but as much as it provides a detailed and insightful account of Cyrenaica's little used edict, it also provides a persuasive account of Anastasius' military policies and reforms, all while drawing on an extensive and impressive variety of source material. Building on earlier research (Fiona Haarer, for instance) that has sought to shift much of the credit for changes on Rome's frontiers from Justinian to Anastasius, Christian Barthel's Anastasius is a reactive though effective emperor. He gave due attention to the geopolitical challenges, spending money on recruitment reform, on paying off the Persians at relatively modest expense (following Henning Börm), and to physical structures, like Dara and the Long Walls. Christian Barthel's Anastasius took an active role in other ways, like his purported desire (evident in this and other edicts) to take personal responsibility for changes in the empire's troop dispositions. Ultimately, this Anastasius sought to standardize many features of the Roman military, but not at the expense of local needs.

While there are a few points on which one might disagree, and, despite its extensive bibliography, a few gaps, this book should be essential reading for anyone interested in late Roman North Africa, Anastasius, and the late Roman military.