Contested Monarchy

Dr. Johannes Wienand is Assistant Professor of Ancient History and Classics at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany.

• List of Abbreviations ; Contributors ; Map of the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century ; Introduction ; 1. The Cloak of Power: Dressing and Undressing the King ; Johannes Wienand ; Part One Administering the Empire ; 2. Domesticating the Senatorial Elite: Universal Monarchy and Imperial Aristocracy in the Fourth Century AD ; John Weisweiler ; 3. The Inflation of Rank and Privilege: Regulating Precedence in the Fourth Century AD ; John Noel Dillon ; 4. Ostentatious Legislation: Law and Dynastic Change, AD 364-365 ; Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner ; 5. Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century ; Doug Lee ; 6. Gaul and the Roman Emperors of the Fourth Century ; Joachim Szidat ; 7. Regional Dynasties and Imperial Court ; Michael Kulikowski ; Part Two Performing the Monarchy ; 8. Emperors, Usurpers, and the City of Rome: Performing Power from Diocletian to Theodosius ; Mark Humphries ; 9. O tandem felix civili, Roma, victoria! Civil War Triumphs From Honorius to Constantine and Back ; Johannes Wienand ; 10. Coping with the Tyrant's Faction: Civil War Amnesties and Christian Discourses in the Fourth Century AD ; Hartmut Leppin ; 11. Pliny and Pacatus: Past and Present in Imperial Panegyric ; Christopher Kelly ; 12. Born to be Emperor: The Principle of Succession and the Roman Monarchy ; Henning Borm ; 13. Performing Justice: The Penal Code of Constantine the Great ; Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning ; Part Three Balancing Religious Change ; 14. Speaking of Power: Christian Redefinition of the Imperial Role in the Fourth Century ; Harold Drake ; 15. Constantine, Rome, and the Christians ; Bruno Bleckmann ; 16. Constantine and the Tyche of Constantinople ; Noel Lenski ; 17. A Vain Quest for Unity: Creeds and Political (Dis)Integration in the Reign of Constantius II ; Steffen Diefenbach ; 18. The Challenge of Religious Violence: Imperial Ideology and Policy in the Fourth Century ; Johannes Hahn ; 19. Christian Faith, Ancient Writers and Daily Life: The Impact of Christianity at the End of the Fourth Century ; Rita Lizzi Testa ; Epilogue ; 20. The Empire's Golden Shade: Icons of Sovereignty in an Age of Transition ; Johannes Wienand ; Bibliography ; General Index ; Index Locorum

This exceptionally valuable book offers multiple perspectives on the development of the institutional, ideological and religious aspects of the Roman empire's first Christian century. Breaking away from traditional divisions according to dynasty or religion, we see how the Roman state developed new answers to the central question of its own legitimacy. Eschewing simplistic generalizations, the diverse contributions offer multiple perspectives on the way the Roman system of government interacted with its subjects. Wienand has performed an invaluable service by facilitating a wide ranging encounter among scholarly styles to promote a well-articulated discussion of significant themes in the governance of the Roman Empire, illuminating not only the period under consideration, but earlier and later periods as well.