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11 - Women and the Military in the Age of Justinian

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2024

By
Conor Whately
Edited by
Lee L. Brice  and
Elizabeth M. Greene
Lee L. Brice
Affiliation:
Western Illinois University
Elizabeth M. Greene
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
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Summary

Scholars generally assume that Procopius, the noted sixth century classicizing historian, was a misogynist who in his notorious Secret History belittled the impact Theodora and Antonina had on the Empire’s fortunes. In that work and his Wars, Procopius highlights the plight of women in the warfare of the reign of Justinian. How, then, are we to reconcile the seeming hatred of, for example, Antonina in the Secret History with the apparent empathy of the suffering inhabitants of Italy in the Wars? In this chapter the author explores the role of women in the military of the age of Justinian at both the top (amongst the officer class – Antonina) and the bottom (amongst the civilians and the rank-and-file) ends, through the gaze of Procopius, and in the process establish the female component of what is generally assumed to have been a wholly male space. Comparative evidence is abundant and includes such materials as the Code of Justinian; other sixth century texts such as those of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, Agathias, and Corippus; the papyri of Nessana (which detail the relationship between soldiers and civilians in late sixth century Israel/Palestine); and the material remains of Roman fortresses such as el-Lejjun.

Keywords

WomenProcopiusWarRoman armyJustinianEmpirehistorianLate AntiquityAntoninael-Lejjun
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Women and the Army in the Roman Empire , pp. 299 - 326
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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