Page 260 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

are, however, also examples of kings in the former provinces employing
local nobles. 48
Courts, however, could draw on resources not available to provincial
authorities. Almost any palatine functionary could be dispatched. 49 At
least five factors, none of which operated in isolation, determined the
selection of palatine officials as legates. 50 The rank attached to the offi-
cial’s post, or to him personally, could signify the degree of respect being
paid to the recipient; patricii and individuals of consular rank were used
and indeed demanded in the most important missions, and many viri
inlustris are attested as envoys; some were elevated to high ranks specifi-
51
cally in preparation for the undertaking of embassies. The proximity to
the emperor and his decision-making process conveyed by membership
of the consistorium made notarii frequentenvoys. Certain officials were
involved in matters closely associated with communication with other
parties, and so were logically chosen to undertake embassies as a con-
sequence of their involvement; this included the magister officiorum and

Variae ii, 6); possibly the vir clarissimus Renatus (PLRE ii, 939); Theodorus, Inportunus, Agapitus,
and Fl. Agapitus (PLRE ii, 30, 32, 592, 1098). Theodahad: Liberius, Opilio, and other senators
(Procopius, Wars v, 4.15). See above, chapter 5, nn. 26, 36–7. Eastern emperor: Procopius, Wars
vi, 29.1–5; viii, 24.11–30;cf. viii, 25.7–10: an alliance with the Lombards is signed by Justinian
and twelve members of the Senate of Constantinople.
48 Hyd., c. 251 [245]: the Suevic king Remismund sends the praesens cives Lusidius to Anthemius.
49 To the evidence in chapter 5 for the court of Theoderic in Italy, add officers of the courts of
sixth- and seventh-century Merovingian Gaul and Visigothic Spain, indicated by actual post or
the rank of vir inlustris. For Gaul: Gregory of Tours, Hist. iii, 33 (Secundinus); x, 2 (Evantius, rector
Provinciae; Grippo, spatharius,cf. Ep. Austr., 25, 43); Ep. Austr. 25 (Radan, cubicularius; Eusebius,
notarius,cf. PLRE iii, ‘Eusebius 8’, 468); 42 (Chotro, cubicularius); 43 (Babo, vir inlustris); Epistolae
Arelatenses genuinae (MGH Epp. 3), 38 (Modericus, vir inlustris,a. 538), 48, 54 (Rufinus, vir
inlustris, aa. 556, 557); Fredegar, Chron. iv, 30 (comestabuli Eborinus); Marculf, Formulae (MGH
Legum section 5: Formulae), i, 9, 11 (envoys in formulae are assumed to be viri inlustris); Ganshof,
‘Merowingisches Gesandschaftswesen’, 171. For Spain: Gregory of Tours, Hist. v, 43 (Agila, vir
inlustris,cf. PLRE iii, ‘Agila 2’, 27); Epistolae Wisigoticae (MGH Epp. 3), 13 (Guldrimirus and
Tatila, viri inlustris, c. 610–12; Tatila is possibly the same as the envoy Totila, ibid., 9 lemma).
Other envoys whose positions are not specified may also have been palatine staff. For Gaul:
e.g. Gregory of Tours, Hist. iv, 40 (Warmarius Francus;Firminus Arvernus); v, 36 (Heraclius);
vi, 18 (Ansovald, a prior of Chilperic; Domegisel, cf. vii, 7); vii, 14 (Sigivald); viii, 13 (Felix);
viii, 44, ix, 13 (Baddo, senior of an embassy from Fredegund); ix, 28 (Ebregisel); Ep. Austr., 18
(Iohannis; Missurius). For Spain: Gregory of Tours, Hist. vi, 40 (Oppila). Ganshof, Middle Ages,
38–9; Weidemann, Kultergeschichte, i, 103–6.
50
On Envoys in Lee and Shepard, ‘Peri Presbeon’, 30 = Anon. Byz. Treatise on Strategy xliii, lists the
selection criteria of envoys as piety, a lack of criminal convictions, prudence, and a willingness
to risk their safety for the public good. The illustration of these qualities with classical exempla
underscores the literary nature of this list, though the point about convictions perhaps relates to
the need for status.
51
Demand: e.g. Attila’s demand in 448 for envoys of consular rank; Priscus, Fr., 11.1, 11.2, 13.1
(Fr. Class. Hist., 234, 247, 283); Croke, ‘Anatolius and Nomus’, 165–6. Elevation: Malchus, Fr.,
5, 20 (Fr. Class. Hist., 411, 439); R. Mathisen, ‘Patricians as Diplomats’, 34–49; Elton, Warfare in
Roman Europe, 182–3 n. 15.
234