Page 84 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

military commanders in the West, but also the senior officer with com-
petence over the military affairs of Spain, part of the prefecture of Gaul. 79
The provincials sought his assistance in the absence of local military forces.
The military commanders in Spain in the 410s and 420s had been allied
80
with the Sueves against the Vandals. Perhaps they also served to mediate
relations between the barbarians and the provincials. If so, the provin-
cials in 431 desired Aetius to assume the same role from Gaul. Certainly
Hydatius shows no sign of disappointment that Aetius responded to
the provincials’ appeal with a diplomatic mission rather than a military
offensive. 81
What authority did Hydatius represent as envoy? Usually when
Hydatius portrays a body politic of Gallaecian provincials – sending or
receiving envoys, negotiating with the Sueves – he refers to it only as the
Gallaeci. 82 The simplicity of this term is deceptive. During occasions of
hostility, the Sueves were in conflict not with all the Roman inhabitants
of the province but with specific smaller areas. There were also divisions
among the Gallaecians which Hydatius chose not to emphasise. 83 The
Chronicle records no local imperial or municipal officers involved in ne-
gotiations on behalf of the Gallaecians, either in 431 or later. 84 Several
times, Hydatius refers to regional divisions of Gallaecia, the conventus
of Braga, Lugo, and Astorga. These appear to be the old local juridical
and administrative units of the early empire, still functioning in the fifth
85
century. None of the embassies to or from the provincials is associated

and the murder of the senior magister utriusque militiae praesentalis Felix (T. Mommsen, ‘Aetius’,
Gesammelte Schriften iv (Berlin, 1906), 535 n. 9; Sundwall, Westr¨ omische Studien, 41; Demandt,
‘Magister militum’, 654); cf. O’Flynn, Generalissimos, 78. For Aetius’ position in 431: Ensslin,
‘Heermeisteramt’, 477–8; Demandt, ‘Magister militum’, 654–5; Sundwall, Westr¨ omische Studien,
41; PLRE ii, 22–3.
79 Cf. Demandt, ‘Magister militum’, 667. There is no magister utriusque militiae per Gallias attested
between 430 and 437 (cf. PLRE ii, 1289), during which Aetius campaigned several times in Gaul.
80 Hyd., cc. 71, 74 [63, 66]; cf. Bury i, 204, 208–9.
81 Table 1 no. 3; cf. Thompson, Romans and Barbarians, 290 n. 8.
82
E.g. Hyd., cc. 96, 100, 135, 188, 196, 197, 204, 220 [86, 91, 127, 181, 191, 192, 199, 216].
83
Thompson, Romans and Barbarians, 178–87, 211; Muhlberger, Fifth-Century Chroniclers, 245–60.
84
The only possible imperial official in Gallaecia in the Chronicle is the rector of Lugo, killed by a
Suevic attack in 460; Hyd., c. 199 [194]; cf. Tranoy i, 46; Thompson, Romans and Barbarians, 169.
A consularis Callaeciae is listed in the Not. dig. Oc. i, 67: xxi.10, butdoes notappear in Hydatius’
narrative.
85
Hyd., cc. 102, 194, 202 [93, 189, 197](conventus of Lugo, cf. the Lucensis urbs of c. 219);
179, 214a[172, 213] (of Braga); 249 [243] (of Astorga, cf. cc. 130, 173 [122, 166]: Asturicen-
sis urbs). Tranoy ii, Map iii. For the conventus and conventus civium Romanorum in the early empire:
E. Kornemann, ‘Conventus’, RE iv.1 (Berlin, 1900), 1173–1200 (note the lists of juridical con-
ventus assemblies and of conventus civium Romanorum, 1177, 1184); W. Kunkel, An Introduction to
Roman Legal and Constitutional History, trans. J. M. Kelly, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1973), 41–2;A.N.
Sherwin-White, The Roman Citizenship, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1973), 225–7; for the conventus of
Spain: Eugene Albertini, Les Divisions administratives de l’Espagne romaine (Paris, 1923), 83–104;
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