An Unsuccessful Attempt at Presenting Political Struggle in the 5th Century Byzantium

The monograph under review is an attempt to reveal the content and meaning of one of the most notable phenomena in the Byzantine political struggle of the 450s to the 470s, the rise and collapse of the clan headed by magister militum Aspar. The review shows that the author of the monograph, presenting an extensive factual history of the events as presented by the sources, mostly narrative ones, is short of fully overcoming their bias. The attempt to interpret the essence of the political regime of that time as a “ceremonial” rule is utterly unsatisfactory and in addition, this definition is explained rather incorrectly. The researcher considers inadequately the institutional environment in which the struggle unfolded, and in effect does not analyze the social situation. Thus, the specific late-Antique features of Early Byzantium structuring the fate of Aspar and his opponents and allies are paid no attention in the book.