Les protectores Augusti (IIIe-VIe s. a.C.)

This book, completed by a prosopographical catalogue of 260 individuals, is a history of the protectores diuini lateris Augusti, from the early 3rd century to the late 6th century. Even though prominent individuals are known among its members, such as the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, or the emperors Constantius Chlorus, Constantine I, Jovian and Valens, these officers’ role and nature, between the rank-and-file and the high command, have often been misunderstood. Setting the privileged relationship between these soldiers and the emperors as its main paradigm, this study offers new hindsight on a key element of the Late Roman army. Following a chronological and thematic plan, this book explains the protectores Augusti’s inception and evolution during the 3rd century as part of the wider reorganisation of military command and as an indicator of the army’s growing political role. After a careful definition of the protectores’ institutional position in the 4th century empire, the study analyses their career perspectives, rhythms and mechanisms of promotions, and the diversity of their lived experiences. Finally, it opens a privileged window towards a social and cultural history of the Late Roman army, and fully discusses complex and sometimes neglected problems, such as the distinction between protectores and protectores domestici, the history of the comites domesticorum, or the protectores’ diverging evolutions between East and West in the 5th and 6th centuries.