Rome and Byzantium in the Visigothic Kingdom: Beyond Imitatio Imperii (Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia)

This volume interrogates the assumption that Visigothic practices and institutions were mere imitations of the Byzantine empire. Contributors rethink these practices not as uncritical and derivative adoptions of Byzantine customs, but as dynamic processes in dialogue with not only the Byzantine empire but also with the contemporary Iberian context, as well as the Roman past. The goal of the volume is to approach Visigothic customs not as an uncritical adoption and imitatio of contemporary Roman models (an "acculturation" model), but as unique interpretations of a common pool of symbols, practices, and institutions that formed the legacy of Rome. The contributors argue that it is necessary to reconsider the idea of imitatio imperii as a process that involved specific actors taking strategic decisions in historically contingent circumstances Cover 1 Table of Contents 6 Abbreviations 10 Acknowledgements 16 Introduction 18 Damián Fernández, Molly Lester, and Jamie Wood 18 1. Visigothic Spain and Byzantium 30 The Story of a Special (Historiographical) Relationship 30 Céline Martin 30 2. The Development of the Visigothic Court in the Hagiography of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries 54 Ian Wood 54 3. Experiments in Visigothic Rulership 74 Minting and Monetary Reforms under Alaric II 74 Merle Eisenberg 74 4. A Comparison of Roman and Visigothic Approaches to Exile 98 Margarita Vallejo Girvés 98 5. The Roman Jewel in the Visigothic Crown 124 A Reassessment of the Royal Votive Crowns of the Guarrazar Treasure 124 Cecily Hilsdale 124 6. Capitalhood in the Visigothic Kingdom 152 Damián Fernández 152 7. Making Rite Choices 180 Roman and Eastern Liturgies in Early Medieval Iberia 180 Molly Lester 180 8. Ethnicity and Imitatio in Isidore of Seville 206 Erica Buchberger 206 9. Re-imagining Roman Persecution in the Visigothic Passions 224 David Addison 224 10. Romanness in Visigothic Hagiography 254 Santiago Castellanos 254 11. Empire and the Politics of Faction 278 Mérida and Toledo Revisited 278 Graham Barrett 278 12. The Agents and Mechanics of Connectivity 318 The Mediterranean World and the Cities of the Guadiana Valley in the Sixth Century 318 Jamie Wood 318 13. Staying Roman after 711? 346 Ann Christys 346 Index 370 List of Figures and Tables 8 Figure 1: Map of Visigothic Gaul and Spain 17 Figure 3.1: Bronze 40 nummi of Anastasius I, Eastern Roman, Constantinople, 498–518 CE. ANS 1997.31.1.obv.600 and ANS 1997.31.1.rev.600 79 Figure 3.2: Bronze 40 nummi of Theodoric and Athalaric, Ostrogothic, Rome, 522–534 CE. ANS 1944.100.61978.obv.490 and ANS 1944.100.61978.rev.490 79 Figure 3.3: Bronze 42 nummi of Hilderic, Vandal, Carthage, 523–530 CE. ANS 1944.100.73746.obv.490 and ANS 1944.100.73746.rev.490 79 Figure 3.4: Visigothic Regal Coinage, Gold tremissis of Leovigild, Toledo, 575–586 CE. ANS 2016.29.9.obv.1800 and ANS 2016.29.9.rev.1800 82 Figure 3.5: Gold tremissis of Gundobad, ‘Burgundian’, after 501–516 CE. ANS 2014.44.55.obv.2300 and ANS 2014.44.55.rev.2300 82 Figure 3.6: Gold tremissis of the Visigoths, after 501–518 CE. ANS 1944.74.1.obv.3950 and ANS 1944.74.1.rev.3950 82 Figure 3.7: Gold Solidus of Constantine I, Nicomedia, 315–316 CE. ANS 1948.19.315.obv.600 and ANS 1948.19.315.rev.600 85 Figure 3.8: Gold solidus of Julius Nepos, Visigoths, 474–480 CE. ANS 2014.44.12.obv.2300 and ANS 2014.44.12.rev.2300 85 Figure 5.1: Frontispiece of Ferdinand de Lasteyrie, Description du Trésor de Guarrazar, accompagnée de recherches sur toutes les questions archéologiques qui s’y rattachent (Paris: Gide, 1860). Image in the Public Domain, gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque de 125 Figure 5.2: The Guarrazar Treasure (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid). Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Inv. RP-2013-10-18. Photo: Doctor Sombra. 127 Figure 5.3: Sapphire and Pearl Cross, Guarrazar Treasure (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid). Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Inv. 71203. Photo: Fundación ITMA, Santiago Relanzón. 128 Figure 5.4: Crown of King Suinthila, Guarrazar Treasure (now lost). Photo: Biblioteca del Ateneo de Madrid. 138 Figure 5.5: Crown of King Recceswinth with Cross, Guarrazar Treasure (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid). Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Inv. C663. Photo: Fundación ITMA, Santiago Relanzón. 139 Figure 11.1: The City of Mérida in Late Antiquity 292 Figure 13.1: Andalusi dinar dated Indiction XI, also dated XCIII = AH 71/711. From http://www.andalustonegawa.50g.com/gov_trans_types.htm; thanks to Ibrahim and Gaspariño. 352 Figure 13.2: Seal of Andalusi governor al-Samḥ (718–21). From http://www.andalustonegawa.50g.com/Seals.html; thanks to Ibrahim and Gaspariño. 356 Table 1: The internal structure and chronology of the Vitas sanctorum patrum Emeretensium.Sources: Kampers 1979, 95, ‘Paulus’, 32–33; 96, ‘Fidelis’, 33; 195, ‘Nanctus’, 57–58; 361, ‘Augustus’,93; García Moreno 1974, 435, ‘Massona’, 166–69; 437, ‘Innocentius’, 170; 438, ‘Renovatus’, 171; Jorge2002, 76. 285