The Soldier's Life: Martial Virtues and Manly Romanitas in the Early Byzantine Empire - Softcover

Stewart, Michael Edward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0995671702 ISBN 13: 9780995671706

Publisher: Kismet Press Llp, 2017

Synopsis

This monograph examines the various ways martial virtues and images of the soldier’s life shaped early Byzantine cultural ideals of masculinity. It contends that in many of the visual and literary sources from the fourth to the seventh centuries CE, conceptualisations of the soldier’s life and the ideal manly life were often the same. By taking this stance, the book challenges the view found in many recent studies on Late Roman and early Byzantine masculinity that suggest a Christian ideal of manliness based on extreme ascetic virtues and pacifism had superseded militarism and courage as the dominant component of hegemonic masculine ideology. Though the monograph does not reject the relevance of Christian constructions of masculinity for helping one understand early Byzantine society and its diverse representations of masculinity, it seeks to balance these modern studies’ often heavy emphasis on “rigorist” Christian sources with the more customary attitudes we find in the secular, and indeed some Christian texts, praising military virtues as an essential aspect of Byzantine manliness. The connection between martial virtues and “true” manliness remained a powerful cultural force in the period covered in this study. Indeed, the reader of this work will find that the “manliness of war” is on display in much of the surviving early Byzantine literature, secular and Christian.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Edward Stewart is an honorary Fellow in the school of History and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland.  His research focuses on issues of culture,gender, and identity in Late Antiquity. He has a published a number articles on these themes. His most recent paper, The Dangers of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius Gothic Wars will appear in the Journal of Late Antiquity in 2017.

Review:

More "The study [...] compellingly demonstrates the ongoing importance of secular, military values and gendered language in public discussions of Roman masculinity and imperial politics from the late fourth through seventh centuries C.E." Marion Kruse-Studies in Late Antiquity


The prowess of the Roman empire was imbued with courage and militarism. Symbolised by the combative male soldier, Michael Edward Stewart's tool of historical enquiry is masculinity. In his book, The Soldier's Life: Martial Virtues and Manly Romanitas in the Early Byzantine Empire (Kismet Press, 2016), Stewart explores whether theological constructions of manhood as ascetic and pacifist changed the contours of manly Romanitas. From the martial metaphors of Synesius of Cyrene, to the third gender of Eunuchs, to the paganism of Emperor Julian to the piety of Theodosius I - The Soldier's Life reminds us that gender has been constructed for centuries. The fluidity of boundaries and power in this ancient construct of masculinity makes a poignant case against restrictive binaries and static hegemony. Taylor Fox-Smith-New Books Network

"a wealth of evidence.. that traditional Roman military values remained an essential and important element in early Byzantium" - @BMCReview review of @mikeaztec28's The Soldier's Life: Martial Virtues and Manly Romanitas.. bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2017/2017-11-38.html ...

About this edition

• Publisher: Kismet Press Llp
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0995671702
• ISBN 13: 9780995671706
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 406