The reign of Anastasius I, 491-518
﻿ Anastasius' long rule at the turn of the sixth century has tended to be neglected, yet it was a critical time in the history of the Later Roman Empire. On his accession, there were many problems facing the state: conflicts, both internal and external, religious disputes, and financial and administrative chaos. It is the aim of this thesis to assess the significance of Anastasius' reign, with a systematic survey of the key areas of imperial government. After an introductory chapter examining the primary sources, the second and third chapters consider revolts and wars. Chapter Two looks at two internal uprisings, that of the Isaurians (491-498) and that of Vitalian (514-516). The third chapter concentrates on external conflicts and political relations. The first section considers the Persian offensive (502-506) and the role of the Arabs, while the second part examines the ambiguous position of Theoderic in Italy, and explores how Anastasius sought to stabilize the balance of power with counter-alliances with the Franks and Burgundians. Chapter Four deals with the doctrinal schism dividing the orthodox from the monophysite. It outlines the background to this crisis and investigates the vicissitudes of Anastasius' policy as he sought to reconcile increasing eastern monophysitism with the west's intransigent orthodoxy. Chapter Five examines Anastasius' financial rehabilitation of the state and concludes that his success lay in a much wider reorganisation of the empire's resources: he restructured the fisc and introduced changes to municipal administration, agrarian legislation and the organisation of the army. This chapter also considers measures to halt the escalating violence of the faction riots, and it closes with a survey of the emperor's building policy. The thesis concludes that Anastasius' reign resolved many of the problems facing the empire in the fifth century, paving the way for Justinian in the sixth.
AN EARLY EPITOMATOR OF JOSEPHUS: EUSTATHIUS OF EPIPHANEIA
Few authors of classical antiquity have claimed s much attention s Flavius Josephus from scholars in a wide variety of disciplines: whether our interest in the Jewish historian is historical, literary, text-critical or concerned with bis Nachleben, reference works and detailed studies are there for the asking. From this wide net cast by scholars of Josephus, however, there has slipped through a short text, the provenance and significance of which have still to be clarified. In the codex Paris, gr. I555A, s. XIII-XIV, ff. 5-7, we find a text introduced by the words Ευσταθίου έπιφανέως σύριας Επιτομή της αρχαιολογίας ίωσήπου. The text is preceded by a) an acephalous extract from Joseppus' Ύπομνηστικόν βιβλίον (PG 106, 10-175), b) a calculation of the years from Adam to Christ (ff. 3-4), and c) an incomplete list of Roman emperors (ff. 4~5). Immediately following our text in the manuscript are extracts from an epitome of church history, published by J. A. Gramer, who noted at the time the title on f. 5: Ευσταθίου .. . ίωση που. Harking back to this in his edition of the little-known sixth Century historian Eustathius of Epiphaneia, C. M ller remarked: Eustathius ille fortasse non est diversus ab historico nostro. Ceterum fragmentum illud quum nonnisi summa capita historiae Judaicae paucis verbis indigitet, non erat cur excriberem. Whether it was this remark, or the doubtful attribution to an obscure sixth Century historian, which damned our seemingly unpromising fragment to subsequent oblivion, it is impossible to teil. Suffice it to observe that there is no mention of the manuscript of the text or of its authenticity in any of the reference works concerning either the transmission of Josephus Jewish Wars (BJ) and Jewish Antiquities (AJ) or in the epitomes made of them in ancient times.
The African cynodont Aleodon (Cynodontia, Probainognathia) in the Triassic of southern Brazil and its biostratigraphic significance
In this contribution we report the first occurrence of the enigmatic African probainognathian genus Aleodon in the Middle-early Late Triassic of several localities from the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Aleodon is unusual among early probainognathians in having transversely-expanded postcanine teeth, similar to those of gomphodont cynognathians. This genus was previously known from the Manda Beds of Tanzania and the upper Omingonde Formation of Namibia. The Brazilian record of this genus is based upon multiple specimens representing different ontogenetic stages, including three that were previously referred to the sectorial-toothed probainognathian Chiniquodon theotonicus. We propose a new species of Aleodon (A. cromptoni sp. nov.) based on the specimens from Brazil. Additionally, we tentatively refer one specimen from the upper Omingonde Formation of Namibia to this new taxon, strengthening biostratigraphic correlations between these strata. Inclusion of A. cromptoni in a phylogenetic analysis of eucynodonts recovers it as the sister-taxon of A. brachyrhamphus within the family Chiniquodontidae. The discovery of numerous specimens of Aleodon among the supposedly monospecific Chiniquodon samples of Brazil raises concerns about chiniquodontid alpha taxonomy, particularly given the extremely broad geographic distribution of Chiniquodon. The discovery of Brazilian Aleodon and new records of the traversodontid Luangwa supports the hypothesis that at least two subzones can be recognized in the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone.