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Herulian Settlements in Byzantium under Emperors Anastasius and Justinian

Stanisław Turlej

ELECTRUM, Volume 20, 2013, s. 163 - 176

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Justynian i początki Słowian. Uwagi na temat teorii Florina Curty

Stanisław Turlej

Prace Historyczne, Numer 137, 2010, s. 11 - 19

JUSTINIAN AND THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SLAVS. REMARKS ON FLORIN CURTA’S THEORY
Carried out by Florin Curta in his work The Making of the Slavs and repeated in subsequent publications, the entire reconstruction of the historical situation in the Balkans under the rule of Justinian I does not reflect the reality of the period. Overestimating the role of barbarian invasions and the lack of a critical analysis of thed scription presented in the 4thbook of De Aedificiis by Procopius of Caesarea resulted in an artificial depiction of the situation on the imperial territories in the first half of the 6thcentury. Drawing on an episode connected with Chilbudius’s expeditions to the north bank of the Danube and an excerpt from Justinian’s 11thNovella devoted to Aquis, Curta „discovered” Justinian’s political activities that the ruler never actually undertook, i.e. the aggressive policy towards barbarians or burdening bishops with land security responsibilities. The analysis of historical sources present in Curta’s works is merely a tool since it is used only to prove the thesis that the beginnings of the Slavs by the Danube were an outcome of Justinian’s building activities..

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Konflikty o Sirmium w dobie upadku państwa Ostrogotów (526–535)

Stanisław Turlej

Prace Historyczne, Numer 145 (3), 2018, s. 489 - 504

https://doi.org/10.4467/20844069PH.18.024.8486

Conflicts over Sirmium during the decline of the Ostrogothic Kingdom (526–535)

Little is known about Sirmium in the period from the death of Theodoric the Great (526) to Justinian’s war against the Ostrogoths (535). So far the simplest and most obvious method of analysing the surviving written sources, i.e. literal interpretation, has not been used for reconstructing the history of this city. Instead, for unclear reasons, it is almost commonly accepted that in 530 the city was attacked by the Gepids. The Ostrogoths supposedly repelled the enemy and their future king, Vitiges, distinguished himself in the battle. However, on the basis of the written sources (Cassiodorus and Procopius of Caesarea), a completely different reconstruction of the events is possible. It is more likely that there were two wars for Sirmium between the Gepids and the Ostrogoths: the first one in 526–527 and the second in 533–534. An examination of the historical context confirms that these two conflicts could have been consistent with other events and, just as importantly, enables us to explain the Ostrogoths’ complete inactivity in the face of the Frankish invasion.

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Twierdza Asemus w V–VI wieku

Stanisław Turlej

Prace Historyczne, Numer 145 (4), 2018, s. 737 - 754

https://doi.org/10.4467/20844069PH.18.035.8750

The fortress of Asemus in the 5th-6th centuries

Theophylact Simocatta’s account of the conflict between the soldiers and citizens of the city of Asemus with the Roman general Peter, the commander of the imperial army, frequently appears in scholarly literature, however, it is inappropriately used to describe the situation in the territories on the Danube during the reign of Emperor Maurice. This is due to lack of a comprehensive analysis of this account as well as to the reflections on the history of this city in the 5th–6th centuries. So far, historians have not exploited the potential of comparing the functioning of the garrison in Asemus in the late 6th century with the attested solutions used in the defence of Thermopylae in connection with Justinian I’s military reforms. A garrison was stationed in Asemus by an imperial privilege, and it could be used outside the city only on the Emperor’s order. The general had no right to include these soldiers in his army without the appropriate imperial document. Peter’s unlawful actions were resisted by the local soldiers and citizens alike. The bishop’s role in this conflict should not be overestimated, since he played an important role only as far as the possible violation of the right to asylum in a church was concerned. The appearance of a garrison of professional soldiers in Asemus and the fact that the city was a bishopric seem to indicate that it experienced a revival in the 6th century, during the restoration of the Empire’s rule over the territories on the Danube after the death of Emperor Anastasius.

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Stanisław Turlej

Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Polska, ul. Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków

Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Polska, ul. Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków