Constantine and the Barbarian Revolution - by Prof. Jeroen van Wijnendaele (Ghent)

This seminar wishes to explore the tension between Constantinian propaganda of victorious emperors over barbarian peoples, in particular the Franks, and their extensive use of these communities to sustain their own power. While some third century emperors had occasionally made use of Frankish muscle, it was the Constantinian dynasty who exploited the resources of Francia as never before. Its inhabitants were not only instrumentalized as bogeymen for purposes of propaganda, but also coerced as labour for the Gallic countryside, and even employed as recruits for the imperial army among whom individual Franks rose to unprecedented positions in the army’s chain-of-command. The main contention is that Constantine I was the first Roman Emperor to award high office to non-Romans such as Franks, precisely because their origins made them more vulnerable, and by extension, loyal to the throne. 

Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele (BA Ghent, MA Bologna, PhD Cork) is Visiting Professor and Gerda Henkel Fellow at Ghent University. He has published widely on Late Roman political, military and social history. Among his most recent publications are a volume on Late Roman Italy (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) and a Dutch monograph on De wereld van Clovis (Ertsberg, 2024), which is currently on its 6th print and was a finalist for the Homerus award of the Dutch Classical Association for best tradebook on Antiquity. As of 2026, he has become founding editor of Edinburgh Studies in Late Roman History, the first international book series exclusively dedicated to the core domain of Late Antiquity.

After the Ancient World Seminar, you are welcome to join us for post-talk drinks at the Wolthoorn. Everyone is also welcome to join for dinner afterwards at their own expense: if you would like to do so, kindly register for dinner by emailing crasis.aws rug.nl.