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The historiography of crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople

Lieve Van Hoof (UGent) and Peter Van Nuffelen (UGent)
(2017) JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES. 107. p.275-300
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Abstract
This article presents a new interpretation of the historiographical production of Jordanes by situating it in the political and social environment of Constantinople of the years 550-552. It argues that these years were a period of crisis in Justinian’s reign and that this is reflected in the dejected view of Roman power and the critique of Justinian’s military and religious policy we can see in Jordanes’ Romana. If this precludes that we should understand Jordanes as a mouthpiece of the court, he cannot be reduced to a mere reproducer of Cassiodorus either: while there is more evidence for a close interaction between Jordanes and Cassiodorus (in particular the use of the Historia Tripartita in the Romana) than usually adduced, this is balanced by Jordanes’ explicit attempts to keep his distance from the Senator. If the latter can be explained by Jordanes’ much lower social and literary status and his Moesian rather than Italian origin, which made him only a marginal member of Cassiodorus’ circle in Constantinople, the agreement between both men is the result of a confluence of views caused by the turn of the Italian war in 540-550. Jordanes, then, appears as a unique voice in what must have been a polyphony of opinions in mid sixth-century Constantinople.
Keywords
Late Antiquity, Justinian, Jordanes, Cassiodorus, Historiography

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MLA
Van Hoof, Lieve, and Peter Van Nuffelen. “The Historiography of Crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in Mid-Sixth-Century Constantinople.” JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES, vol. 107, 2017, pp. 275–300, doi:10.1017/s0075435817000284.
APA
Van Hoof, L., & Van Nuffelen, P. (2017). The historiography of crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople. JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES, 107, 275–300. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435817000284
Chicago author-date
Van Hoof, Lieve, and Peter Van Nuffelen. 2017. “The Historiography of Crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in Mid-Sixth-Century Constantinople.” JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES 107: 275–300. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435817000284.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Van Hoof, Lieve, and Peter Van Nuffelen. 2017. “The Historiography of Crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in Mid-Sixth-Century Constantinople.” JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES 107: 275–300. doi:10.1017/s0075435817000284.
Vancouver
1.
Van Hoof L, Van Nuffelen P. The historiography of crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople. JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES. 2017;107:275–300.
IEEE
[1]
L. Van Hoof and P. Van Nuffelen, “The historiography of crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople,” JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES, vol. 107, pp. 275–300, 2017.
@article{8080884,
  abstract     = {{This article presents a new interpretation of the historiographical production of Jordanes by situating it in the political and social environment of Constantinople of the years 550-552. It argues that these years were a period of crisis in Justinian’s reign and that this is reflected in the dejected view of Roman power and the critique of Justinian’s military and religious policy we can see in Jordanes’ Romana. If this precludes that we should understand Jordanes as a mouthpiece of the court, he cannot be reduced to a mere reproducer of Cassiodorus either: while there is more evidence for a close interaction between Jordanes and Cassiodorus (in particular the use of the Historia Tripartita in the Romana) than usually adduced, this is balanced by Jordanes’ explicit attempts to keep his distance from the Senator. If the latter can be explained by Jordanes’ much lower social and literary status and his Moesian rather than Italian origin, which made him only a marginal member of Cassiodorus’ circle in Constantinople, the agreement between both men is the result of a confluence of views caused by the turn of the Italian war in 540-550. Jordanes, then, appears as a unique voice in what must have been a polyphony of opinions in mid sixth-century Constantinople.}},
  author       = {{Van Hoof, Lieve and Van Nuffelen, Peter}},
  issn         = {{0075-4358}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES}},
  keywords     = {{Late Antiquity,Justinian,Jordanes,Cassiodorus,Historiography}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{275--300}},
  title        = {{The historiography of crisis : Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435817000284}},
  volume       = {{107}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}

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