“φίλος τε καὶ ξύμμαχος”: Reflections on the exchange of letters between Justinian and Gelimer in Procopius of Caesarea

• Autor(a) principal: Rosolen Junior, Geraldo
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.4000/medievalista.6986
• topic: Procópio de Cesareia; Reino Vândalo; Império Romano do Oriente; Mediterrâneo medieval; Justiniano; Procopius of Caesarea; Vandal Kingdom; Eastern Roman Empire; Medieval Mediterranean; Justinian

The Greek terms that appear in the title of this article: “φίλος τε καὶ ξύμμαχος” are a translation of Procopius of Caesarea from the Latin words: “socius et amicus” whose objective was to demonstrate that, through these titles attributed to the barbarian kings, such kings would submit to the Roman power and that the diplomatic relations between the barbarian kingdoms and the Roman Empire had been peaceful due to the concession of a legal right attributed, in this case, to the Vandals to possess and occupy Roman territories in Africa. This strategy of placing the Vandals as submissive of the imperial power aimed to demonstrate that the Roman Empire had not lost its territories in the Pars Occidentalis. These diplomatic relations are explored in this article through the letters of Emperor Justinian to the Vandal king Gelimer who wouldn't recognize this submission to Roman power, going so far as to dethrone his cousin Hilderic for considering him very close not only to the emperors in the East, but also of Roman traditions and heritages. Thus, our objective is to understand how the letters of Gelimer and Justinian present the diplomatic relations between these peoples and even help us to understand the growing hostility that culminated in war. Bibliographical references Sources ANTHOLOGIA LATINA – “Sive poesis latinae svpplementvm”. In: RIESE, Alexander (ed.) – Carmina in codicibvs scripta: Pars prior. Lipsiae: Aedibvs B. G. Tevbneri, 1869. CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS – The codex of Justinian: A new annotated translation with Parallel Latin and Greek Text. Trad. Justice Fred H. Blume. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2016. 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