Food Supply and Military Mutiny in the Late Roman Empire

Lee, A.D.

Abstract

This paper approaches the subject of food supply in late Roman warfare from the perspective of military mutiny, with a view to highlighting the political importance of effective logistics for maintenance of troop loyalty and discipline. It begins by contextualising the subject against earlier periods of Roman history, especially the Republic, when food shortage was an important contributory factor in a number of high-profile cases of military mutiny. Mutiny appears to have been less common during the Principate and the Late Empire, at least until the sixth and early seventh centuries, and when mutiny did occur, food shortage was rarely a factor. While this might seem an anti-climactic conclusion, the paper contends that it provides corroboration of the effectiveness and flexibility of army supply arrangements in the Late Empire. It discusses late Roman evidence for awareness of the dangers of food shortages for soldiers’ allegiances and emphasises how the important role of mobile field armies in the Late Empire placed particular pressures on arrangements for military food supply. The apparent lack of military mutinies arising from food shortages during the Late Empire therefore assumes greater significance than might at first seem to be the case.

Citation

Lee, A. (2019). Food Supply and Military Mutiny in the Late Roman Empire. Journal of Late Antiquity, 12(2), 277-297. https://doi.org/10.1353/jla.2019.0017

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 10, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Dec 12, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 12, 2019
• Deposit Date: Oct 11, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 22, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Late Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 1939-6716
• Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 277-297
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jla.2019.0017
• Keywords: History; Classics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2805590
• Publisher URL: https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/742855
• Related Public URLs: https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal-late-antiquity
• Additional Information: Copyright Johns Hopkins University Press