Justinian’s Balkan Wars: Campaigning, Diplomacy and Development in Illyricum, Thrace and the Northern World A.D. 527–65 by Alexander Sarantis (review)

The book is the author’s revised dissertation defended at Oxford in 2006. It deals with Justinian’s Balkan policy, which has been largely neglected in English-language scholarship, and brings attention to equally neglected sixth-century “barbarians,” such as the Gepids, the Heruls, and the Kutrigurs. Sarantis’s main goal is to demonstrate that the Balkans were not overlooked by Justinian. Scholars have been misled by Procopius, who did not devote special attention to this region in his Wars, in which Balkan policy appears to be subservient to the Italian theater. Finally, Sarantis argues that Justinian’s diplomatic and military actions were largely successful. It is in hindsight alone that modern historians have tried to identify during his reign the origins of the Balkan crisis that finally led to the collapse of Roman power in the seventh century.

The book is divided into five chapters and follows a chronological structure. The first two deal with the early Justinianic period (527–540). Chapter 1 discusses the new threats posed by the Kutrigurs, the Gepids, and the Slavs and introduces Justinian’s main strategies vis-à-vis the northern barbaricum. Through military initiative and diplomatic acumen Justinian was setting the stage of his divide et impera policy, which Sarantis considers to be the key to ensuring a comfortable degree of fragmentation in barbaricum. Chapter 2 discusses Justinian’s internal reforms and his fortification program in the Balkans. Sarantis argues that Book 4 of Procopius’ Buildings is direct evidence of the high priority accorded to the Balkans. Ample archaeological evidence confirms Justinian’s efforts devoted to fortifying the Balkan provinces, although Buildings is neither complete nor entirely accurate as a list of fortresses and towns built or restored by this emperor. Chapter 3 discusses crises in the Balkans from c. 540–552. Justinian’s system of fortification was put to the test when hordes of Huns and Slavs poured into the Balkan provinces, and the shifting balance of power between Gepids, Heruls, and Lombards in northern Illyricum was about to upset Justinian’s Realpolitik. Sarantis follows the events through a close reading of Procopius, our main source for this tumultuous period. His main observation is that the Gepids were rapidly growing into a superpower in the Middle Danube region. Modern historians have tended to focus on the Avars, while neglecting the threat posed earlier by the Gepids and slighting Justinian’s success in curbing their ambitions. Chapter 4 deals with the last phase of Justinian’s long reign (553–565). Sarantis focuses on two major events: the Kutrigur attack of 559 and the arrival of the Avars in the Danube region. He argues that Justinian was successful in avoiding direct conflict with the Avars and was planning to add them to the political puzzle engineered by the emperor in the northern world. Chapter 5 is an epilogue whose aim is to show that Justinian’s successors failed to continue his savvy diplomacy in barbaricum and allowed the Avars to grow into a superpower.

The book is well organized chronologically, and the argument is carefully laid out and firmly anchored in recent debates on the age of Justinian and the sixth-century Balkans. The writing style is clear and concise and the chapters richly detailed. Sarantis endeavors to bring order to a confused chronology of invasions and imperial responses through an in-depth investigation of primary sources and a critical assessment of scholarly tendencies to find correspondence between archaeological and textual evidence. Sarantis is more optimistic regarding the credibility of sixth-century writers and steers clear of relativistic interpretations that have gained considerable influence in the last decades. Nevertheless, he remains critical and vigilant, choosing to examine specific details rather than questioning the whole enterprise. His main contribution is twofold. First, he sheds light on a neglected aspect of Justinianic policy and understands the...