THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD IN LATE ANTIQUITYThe classes of late antique societyThe senatorial class of the west had been a major benefi ciary of the distur-
bances which took place in the third century, and was, moreover, at least in
part itself a product of the patronage of Constantine and his successors. Con-
stantine extended the size of the senatorial class, and by severing its necessary
connection with the city of Rome, opened it up to new membership in the
east, making possible the development of a new senate centred on Constan-
tinople.^33 However, the traditional aristocracy in the west retained its wealth
and its prestige, and one of the main features of the late fourth- and early
fi fth-century west is the enormous wealth, by which we mean the enormous
landholdings, of the western senatorial class.^34 Perhaps because of unsettled
conditions in many areas, it had become possible to acquire vast estates – the
size of towns, we are told. A landowner would also expect to have at least one
town house in which he lived in extreme luxury, as we learn from Ammianus’
famous (and scathing) description of the fi sh ponds and table delicacies of
the Roman nobility of the late fourth century.^35 Owning estates on this scale
was a business in itself, even if the landlord was an absentee. According to
Ammianus,
A journey of fair length to visit their estates or to be present at a hunt
where all the work is done by others seems to some of them the equiva-
lent of a march by Alexander the Great or Caesar.
(Hist. 28.6)Late Roman aristocrats commissioned luxury items for their grand houses, in-
cluding manuscripts, silverware and ivory, and kept alive the tradition of artis-
tic production in the classical manner. These were members of the aristocracy
and holders of the highest offi cial honours, depicted on elaborately carved
ivory panels in all their panoply of offi ce. They owned grand houses and could
afford to commission the best artists and craftsmen. In the sixth century great
Roman families such as the Anicii had large estates and lands in Egypt and
the east, and remained patrons of luxury items; they also intermarried both
with the new Germanic rulers and within imperial circles in Constantinople.
The upkeep of the estates of such families required armies of retainers and an
elaborate system of production and supply of goods. Owners were interested
in profi ts, and had perforce to devote a good deal of time simply to keeping
things going. Some of it was occupied in dealings for mutual benefi t with
others in a similar position, transactions which reinforced the gift element
and the importance attached to display which were typical features of the late
Roman economy. Sulpicius Severus and Paulinus of Nola provide evidence
in their writings of typical gifts from one landowner to another of such com-
modities as oil and fowl, a practice also known from Sidonius in fi fth-century
Gaul, and from bishops and kings in the Merovingian period; Pope Gregory
the Great was no different in this respect from a secular landowner of earlier