50 Bjornlie
praetorian prefect in Constantinople.17 Several considerations, however, miti-
gate against assuming such robust figures for Ostrogothic administrative cen-
tres. First, the growth of bureaucracy at Constantinople had been continuous
since the founding of the city, while its western counterpart had shifted at vari-
ous moments between four or five different imperial centres, dislocating with
each change the networks of patronage and kinship, often regionally based,
that supplied civil personnel. Second, the partitioning of the western empire
into ‘successor’ states over the course of the 5th century entailed a loss of tax
revenues by which the imperial court supported the bureaucracy. The eco-
nomic truncation of the Italy that Theoderic assumed control over in 493 is
visible in the numismatic profile of Italy, the reduction of tax revenues, and in
the manner by which Ostrogothic soldiers were accommodated through land
settlement.18 That a downsizing of state personnel followed Theoderic’s arrival
in Italy can be inferred from Procopius, who notes that Theoderic allowed the
previous corps of silentiarii, domestici, and scholares present at Rome to retain
a subsistence-level stipend for the sake of tradition, implying that they had
ceased to hold anything beyond an honorary function.19 Similarly at Ravenna,
Theoderic appears to have purged the palace of former supporters of Odovacer,
if not by execution then at least through a loss of the privileges that had for-
merly attended palatine service.20
An assessment, however provisional, of the finances allotted to the main-
tenance of the civil service also suggests reduced administrative personnel.
Administrative personnel received payment in the gold solidus, for which the
Variae offer a modest range of comparative evidence. For example, the salary
of domestici assigned to comites on military campaign amounted to 250 solidi
and ten portions of the annona (rations received from the collection of taxes),
although this was an amount supplemented in order to compensate officials
for service in time of war and does not by itself provide a firm basis for calcu-
lating the regular expenses of the administration.21 The payment of pensions
17 On the bureaucracy in Constantinople: Kelly, Ruling the Later Roman Empire; Bjornlie,
Politics, pp. 39–81.
18 On coinage: Csaki, “Cassiodorus”, pp. 53–64; Colace, “Lessico monetario”, pp. 159–76;
Stahl, “Ostrogothic Coinage”, 753–5; for bibliography on the debate about taxes and land
settlement: Bjornlie, “Law, Ethnicity and Taxes”.
19 Procopius, Anecdota 26.27–28, ed. Dewing; Variae 2.15, 2.16, 11.31, ed. Mommsen, likewise
describe the domestici at Rome in strictly honorary terms; contrast to Variae 5.14, 6.11, 8.12,
9.13, which describe the domestici assigned to comites in terms of administrative function.
20 Anonymus Valesianus 11.56, ed. Moreau; Ennodius, Life of Epiphanius 122, ed. Vogel.
21 Variae 9.13.2, ed. Mommsen; contrast Variae 5.10 and 5.11, which offers soldiers a supple-
mental allowance of three solidi while on campaign.