Peasants, patronage and taxation c.280-c.480
Relations between aristocratic landowners and agriculturalists in the late Roman period were part of systems of vertical alliance that were fluid, ambiguous and flexible. This thesis moves beyond theories of Patrocinium and the 'colonate of the late Roman Empire' to reconstruct those alliance systems. Three basic types of vertical interaction in rural contexts may be identified: tenancy, patronage and slavery. Peasants also interacted with aristocratic landowners in relations of casual or periodic labour, estate management and legal agency. It is argued that patronage for the purposes of tax evasion and registered tenancy were merely elements in these systems of vertical alliance. Chapter 1 addresses the attitudes of late Roman legislators and authors to patronage and registered tenancy through the language they employed in describing these phenomena. It will be demonstrated that these concepts continued to be analytically fluid, and did not crystallise into the institutions that have been labelled Patrocinium and the 'colonate' in the historiographical literature. In Chapter 2, late Roman rural labour relations are explored. It is argued that the analytical distinctions between the three categories of vertical
Grey, C. A.
Peasants, patronage and taxation c.280-c.480. Relations between aristocratic landowners and agriculturalists in the late Roman period were part of systems of vertical alliance that were fluid, ambiguous and flexible. This thesis moves beyond theories of Patrocinium and the 'colonate of the late Roman Empire' to reconstruct those alliance systems. Three basic types of vertical interaction in rural contexts may be identified: tenancy, patronage and slavery. Peasants also interacted with aristocratic landowners in relations of casual or periodic labour, estate management and legal agency. It is argued that patronage for the purposes of tax evasion and registered tenancy were merely elements in these systems of vertical alliance. Chapter 1 addresses the attitudes of late Roman legislators and authors to patronage and registered tenancy through the language they employed in describing these phenomena. It will be demonstrated that these concepts continued to be analytically fluid, and did not crystallise into the institutions that have been labelled Patrocinium and the 'colonate' in the historiographical literature. In Chapter 2, late Roman rural labour relations are explored. It is argued that the analytical distinctions between the three categories of vertical
peasants patronage taxation relations aristocratic landowner agriculturalist late_roman_period part system vertical alliance fluid ambiguous flexible move_beyond theory late_roman empire reconstruct alliance system three_basic type vertical interaction rural_context may identify patronage slavery peasants also interact aristocratic landowner relation casual periodic labour estate_management legal agency argue patronage purpose tax register merely elements system vertical alliance address attitude late_roman legislator author patronage language employ describe phenomenon demonstrate concept continue analytically fluid crystallise institution label historiographical literature late_roman rural labour_relation explore argue analytical distinction three_category vertical