1st Edition

An Empire of Elites The Self-Representation of the Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman State in the Fourth Century AD

By Mariana Bodnaruk Copyright 2026
326 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

326 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Empire of Elites investigates the self-representation of the late Roman senatorial aristocracy in epigraphic evidence to illuminate the cultural, social, and political dynamics of the Later Roman Empire. In the Roman hierarchy, the senatorial order stood above all social strata. By examining aristocratic inscriptions and materiality – supplemented by art identified as senatorial and... Read more

Introduction

Chapter 1

Imperial Aristocracy: Senators and New Hierarchies of Honors

Chapter 2

Urban and Regional Administration: Civilian Government

Chapter 3

Regional Administration: Military Government

Chapter 4

Central Administration: The Palatine Bureaucracy

Conclusion

Bibliography

Biography

Mariana Bodnaruk is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw, Poland, and a senior researcher at the Center for Medieval Visual Cultures and Research Communication at the Art History Department of the Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia. They received a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, in 2019. Their research was published in Journal of Epigraphic Studies, Journal of Late Antiquity, Antichthon, Phoenix, and Byzantinoslavica. Their research interests include epigraphy, art history, and hagiography of the medieval East Roman Empire, gender studies, queer and trans theory, and historical materialism.