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The Last of the Romans: Bonifatius - Warlord and comes Africae Hardcover – February 12, 2015

by Jeroen W. P. Wijnendaele (Author)

4.4 7 ratings

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Despite his critical role in the western Roman Empire during the early fifth century AD, Bonifatius remains a neglected figure in the history of the late Empire.

The Last of the Romans presents a new political and military biography of Bonifatius, analysing his rise through the higher echelons of imperial power and examining themes such as the role of the buccellarii as contemporary semi-private armies. The volume offers a reassessment of the usurpation of Ioannes and Bonifatius' indispensable role in the restoration of the Theodosian dynasty in the West. The Vandal invasion of North Africa is rexamined together with Bonifatius's putative role as the traitor who invited them in.

The relationship between Bonifatius and Augustine of Hippo is assessed, bringing new light to the important, yet largely unstudied, influence of Christianity in Bonifatius's life. A further discussion revisits the rivalry between Boniface and Aetius. Although Procopius termed Bonifatius and Aetius the last of the Romans, this volume argues that they were the first of Rome's late imperial warlords. The volume closes with a reconstruction of the Odyssey of Sebastian, Bonifatius' son-in-law.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the early fifth century the Roman West suffered chaos and disintegration, as the moribund House of Theodosius tried with diminishing success to remain in power. Count Boniface was a key figure in this effort. The author brings the count to life, displaying considerable acumen, infectious enthusiasm, and great sympathy for all players in the drama. This is an important book.

About the Author

Jeroen W. P. Wijnendaele is a lecturer at the Department of Classics at University College Cork, Ireland.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic (February 12, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1780937172
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1780937175
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.5 x 9.21 inches

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Evan Schultheis

The new standard work on Boniface

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2017

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Wijnendaele's work on Bonifatius is surprisingly comprehensive for such an ill-recorded and ill-known figure in the primary sources. Wijnendaele uses the latest research, and provides his own interpretations by drawing connections from the primary source material to reveal new information about Bonifatius and North Africa in the 5th century that other scholars have not noticed.

Wijnendaele's writing is also excellent, as it keeps the reader moving, keeps them interested, and remains clear and informative throughout the work.

As a whole, this book is easily the new standard for any scholar of Bonifatius and the Vandal Invasion of Africa.

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JPS

“Last of the Romans”, “First of the Warlords”, maligned and little known

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015

Comte Bonifatius, who, according to Procopius, shared with Aetius the title of “Last of the Romans” is a little known Roman general of the early Fifth century in the West who was Comes Africae and played a rather important role on several occasion.

This short, scholarly but comprehensive and eminently readable book is a biography of the little known character and, just as importantly, a history of what was a key period between AD 375 and AD 442 and made up what the author qualifies as the “World of Bonifatius, and that of his potential successor, Sebastian.

This book includes many valuable components which, together, make it well worth five stars.

The first of these is to paint a brief but nevertheless illuminating picture of how the Roman world, and the Western part of the Empire in particular, had evolved since the death of Valentinian I, the last strong emperor who died suddenly in AD 375. One of the key features included is to present the changes in the imperial function that followed and in particular the emergence of what another author has recently termed the “child-emperor rule”, with the Emperor in the West losing his military role and this role being exercised by a series of strongmen who increasingly competed against each other. Bonifatius was one of them.

A second merit of this book is to present a well-balanced account of the Count’s rise to power. Although we know nothing of his early years, it does show how a young and promising officer (probably a tribune in command of a vexillatio – a cavalry regiment) could rise and become an important military commander at the time. This could be done through a mixture of conspicuous bravery (by wounding the King of the Goths in battle), usurpation, and seizure of a strategic command - the rich province of Roman Africa and its strategic wheat supply, and ability to resist multiple efforts to dislodge him.

Another merit is to analyse what were the roots of his power. This is where Bonifatius can again be compared to Aetius. Unlike both Stilicho and Constantius, who were still essentially Roman generals, both were also essentially warlords and their power derived largely from their buccellari or “household troops” made up, respectively, of several hundred of crack Gothic and Hunnic cavalry. In fact, Bonifatius seems to have constituted his own following prior to that of Aetius who would only get his during the usurpation of John in 422-423, by marrying a Gothic princess a few years before and “inheriting” her bodyguard of armed retainers. It seems to be thanks to these buccellari that he was able to seize and keep control of Carthage and Roman Africa shortly after 417. The author also clearly shows the growing importance of these retinues and illustrates this point by telling the story of how Aetius in turn “inherited” Bonifatius’ buccellarii by marrying his widow. One may however doubt whether this was really done with the consent of the dying Count, as the sources state and as the author seems inclined to believe.

A fourth merit of this book is a reassessment of Count Bonifatius’ career in two major respects.

One aspect shows the key role that he played in the restoration of Valentinian III as Emperor of the West. The author also shows rather well the support that he provided to Galla Placidia and which brought both her and her infant son back in power at Ravenna. This support somehow forced the hand of the Eastern Emperor Theodose II whose troops overthrew the usurper John but who seems to have been less than very keen to restore his nephew and leave him under his mother’s control.

The second aspect is to discuss the Vandal invasion of North Africa and reassess Bonifatius’ role. Here again, the author convincingly demonstrates that he was not the traitor who invited them, contrary to what East Roman sources and propaganda have pretended. Instead, he shows the Count’s dogged resistance against the more powerful Vandals with only a limited number of mostly second-class frontier troops and his ability to do so in particular through his successful defence of Hippo during a long siege, despite having previously been defeated in pitched battle by the Vandals. Two related aspects show that he collaborated with the forces sent by the Eastern Roman Emperor to Africa to push back the Vandals between 430 and 432 but also illustrate to what extent tensions and rivalries between Roman generals in the West could lead to fratricide fighting even when the Vandals were at the door.
In addition to several attempts and military expeditions to remove him from Africa prior to AD 429, his final armed conflict against Aetius in AD 432-33 is yet another illustration of Roman generals’ tendency to privilege civil warfare and target Roman rivals first before targeting any invading barbarian forces. Despite winning the engagement against Aetius, with the clash opposing the household troops of both warlords rather than whole armies, Count Bonifatius died a few weeks afterwards of his wounds, leaving Aetius as the sole surviving warlord in a position to become the supreme generalissimo in the West for the next twenty years.

The book also includes two more valuable and little known features, although, given its limited size, discussion of these features is a bit limited. One is the interesting and complex relationship that Bonifatius developed with Augustine of Hippo and the influence that the latter exercised upon him at least for a period. The other is the fate of his successor Sebastian who seems to have managed to keep control of some of Bonifatius’ buccellarii, took refuge at the East Roman Court for a short period and then travelled back to Sicily and Spain before launching a surprise attack on Africa in a daring but perhaps also reckless attempt to rest Carthage from King Genseric the Vandal in AD 442. This is the second are where I had some doubts because the author may have somewhat exaggerated the threat that Sebastian and his smallish band of followers were able to pose to the Vandals. The later were not caught unprepared and cut Sabastian and his followers to pieces.

Five stars all the same for a concise, clear and illuminating little book that sheds some much needed light on this often poorly known period in general, and on the fall of Roman Africa and the infighting between Roman generals and warlords in particular.

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Arch Stanton

A Good Biography of a Little-Known Man

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2015

This book is a brief but excellent biography of one of the most important figures of the early fifth century. Although primarily known (slanderously) as the man who invited the Vandals into North Africa Boniface was also an important figure in imperial politics, and a rare figure about whom we have contemporary evidence from his friends. This biography is probably overdue, but at the same time contains little that is astonishing or new. While we may have more information about Boniface than other figures of the time it still doesn't amount to much and the book is often forced to simply recount political events to which Boniface was only a minor participant. In so doing it always tries to show it from his viewpoint as well as can be known. The most interesting bits were the analysis of the letters Augustine sent to him. Augustine was his friend while he was a young man stationed in Africa, and while his opinion of Boniface sunk as the man meddled in power politics in later years he remained connected to him until his death during the siege of Hippo Regius. These letters provide insight into the man himself and suggest the course of his early career.

If people like this book there's also a good biography of Aetius available.

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Antonio Ibba

Very good

Reviewed in Italy on June 26, 2017

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Si tratta del lavoro più completo e aggiornato su una figura complessa, centrale per le sorti dell'impero d'Occidente e della dioecesis d'Africa in particolare, ma sfortunatamente poco nota. Pur in assenza di un serrato confronto con la politica dell'impero d'Oriente (che solo in alcuni passaggi appare sullo sfondo mentre era comunque centrale anche negli eventi dell'Occidente) e senza troppo riflettere sul complicato rapporto fra Romani e Berberi in Africa, il volume mette in fila tutte le fonti a disposizione, ricostruisce il contesto storico, politico, economico, sociale, culturale in cui si mosse Bonifatius, di fatto dà una panoramica ampia e fededegna dell'Africa e dell'impero romano d'Occidente. Un volume adatto a studiosi e grande pubblico.

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Arch Stanton

A Good Biography of a Little-Known Man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is a brief but excellent biography of one of the most important figures of the early fifth century. Although primarily known (slanderously) as the man who invited the Vandals into North Africa Boniface was also an important figure in imperial politics, and a rare figure about whom we have contemporary evidence from his friends. This biography is probably overdue, but at the same time contains little that is astonishing or new. While we may have more information about Boniface than other figures of the time it still doesn't amount to much and the book is often forced to simply recount political events to which Boniface was only a minor participant. In so doing it always tries to show it from his viewpoint as well as can be known. The most interesting bits were the analysis of the letters Augustine sent to him. Augustine was his friend while he was a young man stationed in Africa, and while his opinion of Boniface sunk as the man meddled in power politics in later years he remained connected to him until his death during the siege of Hippo Regius. These letters provide insight into the man himself and suggest the course of his early career.

If people like this book there's also a good biography of Aetius available.

One person found this helpful

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