„[…] exhauritur exercitus”. Kilka uwag o kondycji ekonomicznej żołnierza rzymskiego schyłku antyku w świetle łacińskiej literatury patrystycznej
“[…] exhauritur exercitus.” Some remarks on the economic condition of the Roman soldier of late antiquity in the light of Latin patristic literature

Summary/Abstract: This article presents some remarks on the economic condition of Western Roman soldiers in late antiquity (4th–5th centuries) in the accounts of Latin patristic authors. The study aims to show that the Church Fathers were interested in “military” issues, and that from their works we can see the level of wealth of legionnaires in late antiquity. Naturally, the sources in question have some disadvantages (such as lack of salary details, hyperbolisation of some phenomena or presenting them as rhetorical figures), but nevertheless they are an important basis for research on late antiquity. The conclusions contained in this article concern the low level of salary, as generally seen by the analysed authors, and the ways in which it was dealt with by soldiers. The observations presented here are mainly related to lower‑ ranking legionaries, who were most often mentioned by the authors of the sources. This is certainly not a full picture of the economic condition of Roman soldiers.

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