Droctulft: a lombard officer in the army of the emperor Maurice

Author(s):  A.D. Nazarov, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia, andrey.nazarov451@gmail.com

Issue:  Volume 45, №2

Rubric:  Topical issues of world history

Annotation:  The article is devoted to biography of Droctulft, a Lombard commander on the service for the Byzantine emperors, as well as a problem of his self-identification. Germans played a significant role in the army of Early Byzantium. However, in the second half of the 6th century, their inflow into the East Roman armed forces appreciably decreased. The reason of this process was consolidation of peoples inhabiting the Dan-ube region around two political associations: the Lombards and the Avars. Droctulft was one of the last representatives of barbarian German nobility who were in the Byzantine army. His life path was full of dramatic turns. Droctulft was a man of Suevic origin, but by fighting in the Lombard forces, he proved himself well and achieved the ducal title. Subsequently, Droctulft moved to the side of Byzantium and fought against the Lombards and the Avars under the banners of the imperial army. Such changes affected his self-awareness which reflected Droctulft‟s belonging to the various political and social groups that were in conflict with each other

Keywords:  Byzantine empire, Lombards, Exarchate of Ravenna, Byzantine army, barbarian identity

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