Mobility of Power

Succession lay at the heart of political stability in Late Antiquity. In a world without fixed rules for inheritance, the choice and legitimation of an heir could decide the fate of empires and kingdoms alike.

This volume explores how rulers across the Post-Roman world navigated the challenges of power transfer. Drawing on contributions from leading scholars, it highlights the strategies employed to secure smooth transitions: from rituals and dynastic marriages to religious ceremonies and public displays of legitimacy. By moving beyond exceptional cases of usurpation and civil war, the book sheds new light on the often-overlooked “normality” of succession. Thus, the contributions of this volume offer a fresh and comparative perspective on a key political process of the late antique world.

• Volume editor Marco Cristini