The political relations between Romans and barbarians in the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity

The historiographical tradition marks the year 476 as the end of the Roman Empire in the West, being the maintenance of the imperial structures, from then on, restricted to the Eastern territories of Greek culture. One question to think about is: what kind of political relations could be observed between the Eastern Greek Empire and the western 'barbarian' in the Mediterranean from the end of the fifth and early sixth centuries? In order to analyze specifically the period following the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in Italy, we will work with two historians of the sixth-century, who described the political relations between Constantinople and Italy in this period, Jordanes and Procopius of Caesarea. The aim will be to understand how, from the narratives of these two historians, we can rethink some of the relations and disputes over the power and political authority in the Mediterranean world in Late Antiquity.