Justifiably Outraged or Simply Outrageous?
The Isaurian Incident of Ammianus Marcellinus XIV 2.1

Linda Honey - University of Calgary

For centuries in southern Asia Minor, Isaurian raiders struck fear in the hearts of those whom they plundered. The Isaurians, whose strongholds, according to historical narratives, lay hidden in mists and mountain valleys, were characterized as robbers, latrones, and were said to strike as ghosts in the night. Empires rose and fell around them but the Isaurians steadfastly resisted subjugation. Their activity escalated during Roman occupation and culminated in open conflict in the mid-fourth century. From that time onwards (until the eighth century when an Isaurian dynasty came to imperial power) there never again was lasting peace between Rome and the Isaurians.

The nature of the conflict is the focus of heated scholarly debate between Noel Lenski and Brent Shaw, with Keith Hopwood, Stephen Mitchell, and Hugh Elton contributing valuable insights based on recent archaeological evidence. Shaw takes the position that the conflicts were economically motivated and were continuous, individual responses to central-state power. He characterizes the activity as endemic banditry. Lenski, on the other hand, argues that at times the conflict clearly exceeded that of mere banditry. He identifies the conflict as insurrection based upon ideology. All the participants in the debate agree that it is difficult from extant sources to assign motivation to the actions of the Isaurians. The question remains - Were the Isaurians perennial pillagers or radical revolutionaries?

It may well be that the key to the present impasse lies in a brief but revealing incident from 354 AD recorded by the historian Ammianus Marcellinus. My paper examines this ironic episode in which Isaurian brigands are outraged by perceived abuses at the hands of the Roman government. The account preserves for us the convergence of conflicting cultures and customs in late antiquity. This paper expands upon the research of Lenski and Shaw, and interprets their work in the light of fresh insights from the Ammianus Marcellinus account and late antique Near Eastern cultural practices. These insights provide a breakthrough in the present academic debate and at the same time have wide-ranging application to critical contemporary issues of multiculturalism and ethnicity.