"Les monuments rupestres de la Laconie byzantine et leur inscription dans le paysage naturel et culturel", Porphyra 23, 2 (Rencontres annuelles des doctorants en études byzantines, 2013), 2015, p. 50-67. (original) (raw)

The Sixth century, recently defined by Michael Maas as “Justinian’s era”, is a key moment to understand the characteristic features of the Early Byzantine world. It is also a time in which the convulsive political circumstances promote a highly deep redefinition of the diplomatic activity, along with a significant increase in its volume, becoming so one of the main tools of the State as regards to his “foreign policy”. Thereby, along this work we pretend, within the framework of our doctoral thesis and our participation in the research proyect called “Exiled and banished in the Mediterranean (IV-VII c.c.) -HUM 2011/22631-”, to focus on one of the most obscure and, maybe, morbid facets of their main characters: the diplomats. Therefore, we want to consider the notions of exile and banishment and to observe if they were applicable to the “diplomatic corps” or not, how they influenced and how they become manifested, if they were an exceptional phenomenon or recurrent, the cases in which they were applied and their relationship with another documented and more severe punishments, like torture, imprisonment or, even, death.