ABSTRACT
One of the most significant transformations of the Roman world in Late Antiquity was the integration of barbarian peoples into the social, cultural, religious, and political milieu of the Mediterranean world. The barbarians Pubhcola referred to might have included people not resident in any town or estate but living permanently in the region, pastoralists willing to work the harvests in return for grazing rights, or nomads or semi-nomadic merchants attending markets on estates like Publicola's. Libanius emphasized that, although most of the barbarians had kept their oaths faithfully, out of shame over Vadomarius and in awe of the emperor looming there above them they now not only confirmed their loyalty, they piled oath on top of oath. Barbarians knew that Romans expected some form of warranty from those with whom they engaged in business or military alliances, while Romans recognized that the strange oaths of barbarians were as sacred as their own, even if they were not always honored.
