Abstract: During the late Roman Empire, the empire had a long-term and wide diplomatic interaction with the surrounding “barbarian, s”. In such interactions, the emperors and the chieftains or kings of the “barbarians” generally played the central roles, who mutually constituted the axis of the diplomatic interaction between the late Roman Empire and the surrounding “barbarians”. At the same time, the magistrates, the generals in the frontiers, the bishops of the Roman Empire and the generals or officials of the regime of the “barbarians” were also participants in the diplomatic activities. On the one hand, their correspondences and negotiations were a significant factor to the diplomatic interaction. On the other hand, the validity and effectiveness of these correspondences and negotiations were limited because of the lack of authority. And the core feature of the diplomatic interactive of the late Roman Empire with the surrounding “barbarians” was the coexistence of the idealism and realism. In most cases, the diplomatic interactions between them were manifested in the strong color of pragmatism, but idealistic diplomacy, from time to time, exerted effects, to a certain extent, on the empire’s fate and historical progress. |
