For over a thousand years, the members of the Roman senatorial aristocracy played a pivotal role in the political and social life of the Roman state. Despite being eclipsed by the power of the emperors in the first century BC, the men who made up this order continued to act as the keepers of Roman civilization for the next four hundred years, maintaining their traditions even beyond the disappearance of an emperor in the West. Despite their longevity, the members of the senatorial aristocracy faced an existential crisis following the Ostrogothic conquest of the Italian peninsula, when the forces of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I invaded their homeland to contest its ownership. Considering the role they played in the later Roman Empire, the disappearance of the Roman senatorial aristocracy following this conflict is a seminal event in the history of Italy and Western Europe, as well as Late Antiquity.
Two explanations have been offered to explain the subsequent disappearance of the Roman senatorial aristocracy. The first involves a series of migrations, beginning before the Gothic War, from Italy to Constantinople, in which members of this body abandoned their homes and settled in the eastern capital. The second suggests these individuals remained in Italy were gradually superseded by newcomers to the peninsula, Germanic Lombards or Byzantine military officers.
An examination of the prosopographical evidence for this period reveals that many members of the Roman senatorial aristocracy did travel to Constantinople from
Italy, but the overwhelming majority returned once their business was completed. Their journeys included activities of a political, religious, and military nature, but did not involve permanent settlement. In light of the prosopographical evidence, it is recommended that future research attempts focus on Italy, not Constantinople, when examining the fate of the Roman senatorial aristocracy.