Constructing the Angelic Eunuch: Narses, Gender, and Imperial Authority in the Late Roman World
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy, not clinical CEBM (qualitative historical, literary, and iconographic analysis).
OpenAlex W7160321634 · doi:10.11575/prism/51390
What was done
The author analyzed literary and visual representations of the sixth-century eunuch general Narses to evaluate how his identity intersected with Late Roman concepts of gender and imperial authority. Using gender and queer theoretical frameworks, the study examined primary textual accounts by Procopius, Agathias, Corippus, and Paul the Deacon, alongside the visual iconography of the San Vitale Basilica mosaic in Ravenna.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative measurements. Qualitatively, the analysis identified an ideological trajectory in Narses' representation: early accounts by Procopius and Agathias attempted to accommodate his military success within a masculine framework while still marking his eunuch status; the San Vitale mosaic shifted his depiction into a sacred, imperial space; Corippus resolved gender tensions by utilizing angelic imagery and divine proximity; and Paul the Deacon later stabilized his legacy around religious piety and devotion.
Why it matters
The study proposes that Narses was not merely an anomalous historical figure, but a deliberate theological and ideological construction used by Late Roman imperial authorities to transform gender ambiguity into symbolic authority.
Limits
As qualitative historical analysis, findings rely entirely on modern interpretive frameworks applied to a small, selective corpus of surviving elite texts and a single visual site. The abstract reports no empirical or quantitative data, and the findings cannot demonstrate broader non-elite perceptions across the Late Roman world.
Cited by
- supports Narses was a eunuch and general under Justinian who defeated the Goths in Italy.