Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE)

武装冲突、社会制度的动荡和环境危机使公民在社会变革时期质疑他们的领导人。它们还增加了宗教极端主义，包括对世界末日即将到来的猜测。公元250-1000年期间，许多例子表明，此类危机如何为知道如何从不稳定中获利的领导人服务，以扩大他们的权力，以及它们如何损害那些不知道的人的声誉。了解过去罗马世界的领导人是如何在实际和口头上解决这些危机的，可能会为当代社区和政治领导人提供有用和及时的模式，让他们知道什么管用(什么不管用)，即使在澳大利亚这样的民主政治社会也是如此。

Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those who did not. Understanding how past leaders of the Roman world addressed these crises in practical and rhetorical ways may provide helpful and timely models of what works (and what does not) for contemporary community and political leaders, even in democratic political societies such as Australia.