Simmaco, Sidonio Apollinare e la gloriosa genealogia dei Syagrii di Lione

Abstract The movement of aristocratic people and their literary production between Italy and Gaul during the 4th and 5th centuries progressively restricted itself within different regional horizons. Ammianus, Symmachus and Ausonius offer important information on the career of (Afranius) Syagrius, ordinary consul in 381 AD and praetorian prefect in 380-382 AD, enhanced by the emperor Gratianus. This evidence shows a constant and fluid dialogue between aristocrats located in Italy and in Gaul. Almost a century later, around 470 AD, Sidonius Apollinaris celebrates this Syagrius in some letters and in his carmen 24, as the progenitor of a noble family of his time. The descendants of Syagrius, especially the praetorian prefect of Gaul in 451-453 AD, Tonantius Ferreolus, are praised by Sidonius as a rare example of family continuity at the top of the senatorial administration of Gaul. In the space of less than a century the movement of members of the senatorial order and the circulation of their writings between Italy and Gaul seems to have ceased. Sidonius interprets the political, social and cultural environment of his times within a closed Gallic horizon

La préfecture du prétoire tardo-antique et ses titulaires (IVe-VIe siècle)

This volume gathers the contributions presented by various scholars on the occasion of the International Conference organised at the University of Strasbourg (France), which took place, online and in collaboration with the Department of Humanistic Studies of the University of Roma Tre (Italy), from 26 to 28 May 2021. The conference was the first international scientific meeting dedicated to the study of praetorian prefectures and their holders in the late Roman Empire. The aim of the meeting was to promote a genuine scientific dialogue between specialists in administration and late Roman society

Indizi sulla carriera di Evagrius, prefetto del pretorio di Costantino

Il frammento epigrafico ‘Corpus des inscriptions grecques et latines de Philippes’, II/1. La colonie romaine. La vie publique de la colonie, Athenai 2014, pp. 131-133, nr. 30, opportunamente integrato, segnala Evagrius in carica come «agens vices praefectorum praetorio», cioè vicario della diocesi delle Mesie, durante la diarchia di Costantino e Licinio (317-324). Il documento costituisce la prima e unica attestazione epigrafica del futuro prefetto del pretorio di Costantino unico Augusto

De Ravenne à Constantinople: les deux vies de Cassiodore

Cassiodorus was a senator and politician in Ravenna from 503 to 537/538 AD in the loyal service of the Ostrogothic kings. He gave up politics between 538 and 540 AD. It is not certain where Cassiodorus resided in the decade 538-549 AD. In 550 AD he appears as vir religiosus in the retinue of Pope Vigilius in Constantinople during the dispute over the ‘Three Chapters’ against the emperor Justinian. During that stay he was contacted by the historian Iordanes, who was composing his Getica. Contrary to the opinion of A. Momigliano and some scholars to date, this paper assumes that Cassiodorus abandoned politics for good around 537/538 AD and that the former dignitary of the Ostrogothic kings placed himself under the tutelage of Pope Vigilius towards the end of the first phase of the Gothic War. In this way he escaped the reprisals of the Byzantines and Ostrogoths. Cassiodorus had no ambitions of reintegration into the ruling elite and became vir religiosus in the Pope’s retinue, whose strategy he espoused. He followed Vigilius to Constantinople, not as a fugitive, nor as a prisoner, but as a collaborator of the pope. In the dispute over the ‘Three Chapters’ (544-553 AD), Cassiodorus supported the pope’s position against the emperor Justinian. His collaboration with the Gothic kings, his long senatorial career, which spanned all the way up to the highest levels of the praetorian prefecture, the ordinary consulate and the patriciate during the Ostrogothic monarchy, and his age did not allow him to carry out political activity at Justinian’s side. In his ‘second life’ Cassiodorus was an exegete and writer, a builder of libraries, an educator, and a supporter of the pope from 539/540 to 554 AD

La seconda vita di Cassiodoro e la "Collectio Avellana"

From 503 to 537/538 Cassiodorus was a senator and politician in Ravenna.There he pursued a long and prestigious career in the loyal service of the Ostrogothic kings. He gave up politics between 538 and 540, when he was around 55 years old. It is not certain where Cassiodorus resided in the decade 538-549. In 550 he appears as vir religiosus in the retinue of Pope Vigilius who was residing in Constantinople and was debating with Emperor Justinian (the dispute concerning the ‘Three Chapters’). Contrary to the opinion of A. Momigliano and some scholars to date, we assume that Cassiodorus abandoned politics for good around 537/538 and that towards the end of the first phase of the Gothic War the former dignitary of the Ostrogothic kings placed himself under the tutelage of Pope Vigilius: in this way he escaped the reprisals of the Byzantines and Ostrogoths. Cassiodorus had noambitions of reintegration into the ruling elite and became vir religiosus in thepope’s retinue, whose strategy he espoused. He followed Vigilius to Constantinople, not as a fugitive, nor as a prisoner, but as one of pope’s collaborators and supporters. Finally, we suggest that between 545 and 547 Cassiodorus was collecting in Rome the selection of documents that were to become the Collectio Avellana, in the aim of supporting the pope in the dispute of the ‘Three Chapters’ in the East. The Collectio was not intended for publication, and after the return of the defeated pope from Constantinople the Collectio lost interest for its author and was neither updated nor published

L’iscrizione prefettizia di Perinthus - Heraclea di Tracia

Dalla città di Perinthus-Heraclea (Marmara Ereğlisi, Turchia) proviene un’iscrizione in latino, purtroppo frammentaria, dedicata da un prefetto del pretorio a un Cesare di età tetrarchica o post-tetrarchica (ca. 293-324), che ha l’epiteto di Iovius. Il testo dell’epigrafe è conservato nell’unica copia della trascrizione effettuata dal mercante e viaggiatore italiano Ciriaco Pizzicolli nel luglio 1444 (MS Vat. Lat. 5250, f. 3r). Il confronto con l’epigrafia dell’età tetrarchica e post-tetrarchica consente una ricostruzione del testo. I nomi del Cesare e del prefetto non appaiono nella trascrizione (erasi?). Lo studio degli elementi conservati nel manoscritto spinge a ipotizzare che l’iscrizione celebrasse Massimino Daia Cesare dopo il settembre 307 (assassinio di Severo Augusto) e prima dell’11 novembre 308 (elevazione di Licinio Augusto) per volontà del solo prefetto del pretorio di Galerio Augusto.A fragmentary inscription in Latin from the city of Perinthus-Heraclea (Marmara Ereğlisi, Turkey) is dedicated by a praetorian prefect to a Caesar, whose epithet is Iovius. The monument must be dated to the tetrarchic or post-tetrarchic age (ca. 293-324 AD). The text of the inscription is preserved in the only copy of the transcription made by the Italian merchant and traveller Ciriaco Pizzicolli in July 1444 (MS Vat. Lat. 5250, f. 3r). The comparison with the formulas and the style of the surviving epigraphy of the tetrarchic and post-tetrarchic age allows a reconstruction of the text. The name of Caesar and the name of the prefect do not appear in the transcription (erased?). The study of the elements preserved in the manuscript leads to the hypothesis that the inscription celebrated Maximinus Daia Caesar after September 307 AD (assassination of Severus Augustus) and before November 308 AD (Licinius as Augustus) by the will of the only praetorian prefect of Galerius Augustus