Download HUI216 Italian Civilization

HUI216
Italian Civilization
Andrea Fedi
Marble Portrait of Agrippina (ca. 50 CE, Museo Nazionale, Naples)
8.1 The life of Nero: chronology of the main events
• 49 Agrippina marries Emperor Claudius, who adopts Nero (Agrippina's son from a
previous marriage)
• 53 Nero marries his stepsister Octavia
• 54 Claudius dies (poison?)
• Nero becomes Emperor, before his 17th birthday
• Seneca and Burrus are his tutors: the first a great philosopher, originally from Spain,
the second a former military officer
• 55 Britannicus (Claudius's son) dies (poison?)
8.1 The murder of Agrippina and the life of Nero: chronology of the main events
• 59-62 Agrippina is killed, Burrus dies, Seneca retires
• Nero is on his own, free to do whatever he likes
• 64 The Great Fire destroys more than half of Rome
• Nero builds his new palace on prime land that was expropriated after the fire
• 68 Nero kills himself before he is captured by the soldiers of an opposing faction
• 68-69: the year of the 4 Emperors
• in a short period, these 4 Emperors succeed one another by defeating the previous
Emperor in battle, or by gaining more support in the army
• the events of this year shows the weakness resulting from the lack of a clear
mechanism of succession in the Roman Empire
8.2 Tacitus: how Roman Emperors are chosen
• At noon on the 13th of October, the gates of the palace were suddenly thrown open, and
Nero, accompanied by Burrus, went forth to the cohort which was on guard
• There, at the suggestion of the commanding officer, he was hailed with joyful shouts, and
set on a litter
• Some, it is said, hesitated, and looked around and asked where Britannicus was; then,
when there was no one to lead a resistance, they yielded to what was offered them.
8.2 How Nero becomes Emperor at the age of 17
• Nero is hailed Emperor by a small military unit, that was guarding the palace
• A gift is promised to the soldiers in Rome, to encourage them to welcome and support the
new Emperor
• The Senate follows "the voice of the soldiers"
• "…no hesitation in the provinces"
• "Divine honors" are decreed to Claudius
• Claudius's will is not "publicly read," for fear that it might mention his son Britannicus,
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legitimate heir to the throne (even though younger than Nero himself)
8.2 The mechanism of accession to the throne
• The mechanism of accession to the throne was not clearly regulated
• The practice of Kings in other regions dictated that the firstborn son would succeed his
father, but in Rome that did not always happened, not even during the monarchy (753-509
BCE)
• This lack of fixed rules allowed Nero and his mother to act quickly and win the throne
• Nero, after all, was Claudius' stepson, and although he was barely 16 (it all happened
before his 17th birthday), he was a few years older than Britannicus
• This course of events makes Claudius' death suspicious
8.3 The murder of Agrippina
•
•
A "long meditated crime" motivated by
• Power and ambition
• Nero rightly suspects that his mother wants a share of the power that she has
procured for her son
• It is not by chance that on the face of Roman coins produced during the first years
of his empire, one can see not just the face of the Emperor Nero, as customary, but
also the profile of his mother
• The passion for Poppaea
• Nero wants to be free to divorce Octavia and marry his lover
Tacitus's narration is framed like a tragedy, rather than like an accurate and objective
historical narration
8.3 The murder of Agrippina
• Tacitus, a conservative Republican historian, was biased, and his narration betrays his
political agenda, in favor of a more powerful Senate, to keep Emperors from abusing their
position, and to revert to even a limited form of democracy
• Tacitus and other historians, like Suetonius, are largely responsible for the creation of the
stereotypical image of the decadent Roman empire that is still so popular
• The real issue is not even whether Nero or Caligula or Claudius were not as immoral or
violent as the senatorial historians described them, but how much their personality
quirks really affected Empire, which did not come to an end for another 400 years...
8.3 Elements of a literary tragedy inside the narration of the murder of Agrippina
• The sins and the impious behavior of the main characters justify and prepare the story's
developments
• greed, murder, incest, perversion, simulation and hypocrisy
• Growing anxiety results from the various successful crimes, rather than elation and
tranquility (cf. Macbeth)
• The theme of the fight of good vs. evil
• Seneca and some of the senators fight on the side of democracy, justice and honesty
against Agrippina, Nero and their conniving, criminal accomplices
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8.3 Elements of a literary tragedy inside the narration of the murder of Agrippina
• Another typical literary device employed in this episode is the historian's insistence on the
description of the frame of mind of the main characters
• Traditional historians usually would not speculate on the thoughts and feelings of historical
figures at the time of dramatic events
• Unless they could rely on the report of an eyewitness, they would either be silent or they
would convey those feelings and thoughts by embellishing and re-creating public
speeches given by those historical figures, under the pretense that eyewitness existed
who could confirm what they wrote
8.3 Tacitus: the sin of incest, the art of innuendo
•
Consider how Tacitus treats the alleged incest of Agrippina and Nero, introducing other
sources and eyewitnesses, never fully supporting or denying the allegations of incest, all
the while giving the impression that he wants to keep an objective stand
• Cluvius relates that Agrippina in her eagerness to retain her influence went so far that
more than once at midday, when Nero, even at that hour, was flushed with wine and
feasting, she presented herself attractively attired to her half intoxicated son and
offered him her person…
8.3 Tacitus: incest, superstition, verisimile
•
•
Acte, the freed-girl, …told him [=Seneca] that the incest was notorious, as his mother
boasted of it, and that the soldiers would never endure the rule of an impious sovereign
Cluvius's account… is also that of all other authors, and popular belief inclines to it,
whether it was that Agrippina really conceived such a monstrous wickedness in her heart,
or perhaps because the thought of a strange passion seemed comparatively credible…
8.3 Agrippina's theatrical death: a tragic fate
• Agrippina's death is associated with the idea of fate, typical of classical tragedies
• First you find the description of the shipwreck, at night (darkness and evil acts go hand in
hand, in tragedies and in literature)
• Then, after Agrippina's messenger is accused of being a murderer and is killed, she dies
in the most theatrical way
• …as the centurion bared his sword for the fatal deed, presenting her person, she
exclaimed, 'Smite my womb!'
8.3 Agrippina's death: prelude (greed, ambition) and consequences (guilt, fear)
• Her death apparently had even been anticipated, as it was written in the stars:
• …when she consulted the astrologers about Nero, they replied that he would be
emperor and kill his mother. 'Let him kill her,' she said, 'provided he is emperor.'
• After the crime, only guilt and fear follow
• Where are the political considerations?
• In reality Agrippina and Nero had probably become estranged, as it happens often to
royals, and they were fighting for power and supremacy
8.3 After the crime: guilt, panic, hypocrisy, escape
• [Nero], when the crime was… accomplished, realized its portentous guilt
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•
•
•
The rest of the night, now silent and stupefied, now and still oftener starting up in terror,
bereft of reason, he awaited dawn as if it would bring with it his doom.
He himself, with an opposite phase of hypocrisy, seemed sad, and almost angry at his
own deliverance, and shed tears over his mother's death.
…he retired to Naples and sent a letter to the Senate
8.3 The responsibility and incompetence of the Senate: the opposition has high moral
values, lacks a plan
•
He… told the story of the shipwreck; but who could be so stupid as to believe that it was
accidental, or that a shipwrecked woman had sent one man with a weapon to break
through an Emperor's guards and fleets?
•
Thrasea Paetus… then walked out of the Senate, thereby imperiling himself, without
communicating to the other senators any impulse towards freedom
• Paetus will later commit suicide
8.3 The consequences of sinful behavior
•
•
Nero… had not omitted a single abomination which could heighten his depravity, till a few
days afterwards he stooped to marry himself to one of that filthy herd...
A disaster followed, whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor, is
uncertain, as authors have given both accounts, worse, however, and more dreadful than
any which have ever happened to this city by the violence of fire.
8.4 Suetonius (circa 110 CE), Life of Nero (transl. by J.C. Rolfe): the Golden House
• Its vestibule was large enough to contain a colossal statue of the Emperor 120 feet high;
and it was so extensive that it had a triple colonnade a mile long
• There was a pond too, like a sea, surrounded with buildings to represent cities, besides
tracts of country, . . . fields, vineyards, pastures and woods, with great numbers of wild
and domestic animals
• There were dining-rooms with fretted ceilings of ivory, whose panels could turn and
shower down flowers and were fitted with pipes for sprinkling the guests with perfumes
• The main banquet hall was circular and constantly revolved day and night, like the
heavens
8.4 The first Roman Emperors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Augustus 27 BCE-14 CE
Tiberius 14-37
Caligula 37-41
Claudius 41-54
Nero 54-68
Galba 68-69, Otho 69, Vitellius 69
Vespasian 69-79
Titus 79-81
Domitian 81-96
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•
•
•
Nerva 96-98
Trajan 98-117
Hadrian 117-138
8.4 Optional readings on Nero and Tacitus
• Nero's Golden House (Domus aurea)
• Pictures of the archeological site of Nero's palace
• read more about Nero
• Nero, his family, the court
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/nero.shtml
• http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/nero.html
• The great fire of Rome
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_rome/index.html
8.5 Claudio Monteverdi's opera on Nero
• With the following excerpts from Monteverdi's opera I would like to help you understand
the opera's themes, and the image of the Roman Empire that it conveys
• This opera was staged in Venice in 1642 or '43, and Venice, as a Republic, also "prided
itself on its direct lineage from the Roman republic, retaining the values that had been so
distorted as classical Rome moved from republican strength to imperial decadence, a
decadence still apparent, it was felt, in the Rome of the early 17th-century" (Tim Carter,
"Towards the creation of genre: Monteverdi's Poppea," p. 18)
• There is a thesis clearly at work throughout this opera: when the state is in the hands of a
tyrant, immorality thrives, especially near the source of power, at the court, while the fate
of the whole state must also decline
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: Nero the immoral tyrant
• It is not surprising that, even before Nero appears on the scene, at the beginning of the
first act he is introduced (during the conversation that takes place between two Roman
soldiers) as a most hateful character, who has no regard whatsoever for the sanctity of
marriage, neglects the care of the empire at a critical historical juncture, and favors those
like him who lack moral values and self-control
• Second soldier:
• Our Empress
consumes herself with weeping,
and Nero neglects her for Poppaea.
Armenia's in revolt,
yet he ignores it.
Pannonia's up in arms and he makes light of it.
As far as I can see,
the empire's going from back to worse.
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: the tyrant affects the moral stability of single individuals
• First soldier:
• One might add that our Prince robs everyone
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to line the pockets of a few. The innocents suffer
while criminals are doing very nicely.
• The introduction of the historical details of the decadence of Imperial Rome gives the
author of the libretto an opportunity, later on in the first act, to discuss more generic moral
and political issues, when Arnalta, Poppaea's old nurse and confidant, tries to warn her
about the dangers of dealing with evil princes:
• To have dealings with princes is perilous.
Love and hate count for nothing with them:
their emotions are governed by pure self-interest.
Nero's love for you is a but a fancy;
if he abandons you, you can't complain:
it would only make matters worse.
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: tyranny may corrupt the souls of the subjects
• POPPAEA
• No, no, I fear no setback at all.
• ARNALTA
• A great man honors you with his mere presence,
and, having filled your house with wind,
pays in nothing but reflected glory.
Your good name's gone if you admit:
Nero beds me.
The vice of self-aggrandizement gets you nowhere:
I prefer the sins that yield returns.
You can never deal with him on equal terms,
and if your goal is marriage
you're asking for disaster.
• POPPAEA
• No, no, I fear no setback at all.
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: power and personal whims
• Following suggestions coming from the historical sources, the opera presents the suicide
of Seneca as the simple result of Nero's almost childish desire to free himself of his tutors,
his only reasonable counselors
• Power has all to do with personal whims and the satisfaction of one's ego, rather than with
politics or the care of the well-being of the community
• NERO: Hey! One of you
make haste to Seneca; tell him
he must kill himself this evening.
I insist that my power to act depends on me,
not on the whims and sophistry of others!
I could almost be tempted
to disown my spirit
if I believed it base enough
to be ever subject to another's promptings.
Poppaea, be of good heart:
today will bring you prove of Cupid's power.
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8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: Nero, the monster
• Even those who act as accomplices to Nero, and execute his orders, feel a very natural
and human repulsion for the behavior and the devilish decisions of such a wicked man
• A freedman, sent by the Emperor to inform Seneca that he should take his own life,
confesses that he cannot bear to be the messenger of such cruel and irrational orders
• (The tyrant's commands
are quite irrational
and always involve violence or death.
I must convey them, and although
I am only the innocent mouthpiece,
I feel tainted by the evil
I am required to communicate.)
Seneca, I am sorry to have found you,
even though I sought you.
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: the immoral conclusion
• The conclusion of the opera appears to be a bit unusual, in that Nero and his lover,
Poppaea, sing together on stage celebrating their success against all enemies and the
realization of their dream of love
• The extraordinary thing is that two characters who have committed so many sins are
allowed to close the story on the sensuous notes of their (temporary) triumph: so, does
crime really pay?
• It is obvious, rather, given the standards and the restrictions of the genre, that this
conclusion implied the widespread knowledge that the audience must have had of the
actual historical conclusion of the events in the story, with Poppaea murdered and Nero
killing himself right before being captured by his opponents
8.5 Monteverdi's Poppea: the final duet
• POPPAEA, NERO
• I gaze at you,
possess you,
press you to me,
clasp you;
no more pain,
no deathly grief,
O my life, my treasure.
I'm yours,
yours am I,
my dearest, say you love me too.
You are the idol
of my heart,
oh yes, my love,
my heart, my life, oh yes.
8.5 Petrolini's Nero: Mussolini?
•
In 1930, Italian actor/comedian Ettore Petrolini (1886-1936) acted as Nero in a surreal
theatrical parody, that famous director Alessandro Blasetti shot directly on the stage to
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produce a movie
•
Some suggested that Mussolini might have been the target of this satirical representation
of the Roman tyrant, especially in the scene in which Nero speaks to the people of Rome
•
For more info, if you can read Italian, and images, see
• http://www.theatrelibrary.org/petrolini/nerone.html
8.6 Causes of the fall of the Roman empire
• The fall of the Roman empire cannot be explained citing a few specific events or a single
problem
• During the years some bizarre reasons have reached the media and have made their way
into Internet pages of dubious value
• E.g., that the Romans suffered from lead poisoning caused by plates and pots
• That the growing number of Christians made it difficult to find good soldiers, willing to
fight aggressively enough
• That sexual "perversions" and homosexuality caused a significant drop in the number
of births
8.6 Recent attempts to explain the fall of the Roman empire
• In 2001 The New York Times published an article
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/20/science/20ROME.html?ex=1057723200&en=bf70fdb
a313d4be4&ei=5070; registration required), in which the incontrovertible fact that malaria
had become more common at the end of the Empire (because fewer resources were
available to maintain aqueducts and to drain marshy lands) was linked to the fall of the
Empire (as if barbarians who moved through those same regions were immune from this
disease, or were not affected in equal measure)
• We don't really need fantastic theories to explain the end of the Roman empire, because
we have a fair number of official documents and sufficient knowledge of the variety of
problems that affected Roman society and its economy towards the end
8.6 The beginning of the end: Commodus
• The emperor Commodus (180-192) initiated some of the political trends and strategies
that in the long term caused serious problems in Roman society
• He offered lavish gifts to the Praetorian Guard (the elite soldiers and veterans who
were responsible for the security of the imperial family and of the capital), to insure
their loyalty and support
• He had real or potential opponents murdered, a practice that became all too common
during the 3rd century CE
• Commodus himself was assassinated
• During the 3rd century, instead of succession by family lineage or adoption, you have the
Praetorian Guard selling the imperial title to the highest bidder, or the provincial armies
supporting the imperial plans of their generals
8.6 Septimus Severus (193-211 CE)
• He was the commander of a provincial army and succeeded Commodus
• Raised the soldiers' pay to gain their loyalty
• Enlisted more troops in the army to better defend the borders of the empire
• there were frequent attacks by Germans in Central/Eastern Europe and by Persians
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in the Middle East
• From this point on, no further expansion of the empire was possible
• The Roman economy had to do without the considerable income produced by
conquests
• To reduce the existing deficit Severus debased the coinage (=decreased the amount of
silver or gold contained in the coins)
• As a result, obviously, prices were raised
8.6 Septimus Severus (193-211): trade deficit, the mines, hyperinflation
• Trade deficit was another problem of Roman economy at this juncture
• Every year there were hundreds of millions of sesterces in imports from India and
China (spices, gems, silk etc.), all paid in gold/silver; but few or no exports from the
empire were directed to those regions
• The limits of the Romans' mining technology made the shortage of silver and gold worse
• Since they were unable to extract minerals deep underground, some of their existing
mines ceased producing enough precious metals
• Inflation soon became hyperinflation
8.6 Diocletian (284-305 CE): his temporary solutions
• 235-284 CE: out of 22 emperors, 20 were murdered
• Diocletian managed to come up with a temporary fix for some of the empire's problems
• To stop inflation Diocletian introduced fixed wages/prices, and heavier taxes
• In so doing, Diocletian produced economic stagnation and a loss of social mobility
• a black market economy and other forms of social disorganization followed
• the social order insured by the government is reduced to the bare essentials
• the State vs. the citizens: shared goals, antagonism
8.6 Diocletian (284-305 CE): political reforms
•
•
•
Under Diocletian the Senate lost most of its remaining power
• Senators became high-ranking administrators loyally offering their services/expertise to
the State
Other vestiges of republican democracy were also suppressed
The emperor was called Dominus (Lord), and he was clearly identified as the sole ruler in
legal and political documents
• The emperor now wears a crown, sits on a throne
8.6 Diocletian: living conditions in the rural areas
• He enlarged the army with barbarian recruits, trying to assimilate the Germans
• Small farmers are forced to stay on their lands and never leave, first because of their
debts (the money they owe to big landowners is usually repaid with labor), then thanks to
specific laws, meant to protect the interests of the affluent landowners and to insure that
strategic areas of the empire are not depopulated
• To pay taxes and/or debts small farmers give their rich patrons a part of their produce
and provide services to them (cf. the textbook, Chap. 1)
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8.6 Diocletian: reduced mobility, the Empire divided
• Fewer investments and diminished mobility produce a localization of the economy
• This is the beginning of medieval Feudalism
• Money gradually disappears from circulation and the barter system is expanded
• The empire is divided in 2 parts (East/West), with 2 emperors
• Diocletian becomes the emperor of the Eastern empire, the wealthiest and the most
important strategically
• The 2 emperors have vice-emperors who are supposed to learn the trade and succeed
their superiors
8.6 Constantine (305-337 CE)
• He eventually reunited the two sections of the empire under his command
• With the edict of Milan (313), he guaranteed freedom of cult for the Christians
• Constantine himself, according to tradition, converted to Christianity, either out of a
sincere personal desire, or driven by political reasons
• He might have seen the Christians as a relatively small group, compared to the
population of the empire, but also a group with fairly strong convictions, willing to
support him without ever wavering, once he chose their side
• Constantine ordered the execution of his own son Crispus and of Fausta, Constantine's
wife
• http://www.roman-emperors.org/fausta.htm
8.6 Constantine's donation
• Constantine moves the capital of the empire to Constantinople (later called Byzantium,
now Istanbul), in the Spring of 330 CE
• Constantine's donation
• Following the transfer of the imperial court to Constantinople, the authority of the
Bishop of Rome (the Pope) naturally increased
• a new political position: the Church becomes one of the political agencies of the
Empire
• the custom of leaving part or all of one's inheritance (especially land) to the Church
(Patrimonium Sancti Petri)
• Finally during the early Middle Ages a legend was created, together with a forged
document to support it, i.e. that Constantine had officially donated Rome and its
suburbs to the Popes
8.6 Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)
8.6 The end
• After 395 the empire is divided again, and it remained divided until the end
• Eastern empire
• It has more economic resources, more homogeneous traditions
• It includes Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, Egypt etc.
• Western empire
• It includes Italy, France, West Germany, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia etc.
• United only under the Romans, quickly falls apart without the support and constant
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•
supervision of the central administration
New "barbarian" tribes move to Europe from Asia
• Franks, Saxons, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals (to their practices we owe the word
vandalism), the Huns
8.6 The end
• The Visigoths sack Rome in 410, an event that is interpreted as a clear sign of the
impending doom
• Attila's Huns invade Italy in 453
• The Visigoths eventually settle in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, the Franks in France, the
Saxons in Britain, the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Huns in Hungary
• Odoacer, leader of a Germanic tribe, deposes the last Roman emperor in the West,
Romulus Augustus (476), and becomes King of Italy under the authority of the Eastern
Roman Empire
• Valerio Massimo Manfredi, The Last Legion (L'ultima legione): book published in 2002,
motion picture to be released in 2007
8.7 Quotes from Valerio Massimo Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002)
• The Empire defended itself for centuries against the barbarian attacks. Many emperors
were elected to the dignity of their rank by their soldiers at the front, and died at the front,
sword in hand, without ever having seen Rome or discussed any matter whatsoever with
the Senate.
• The attack was often multilateral, coming in waves from various directions, and waged by
many populations at once. This is why the great wall was built, at such expense,
extending from the mountains of Britannia to the deserts of Syria. Over three thousand
miles long! Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were recruited. As many as thirty-five
legions were called up at once, with nearly half a million men!
8.7 V.M. Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002)
• No expense, no sacrifice seemed too great to the Caesars in order to save the empire,
and civilization with it, but in doing so they did not realize that costs had become
intolerable, and that the taxes they levied to cover them impoverished the farmers, the
breeders, the craftsmen, destroying trade and even reducing the number of births! Why
put children into the world to have them live in misery and deprivation?
• Eventually, it became impossible to stave off the invasions, so our leaders imagined that
they could settle the barbarians peaceably within our own borders and recruit them into
our army so they could fight off other barbarians . . .
8.7 V.M. Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002)
• Everything has its price in this world, my son. If a people attain a high level of civilization,
a certain level of corruption is bound to develop as well. I'm not saying that it's in a
barbarian's nature to be corrupt, but before long they develop a taste for fine clothing,
refined foods, perfumes, beautiful women, luxurious dwellings. All of this costs money, lots
of money, the kind of money that only corruption can produce.
• Civilization means laws, political institutions, guaranteed rights. It means professions and
trades, streets and communications, rites and solemnities; science, but art as well. Great
art; literature and poetry like that of Virgil, whom we've read so many times together.
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8.7 V.M. Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002)
• "Being part of a civilization gives you a particular pride, the pride of participating in a single
collective endeavor, the greatest that man has ever attempted to achieve."
• "But ours -- I mean, our civilization -- is dying, isn't it?"
• "Yes," replied Ambrosinus, and he fell into a long silence.
8.7 Gold coins with the names of Romulus Augustus and of Eastern Roman Emperor
Zeno
8.8 Europe and the Mediterranean after the fall of the Roman empire (c. 500 CE)
8.9 Final remarks on the fall of the Roman Empire
• The decline of a complex political and military organization such as the Roman Empire
cannot be attributed to a single cause but rather to the simultaneous insurgence of several
crises
• The Roman Empire, after all, had reached the peak of its expansion between the first and
the second century of the common era, but was able to survive and keep most of its
territories until the fifth century, and even then the Eastern Roman Empire remained
strong enough to live on
• Compared to other famous examples of very large Empires created during antiquity, for
example that of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire had the advantage of a relatively
slow development, and had also the benefits of highly organized administrative and
military systems
8.9 Final remarks on the fall of the Roman Empire
• The multiplication and the compounding of problems is what brought the empire to its
knees
• Romans had to deal with the internal political problems and the instability caused by
the lack of a clear mechanism for succession
• At the same time they were facing increasing problems in the economy (which could
not be adjusted with revenue procured by new conquests)
• All the while they had to maintain a large army and long defense lines (on the Danube
River alone Roman garrisons and watchtowers extended for 1000 miles), to keep
barbarians from invading their territories
• Lack of flexibility, quick adaptive process, resources
8.9 Aldo Schiavone, The End of the Past: Ancient Rome and the Modern West.
Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2000
• Schiavone suggests that European civilization practically began anew in the Middle Ages
and that it bore little resemblance to the Roman culture of the ancient era
• The European modernity that evolved in the West was influenced more by a society and
culture that arose subsequent to the collapse of the Roman Empire than by institutions,
ideas, and technologies from the period of the classical Roman past
• Thus, for Schiavone, the crisis of the Roman Empire not only brought to an end a vast
economic, political, and imperial hegemony it also was responsible for a cultural and
epistemic break between ancient and modern societies in the West
• http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-08-23.html
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8.10 More suggested readings
• Click on the following link if you want to and look at various interactive maps of the
Roman Empire, which allow you to see the areas of the empire in different periods
• http://www.roman-emperors.org/Index.htm
• If you're interested, you can click on the next link, and then with a little bit of patience you
can find information and more links regarding the Emperors that were mentioned in this
presentation:
• http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm
8.11 Valerio Massimo Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): the beginning
• The year is 476: we are in the Italian Northwest, inside the camp of an elite Roman
military unit, organized and trained in the traditional way
• At dawn, the camp receive the visit of a group of barbarians, sent by Odoacer to relieve
the Roman commander of the Legion of his duties
• When the commander declares that he will take order only from Flavius Orestes, chief of
the imperial armies and father of the young Emperor Romulus, a bloody fight ensues
• It appears that Odoacer, who until then had been fighting on the side of the Romans
against other barbarians, plans to destroy the powerful Legion (whose soldiers are mostly
Roman citizens from Italy and the provinces, with the addition of a few chosen, very loyal
foreigners), before capturing the imperial family, so that he can take over the Empire
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Aurelius
• A veteran of the Legion, Aurelius, is dispatched to Piacenza to alert the 13-year-old
Romulus and his parents
• In Piacenza, before the arrival of reinforcements from Ravenna, the Villa of the imperial
family is attacked by Wulfila, one of Odoacer's Lieutenant
• Wulfila strikes Orestes mortally, while Romulus, his mother Flavia and his tutor, the Briton
Ambrosinus, are captured and taken on a three-day journey to Ravenna
• Aurelius gets to the imperial villa just in time to hear the last words of the dying Orestes,
who orders him to save his son and the Roman Empire: "I beg you, legionnaire... save my
son, save the Emperor. If he dies, Rome dies. If Rome dies, everything is lost."
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Odoacer
• In Ravenna, Odoacer, a great admirer of the Roman Empire since his youth ("The Empire
was the only world worth living in, for a human being"), receives Romulus and his mother
inside a Roman Palace, sitting on the sculpted ivory throne of the last Caesars
• He claims that Orestes deserved to die because he did not keep his promise, that he
would place a third of Italy under his command
• He accuses the Romans of being a race weakened by centuries of immorality, power and
corruption, and declares that he alone has the skills required to be a real leader, all the
qualities that the child Emperor Romulus lacks. He then asks Flavia to marry him, a move
that would give his authority the semblance of legitimacy.
• Flavia, despite her difficult position, rejects this offer. Showing all her contempt for
Odoacer, she compares the barbarians to smelly wild animals
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): first attempt to rescue Romulus
• In the middle of the next night Ambrosinus is awakened by Aurelius, who has used the
sewer system to enter the well guarded palace
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• Aurelius tries to rescue the Emperor and his mother, together with the tutor, but the
guards sound the alarm
• While trying to protect her son, Flavia is murdered by Wulfila, and before Aurelius can get
too far from the palace, he is wounded and Romulus is recaptured
• Odoacer decides to confine Romulus to a secluded place, easier to control: the island of
Capri. He will then send back the imperial insignia to Constantinople, to the Eastern
Roman Emperor, in exchange for the titles of Roman patrician and chief General of the
West
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Livia
• While Romulus and his tutor Ambrosinus are being taken to the Bay of Naples, to be
transferred by ship to Capri, Aurelius slowly recovers from his wounds, thanks to the cures
of Justin, once a renowned physician before Italy was ravaged by the barbarians, and the
attentions of Livia, a strong, beautiful woman who has spent years hiding from the
barbarians in the lagoons along the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where Venice will one day
be
• Livia and Aurelius embark on a dangerous mission to save Romulus, and insure his safe
passage into the territories controlled by the Eastern Roman Empire
• While they travel south to follow the barbarians who are escorting the young Emperor, a
romantic relationship develops between them
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): the sword of Caesar
• In Capri, inside the Villa of the Emperor Tiberius, Romulus finds the mythical sword of
Julius Caesar, whose blade was forged with the metal from a meteorite
• The sword had been removed from his original location, inside a Roman temple, and
hidden, so that it would not be stolen by the barbarians attacking the city
• Aurelius manages to free some of his comrades, whom he finds imprisoned in Misenum,
inside the empty reservoir of the Aqua Augusta aqueduct
• With their help, he reaches the island of Capri
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Constantinople
• After Romulus is rescued and brought back to the Italian peninsula, Ambrosinus tries to
convince Aurelius that Constantinople is a snake pit, where power, greed and corruption
produce incessant fighting within the court
• Romulus there would become a defenseless political pawn, easily manipulated and
dispensed with, if the logic of power so required
• Before Romulus can be put on a ship to Constantinople, former Eastern Emperor Zeno
comes back into power and, to strengthen his position, decides to establish an alliance
with Odoacer
• If he were to offer protection to Romulus, his new ally would withdraw his support
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Britannia
• Hunted down by the barbarians led by Wulfila, Aurelius and his small group of heroes
finally listens to the suggestions of Ambrosinus, who has a different plan
• Romulus shall be taken to England, where he will grow into the powerful and just leader
that the Britons so desperately need, oppressed as they are by the various Saxon
warlords
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• His destiny will be similar to that of the young son of Aeneas: he will be the founder of a
new, great civilization
• After all, as Ambrosinus remarks when Romulus is saying that it is all over, that their world
is no more, "Rome is an ideal and ideals cannot be destroyed." And he adds that Rome's
identity does not relate to one race, one people or a single ethnic group
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): the collapse of the Empire
• To appear to be in control of the situation, Wulfila takes another boy, similar in height and
weight to Romulus, and replaces all the guards in Capri, pretending that Romulus has
never left the custody of the barbarians. This move should avoid the risk of rebellions, until
he can find and kill the real Romulus
• Trying to reach the Alps, Livia can see firsthand the results of the devastation caused by
the attacks of the barbarians
• Bridges and roads have been destroyed or are in disrepair, and the local communities that
survive intact in a few urban settings, protected by city walls, live in isolation, too
concerned with self-preservation to think about Italy and the Empire. Already the common
Latin language is changing into a variety of local dialects
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Merlin
• Traveling on land across Switzerland, Germany and France, Aurelius and the others
finally get a ship and reach England
• There they establish contacts with the locals, thanks to Ambrosinus, also known as Merlin,
and they settle in the abandoned camps of the last Roman legion of Britannia, whose
standards bear the image of a dragon
• When they prepare to fight their last battle against Wulfila, who has caught up with them,
Aurelius puts under his corset, as a good luck charm, a small parchment scroll with the
words written by the last great poet of Rome, Rutilius Namatianus
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Rutilius Namatianus and his poetic verses on
Rome
• Listen, O fairest queen of your world, Rome, welcomed amid the starry skies, listen you
mother of men and mother of gods, thanks to your temples we are not far from heaven.
You do we chant, and shall, while destiny allows, forever chant. None can be safe if
forgetful of you. Sooner shall guilty oblivion overwhelm the sun that the honor due to you
leave my heart; for your benefits extend as far as the sun's rays, where are the waves of
the circling Ocean-flood. . . . You, Rome, Africa has not kept away with its scorching
sands nor did the Bear [the far north], armed with native cold, repulse you. As far as
habitable nature has stretched toward the poles, so far has earth opened a path for your
valor. For nations far apart you have made a single country; under your dominion
conquest has meant profit for those who did not know justice; and by offering to the
vanquished a share in your own law, you have made a city of what was before a world . . .
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): Pendragon
•
•
After the final, victorious battle, Aurelius and Livia adopt Romulus, who will become the
king of the Britons under the name of Pendragon
His son will be the famous King Arthur, and the legendary sword of Julius Caesar, thrust
into a stone, will be known as Excalibur
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•
With the birth of these legends, the story told by the narrator and by Merlin, comes to an
end
8.11 Manfredi, The Last Legion (2002): final comments
•
•
•
The inclusion of various theories, cultural and historical elements
• the descriptive approach of modern cinema
A reduction of complex, separate phenomena/events/cultures, is conducted secretly
behind the scenes
The need for evidence is replaced by conspiracy theories
• from myth to reality and back (see Eco's Pendulum)
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