L’usurpazione di Silvano tra costrizione e brama di potere
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Stefano Conti
Riassunto
Un’attenta analisi comparata della testimonianza di Ammiano Marcellino con le altre fonti letterarie, e le probabili epigrafiche, mette in nuova luce l’usurpazione di Silvano (355 d. C.). Prima di dare il via alla rivolta, il generale valutò con attenzione l’esistenza di gruppi sociali ostili a Constanzo II: innanzitutto la popolazione delle Gallie, vessata dall’ingordigia degli emissari imperiali, ma c’erano eminenti figure pro Silvano anche alla corte di Milano e tra i senatori di Roma. Le manovre ordite contro di lui da alti funzionari furono solo l’occasione perché Silvano sciogliesse le titubanze e desse il via alla sollevazione, comunque a lungo meditata. Egli era convinto non solo del sostegno dei suoi soldati, ma anche dei civili, avversi all’imperatore per ragioni politiche, economiche e forse religiose.
In conclusione l’usurpazione, più che dovuta agli intrighi di corte, come è stato spesso sostenuto, appare attentamente pianificata dallo stesso Silvano, forte dell’appoggio trasversale delle truppe, dei provinciali, ma anche di influenti personaggi italici.
Summary
Comparative analysis of the testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus and other literary sources, as well as epigraphic sources, casts new light on Silvanus’s usurpation (355 AD). Before acting, he assessed whether there were social groups hostile to the ruler: among these the citizens of the Gallic lands, tired of the greed of the imperial emissaries, but there were persons pro Silvano even in the court of Milan and the Roman senate, and among private citizens in the rest of Italy. The manoeuvres perpetrated against him by Constantius II’s officials had a role in the usurpation, not so much in forcing Silvanus to rebel, but in causing him to decide in favour of a meditated move, with the backing of the troops and also the population, who were contrary for economic, political and perhaps religious reasons to the imperial administration. In substance, rather than caused by court intrigues, as often claimed, the usurpation seems to have been wanted and planned by Silvanus himself, while appealing to the consent aroused among the military and civilians.
© 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Basileus, tyrannos and polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece
- Alcaeus and Antimenidas: Reassessing the Evidence for Greek Mercenaries in the Neo-Babylonian Army
- Negotiation and Reconciliation. A new interpretation of the Athenian introduction of the Asklepios cult
- Mégabyze de Zopyros et le roi Artoxerxès Ier
- Conectividad mediterránea en el marco del conflicto mitridático
- The Role of Slave Markets in Migration from the Near East to Rome
- The workings of public opinion in the Late Roman Republic: the case study of corruption
- L’usurpazione di Silvano tra costrizione e brama di potere
- Law, Heresy and Judges under the Thedosian Dinasty
- Symmachus und die Ortsgebundenheit der Götter Roms
- Literaturkritik
- Martin A. Guggisberg (Hg.), Grenzen in Ritual und Kult der Antike. Internationales Kolloquium, Basel, 5.–6. November 2009
- Christian Mann, Militär und Kriegführung in der Antike
- Alan H. Sommerstein – Andrew J. Bayliss, Oath and State in Ancient Greece. With contributions by Lynn A. Kozak and Isabelle C. Torrance
- David F. Elmer, The Poetics of Consent. Collective Decision Making in the „Iliad“
- Lynette G. Mitchell, The Heroic Rulers of Archaic and Classical Greece
- Matteo D’Acunto, Il mondo del vaso Chigi. Pittura, guerra e società a Corinto alla metà del VII secolo a. C.
- Susanne Froehlich, Handlungsmotive bei Herodot
- Mirko Canevaro, The Documents in the Attic Orators. Laws and Decrees in the Public Speeches of the Demosthenic Corpus
- John Ma, Statues and Cities. Honorific Portraits and Civic Identity in the Hellenistic World
- Federicomaria Muccioli, Gli epiteti ufficiali dei re ellenistici
- Fred C. Woudhuizen, The Liber Linteus. A Word for Word Commentary to and Translation of the Longest Etruscan Text
- Martin Jehne – Christoph Lundgreen (Hgg.), Gemeinsinn und Gemeinwohl in der römischen Antike
- Juan Santos Yanguas – Gonzalo Cruz Andreotti (Hgg.), Romanización, Fronteras y Etnias en la Roma Antigua. El Caso Hispano
- Yelena Baraz, A Written Republic. Cicero’s Philosophical Politics
- Bernard Andreae, Römische Kunst von Augustus bis Constantin
- Ursula Kunnert, Bürger unter sich. Phylen in den Städten des kaiserzeitlichen Ostens
- Marco Maiuro, Res Caesaris. Ricerche sulla proprietà imperiale nel Principato
- Johannes Griebel, Der Kaiser im Krieg. Die Bilder der Säule des Marc Aurel
- Peter Eich – Eike Faber (Hgg.), Religiöser Alltag in der Spätantike
- Anna Leone, The End of the Pagan City. Religion, Economy, and Urbanism in Late Antique North Africa
- Ulrich Gehn, Ehrenstatuen in der Spätantike. Chlamydati und Togati
- Manuela Studer-Karlen, Verstorbenendarstellungen auf frühchristlichen Sarkophagen
- Henning Börm, Westrom. Von Honorius bis Justinian
- Stefano Bocci, Ammiano Marcellino XXVIII e XXIX. Problemi storici e storiografici
- Sylvie Crogiez-Pétrequin – Pierre Jaillette (Hgg.), Société, économie, administration dans le Code Théodosien
- Richard Hingley, Hadrian’s Wall. A Life
- Florian Martin Müller (Hg.), Archäologische Universitätsmuseen und -sammlungen im Spannungsfeld von Forschung, Lehre und Öffentlichkeit
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Basileus, tyrannos and polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece
- Alcaeus and Antimenidas: Reassessing the Evidence for Greek Mercenaries in the Neo-Babylonian Army
- Negotiation and Reconciliation. A new interpretation of the Athenian introduction of the Asklepios cult
- Mégabyze de Zopyros et le roi Artoxerxès Ier
- Conectividad mediterránea en el marco del conflicto mitridático
- The Role of Slave Markets in Migration from the Near East to Rome
- The workings of public opinion in the Late Roman Republic: the case study of corruption
- L’usurpazione di Silvano tra costrizione e brama di potere
- Law, Heresy and Judges under the Thedosian Dinasty
- Symmachus und die Ortsgebundenheit der Götter Roms
- Literaturkritik
- Martin A. Guggisberg (Hg.), Grenzen in Ritual und Kult der Antike. Internationales Kolloquium, Basel, 5.–6. November 2009
- Christian Mann, Militär und Kriegführung in der Antike
- Alan H. Sommerstein – Andrew J. Bayliss, Oath and State in Ancient Greece. With contributions by Lynn A. Kozak and Isabelle C. Torrance
- David F. Elmer, The Poetics of Consent. Collective Decision Making in the „Iliad“
- Lynette G. Mitchell, The Heroic Rulers of Archaic and Classical Greece
- Matteo D’Acunto, Il mondo del vaso Chigi. Pittura, guerra e società a Corinto alla metà del VII secolo a. C.
- Susanne Froehlich, Handlungsmotive bei Herodot
- Mirko Canevaro, The Documents in the Attic Orators. Laws and Decrees in the Public Speeches of the Demosthenic Corpus
- John Ma, Statues and Cities. Honorific Portraits and Civic Identity in the Hellenistic World
- Federicomaria Muccioli, Gli epiteti ufficiali dei re ellenistici
- Fred C. Woudhuizen, The Liber Linteus. A Word for Word Commentary to and Translation of the Longest Etruscan Text
- Martin Jehne – Christoph Lundgreen (Hgg.), Gemeinsinn und Gemeinwohl in der römischen Antike
- Juan Santos Yanguas – Gonzalo Cruz Andreotti (Hgg.), Romanización, Fronteras y Etnias en la Roma Antigua. El Caso Hispano
- Yelena Baraz, A Written Republic. Cicero’s Philosophical Politics
- Bernard Andreae, Römische Kunst von Augustus bis Constantin
- Ursula Kunnert, Bürger unter sich. Phylen in den Städten des kaiserzeitlichen Ostens
- Marco Maiuro, Res Caesaris. Ricerche sulla proprietà imperiale nel Principato
- Johannes Griebel, Der Kaiser im Krieg. Die Bilder der Säule des Marc Aurel
- Peter Eich – Eike Faber (Hgg.), Religiöser Alltag in der Spätantike
- Anna Leone, The End of the Pagan City. Religion, Economy, and Urbanism in Late Antique North Africa
- Ulrich Gehn, Ehrenstatuen in der Spätantike. Chlamydati und Togati
- Manuela Studer-Karlen, Verstorbenendarstellungen auf frühchristlichen Sarkophagen
- Henning Börm, Westrom. Von Honorius bis Justinian
- Stefano Bocci, Ammiano Marcellino XXVIII e XXIX. Problemi storici e storiografici
- Sylvie Crogiez-Pétrequin – Pierre Jaillette (Hgg.), Société, économie, administration dans le Code Théodosien
- Richard Hingley, Hadrian’s Wall. A Life
- Florian Martin Müller (Hg.), Archäologische Universitätsmuseen und -sammlungen im Spannungsfeld von Forschung, Lehre und Öffentlichkeit
