Comptes rendlrs

L'Europa nel mondo anttco,Contributi dellttrstitulo di storia antica, 12, a curadi }Iarta Sordi,
l1ilano, 1986, IX + 198 p. f 6 maps (Vita e Pensiero, Pubblicazioni dell'Llniversitir
Cattolica del Sacro Cuore),

"Vita e Pensiero"
The 18 stndies published in this new volume of the intercsting series
"Europe". There existed
deal with the formation and evolution of the ideological concept of
in Classical Antiquity tuo geographical and, meanwhile, mental signilications of this eoncept.
Iflarta Sordi (p. IX) points out that the EuropelAsia opposition, linked with that between
the West and the East, symbolized in thc Antiquily the opposition between freedom and sct-
"Europe" included only the Balkan
vitude. On the other hand, another antique 5ignificatiou of
Penirsula (without Greece). This meaning appearcd first with Herodotus', and it was reassessed
in the il rd*4th centuries. This is the background of almost all these papers. We slralldiscuss
here three of them, which are of a special interest for Late Antiquity and. South-East Euro-
pean studies.
l)omenico Lassantlro, in L'integrczione romano-batbdriea nei Paneggrici Latini (p.753-
159), shorvs that the limes on the Rhirre and the Danubc was in the late Antiquity the divi-
ding line between the Iloman and the Barbarian world. But the author considers that Panegg-
fiei Latini shows a tendency to surpass this opposition, a kind ol ideolo$ical anticipation of
the future Romano-barbarian integration. He relies on a passage of Mamertinus' speech of
21 April 289 for ]laximianus }lerculius (I1.7.7-Galletier) and on another, of lhe anonymous
speech of 31 llarch 307, for Maximianus and Constantine (Vl.8.5-Galletter). II.7.7 celebrates
the victory against the Alanranni and Burgundians and the. passing of tle Rothan army over
the Rhine. ]Iamertirus stated that, in this ll'ay, that tenitory became Roman: quidquidultra
Rhenum prospicio Rontanum esl. D. Lassandro considers this to be an indication that a I'dP
prochement betrveen the trvo'worlds occurred in the minds of the provincials of GauI. Flowever,
we consider that the text does not permit such an interpretation. Fot Mamertinus, the emperor's
victory drove the fronticr of the Empire beyond the Rhine, but the line of demarcation be-
tween the Empire and the Barbaricu.m continued to exist, because J as was said above (11.7.2)
- Maximianus proved that the Ernpire knew ol no other frontiers than those of its armies
(qua tu primus omnium, imperatar, probasli Flomoni imperii nullam esse terminum nisi qui
tuorum esset rtrmorum). The same panegyrist said about Diocletian that he had also pushed
the frontiers away : Romanum limitem oictoria prolulil (II.9.1). The Rtrine was considered a
natural confine, rvhich $'as separating the Roman from the Barbarian world. I Mamertinus
(II.7.3) considcrs this conception to be obsoletc (Atqui Rlrcnum anlea oidebelur tpsa sic natura
durisse ttt eo limite Romanae proainciae ab immanitate barbariae uintlicarenlur ). This driving-away
of the confines prescribed by naturc is seen by l\Iamertinus as an act worthy of Hercules, the
divine comes of Maximianus (I1.7.6). This is, as a matter ol fact, a common place in the classical
thought: Ilercules kosmokrotor, who goes beyond the limits of the Oilcumene. So, l\Iaximianus's
fights are integrated in the encomiastic discourse, which outlines a parallel between the Em-
peror and his heroic prototype. 2 But, in Mamertinus' mind, this driving away of the natural
frontier bet$'een the Romans and the Barbarians does not also mean a mental approach
between the two worlds. In II.7.5, the panegyrist compares the overlrassing of the Rhine with
Diocletian's crossirig of the Euphrates. It is clear that none of these events wereinterpreted
"romanization" of the defeatecl Barbarians. For the panegyrist, the Barbarians remain
as a
Barbarians (II.?.6: ferros illcs intlcmitasque gentes), even if tbeir counlry was conquered by
the Romans, or if they tere colonized as laefi in GauI (cullores barboriin IV.9.3,21.1). And
the frontiers, though cianged, remained impenetrable :Iimiles qua Ramanum barbails gentibus
inslat impefit$n (VI.14.1).
We consider, therefore, that the dissolution of the ideological opposition between the
two balks of the Rhine could not be a premise for the future romano-germanic integration,
as contended by D. Lassandro. Nor coul<l the passage from the Panegyric oI 31 I\Iarch 3O7

1 P. Courcelle, Histoire littiraire des grandesinuasionsgermaniques,Paris, 1948, p. 6.

2 A. N. Cizek, Eroi polilici ai Antichildlit. Modele ideologiceSi litercre, Bucuregti, 19?6,
esFecially P. 247.

Rev. Etudes Sud-Est Europ.r XXVI, 2, p.761-171, Bucarest,1988

5 -c. 2110
.162: COMF{TES NENDUS

297-298' its ano-

(VI.8.5) be interprctecl-says in such a rvay. Rcfering to Maximianus'conquestsot
tty*o,ri author that tbe dcfeaied Germairy must becorne a friend of the Roman Empire
(domita Germaniaaut boni consulitut quiescataut laetalur quasi amica,-si pareal). This is pro-
bably an allusion to the subjection.of the Frankish king Gennoboud_es as a client of Rorne,
.an eient mentioned by Mameitrnus (II.10.3.-5). But a barbarian people, even becoming sociu$
populi.- Romani, doesnot.ceaseto remain larbarian in the minds-of the Romans'
(p. lffi-173),
Gior"pp" Zecchini, in L' idea di Europa nella cullura d.el tardo impero
drarvs attcntion on the importance of the meaning Eurcha: South-Eastern Europe in the
late -q,ntiquit.y (3rd-4th ccrituries;.CassiusDio LXX\'.12.3-5, in the narration of the sccond
.i."",* fi-rtia'iMesopolamia)b.y the troops of Septimius severus,opposedthe valuc of the
;.Eu;o;c;;;;s;rhieis ifiOp.riiru; to the weaknessof the Syrians. The author eonsiders:that
tn-"."Agoloo."rr:i .otiti".i are, in'fact, Thraco-Illyrians (rvhosepiuportion lg Sererus' "I-y._i-t
"-l':urope"-w-rttr
well noted).'This is vcfy likely sb: especially as cassius Dio used the term
ill-."rt"i"i"A--"*tri"g oi B"tt un areain other passages(for instarrce : XLVII.25.1, XL'YIII.
"Euiope" with thisrriea-
fi;.;i:(\'ir.ri.il. 6.Zebchini consldcrsthat the usc of the word "Auto-
;;;;;;-;"4
-li"E d;;i" C{ssius Dio, but to his presumptive lourcc: Septimius Severus'
"Europe" coultl hi taken from that source'
"ph,";"fp. ior;.'tt ir irossible that the teim
is not suri bebause the equiialence Europe: Balkan Area appears also in
but"tlis-fact
not
Dio,s relations about evepts which were ttot takett from this source.Recaulg of thls,-it.is
"l'imperatoiq stcsso riteneva.che gli'Europci fosse-ropit.valorosi degliAsiatici
certain that
of this factonly
e che i veri Europdi fos.erolti iltiti"i" (p. 162).We could have the ceititude
if- thesc
-- eventsliould have becn also rclatcd by Herodianus'
do not concern
our reservesregarding the inlerpretation o[ cassius D.io Lx\s\''12
whcri refers-to {he Thraco-Illyrian proriin'cial patfiotism-of
the substance ot ze"cnini;.iiudv, "una sorte di 'nazionalismo localc del tutto
the 3rd-,tth centuries. itr""" u*lat"O, indeed,
a paTSSe.could bc con-
"o*p"tllif" con la devozion" t".ro noma" (p'-162)' Dio's T:ltig."d
only as utr n"t.to*i"agement of the riilitary I'alu-e.of the ThTaco-Illyrian soldiers' rt
"io"i.J "l'iclea di un'Europa limitata allnarta
*"la ".t bie called r.po.r-"r-.tiptorting the opinionihat
ilaco-illirica e unificita d;i v;;ri dcl patriottismo e del coraggio in guerra era sostenuta e
diffusa dai soldatiillifici.sLssi." The 3r-rl century revival of the ancient namc of Bhlfanarea
is, indeed, convergent;il;h;
-u.ia-L"""Jt" ia;flfrt oitne "s",-*hen this.,south-r5t-tlrllqqeT *}jol
"il ciore "o; g.ogt"fi.o,"ira moralJed idpale dell'Europa" (p' t63)' But it is
idea wai due Septimius Severus
ilrr rir."rv that the initidtive"of-the revival of such a bookish
and his soldiers ("r c, Z;;;;.ttttana.l.'W" think tlat it rvas most probably vehicllated in
idea was afterwards
tu"-coiti"uteo circtu. (ca.s-iG Dio was'onc of -those-intellectrrals);,the
;;;;;;d ;J trre officiatfJeoiogy a"a expres'seclin the creation, ii the age of Diocletian, of
"Constantine
inu p.o.,irr.! of Eutopa, rvhere the Great founded the netv capital of the Roman
place of South-EasternEuropc in the
d,op-ir". C- Zecchini,s stqdy- poinx out the importalt
history of thr late AntiquitY'
pio Grattarola shows in II concellodi Europa aIIa fine del nutttdoantico (p. Li4-19L>
Europe and the other continents
that the iclea of u *o"ui a1d religious opposition betrveett
il;"d up in the 4th-5th centuries. l:lie imagc evolyocl i' thc Wester' Latin provinces' "Eu-
Apolli'arius)' T!]1
especiallvin Gaul (in the rvritings of Sulpicius-sdverusand Sido'ius o{ the western
;;;;;;'";'""J""r"*a christian"featurc i-s, in fact, restricted to the remnants
cen-
ir"i-r"^g*01.".-iti """t"i.rr-as Gaul. The use of this meaning increasedin the 6th-7th.
broken relations between thc west and the Byzantine Empire and
turies, in the conditions of
il;;;;;;;or. of prp"ri.-, lt"ginttittg $'ith Pope Gregory the Great' (In his.cole.spllndpce'
;n*u-*p":' i-as the ""ii."-i"ti"thristindom.) in various writings of the carly I\{iddle Agcs,
rise
,6;;;;;" -""nr:o"ly the West. It is interesting that the r\rab offensi'e stimulated the
,.Europ""n "nnr"ro,r*ness" in the West. Ii the anonymous rvliting ContinuutioHispana
ol this
at Poitiers are named Europenses'Of
ad ann. 754 ttle *otal""s lrittoiought against the Arabs consciouEnesscan be related
to know wiiether this rise of an European
course, it is important idea in the \\rest' Pio
with the r-cstoration.-of the-imperia-l
with the idea of lranslatii imperif, of the political ideo-
Grattarola,s study bringsi"'i*poit"tlt '""O contribution to the understanding "nel
even of more. recent periods : morrdo latino, Europa
;;;;; th" "artv lriOai" eg"t
ili'""; ,.-pi"'irri-i"-puid *.ia""tale del continente, che aveva nella^cattoliclti le sua ca-
ratteristica comune e in Italia, a Roma, il suo centro spirituale" (p' 190)'

3 see, for instance, Radu vulpe, Les populationssud-otientalesde I'Europe et I' Empite
specific
Romain,l"'rJ.-, srudici iiacotogica,"pucaresl; 1976, p. 190-197-;Al. Madgearn,
ideotogie impiriiti Ia iipdralii rcmani de origine traco-dacd (sec' III e'n')" 'Revista
orooinci.al
'd e - i s t o r i;ie ' ; , 3 9 ,
1 9 8 6 '2 , P . 1 8 0 - 1 8 9 '
 COMPFES NENX'US 163

The oilrer studies published in this intofesting book are : Cel,estinalllilani, NoIe etimolo'
aichesu E0pdrr, (p. S-if): FerdirrandoLuciani, Lu prcsuntaorigim sefiiliea del ttomeEuropa
i;l'it: fOjl o"'.i,r u. Cosi, Dietrc aI funtosma d.i Europa: sposa,madre,regino (p.2.7-.3s1.;
iuisa Prandi, Europa e i cqdmei : la "uersionebeotipa"det.milo (p. 37-48) ; Gabriel)aAmiotti'
i;arrrop" neLIa polbmica tra Erorloto e la scuola.ionicc (p. 49a5j); Fabio Mora' L'etnografia
"Persiani" di Eecllal.lslra orienle e occidente
7"iii ii irottoto (p. 5?-6s); Luigi Bclloni, I
ioroi, Dtoitig.tI,Tinas.te "Encomio(p. S4_--90);.Cinzia
d'Europa Bearzot, Il significato
i-'"6d:8i;Nr"ttu
fri;f.-g"iriiti- ,,ii tc;.crk EripiSrnq neII'. eti Filippo" di Tcopompo (p.91-104);
d!!l'irlea d'Pu'
Gatrriilla yanotti, Arist oiele: dalt'a1iermazionegeograficaalla disoluzione_politica
Franca Landucci cattino;i,-t'Eurcpa libri XY-III-XX di Diodoro
,rp, fp. iOS-112i ; ,nei
aD. 113-123): GiuseppeZecchini, Polibio, Iu storiograliaellenislica e I'Eutopa (p' 124- t31);
Xl#; i'nii,Ciiti
'i.ff,.iri-liiiii'e ii Europa (p r35-_ra{):.}Iario Attilio_Levi, L'Eu.ropa e iI mondo diAIcs'
ttr Cuare-(p.'ridi-rsz) ; Yal'crio l,Ianiredi, L;Europa nella Tabulla Peutingetiana
(p. 1e2-198).
Alerandru Marlgearu