El retrato amianeo del emperador Joviano
Abstract
The present work studies the portrayal that Amianus Marcellinus does of emperor Jovian in his «Res Gestae», paying attention in the first place to the physical traits with which the historian initiates his description. Once the physical traits have been exposed, the emperor’s character is revealed by means of several formulations that clearly mark, in the first place, certain similarities with regard to Constans portrait, such as, for example, his profession of the Christian faith or the scrupulous study of the appointment of top-ranking functionaries. However, and in second term, Amianus accompanies this series of assertions with clearly contrasting elements in the portrayal of Constans, such as, for example, the emperor’s undisguised habit of jestin in public, or his poor cultural knowledge, and which manifest the historian’s intention of presenting Jovian in an inferior level with regard to Constans. However, the critical appraisal that Amianus Marcellinus depicts of Jovian’s person and government is marked by the disgraceful contract subscribed by the emperor with Persia.
Downloads
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right to be the first publication of the work as well as license it under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with acknowledgment of authorship of the work and initial publication in this magazine.
Authors may separately establish additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (for example, placing it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.