ルティリウス・ナマティアヌスとクルスス・プブリクス : 後期ローマ帝国における公的伝達システム運用の一側面
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概要
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The main purpose of the present paper is to examine the conditions of Roman roads and the cursus publicus by analysing the poem, De reditu suo('On his return') by Rutilius Claudius Namatianus. Rutilius, a Gallic senator and one of the last Latin poets, returned to his homeland of Gaul in 417 AD because his estates there had been ravaged by the invasion of 'barbarians' or Germanic peoples. He dared to choose the sea route for his return journey, though Roman roads and the cursus publicus were the infrastructure for public communication in the Roman Empire. Rutilius went by sea because he noticed that the Via Aurelia(Aurelian Way), the main route running along the coast from Rome to northwest Italy, had been seriously damaged by the Goths. However, this fact does not mean that all regions of Italy were equally affected by the 'barbarian' invasion. The varying conditions of the western coastland of Italy depicted by Rutilius reveal important facts for understanding the real impact of the invasion of the Roman Empire in the West. The results of my analysis are as follows: 1) The polarization of Roman society into the rich and poor strata occurred in the northwest areas of Italy after the Germanic invasion. Rutilius' descriptions indicate that while some villas of his friends flourished, many towns were ruined and uninhabited. The Germanic invasion is not the only cause for this contrasting situation, but it should be seen as one of the main reasons why the devastated towns remain unreconstructed even after the Goths' passage. 2) The horses and carriages privately offered to Rutilius by an anonymous tribunus at Pisa(De reditu suo 1.559-64) can best be understood as means of transport that were originally prepared for the official use of the cursus publicus. This interpretation seems not to have been suggested before. However, the patron-client relationship between Rutilius and the tribunus, the role of the tribunus as one of the curiosi (supervisor of the cursus publicus), the presentation of Pisa as a mansio (station) of the cursus publicus in the Peutinger Table, and the cost of the horses and the carriages as too great for the tribunus personally, all support my interpretation. 3) The neglect of the devastated Via Aurelia and the arbitrary and private use of the cursus publicus by Rutilius and tribunus suggest the extent of instability and the fragmentation of the communication and transportation network in the West. Its decline may have caused a shift in the public attitudes of the Roman people.
- 日本西洋古典学会の論文
- 2014-03-26