The readers of the elogium of Scipio Barbatus
Les lecteurs de l'elogium de Scipion Barbatus
Résumé
Because Scipio Barbatus' sarcophagus was closed inside the tomb of the Scipiones in the Via Appia it was impossible to read the elogium. This is why we may suggest that the elogium might have been intended exclusively for family use. A parallel can be drawn with Polybius' famous passage (VI.53-54) on noble public funerals in Rome. The reading of the elogium might belong to the private stage of the funeral, which the Greek historian ignored. The same emotion might find expression then. Every time a Scipio died, after the funeral ceremony involving the whole city, the gens would meet within the tomb to deposit the body of the deceased and to read the elogia of the ancestors. The idea of a great military or political future for the gens would then be conveyed to all its members, and to the younger ones in particular. In the second century the Scipiones would try to convince themselves, before they tried to convince the city. The stake was important, and one can understand the care taken in composing the elogium. Ancient authors (historians in particular), ignore the elogia on purpose and dislike the use by historians of laudationes and tituli.
Notre propos n'est pas de reprendre, de manière exhaustive, l'étude de l'elogium de Scipion Barbatus. Nous nous sommes intéressé uniquement à la question de l'identité des lecteurs de cet elogium.
Domaines
Histoire
Origine : Accord explicite pour ce dépôt