Ausonius Mosella

8/10/2019 Ausonius Mosella

1/31

The Date and Literary Context of Ausonius's "mosella": Valentinian I's Alamannic Campaignsand an Unnamed Office-HolderAuthor(s): Danuta ShanzerSource: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 47, H. 2 (2nd Qtr., 1998), pp. 204-233Published by: Franz Steiner VerlagStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4436502.

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2/31

THE DATEAND LITERARY

CONTEXT

OF AUSONIUS'S MOSELLAI

Valentinian I's Alamannic

Campaigns and an Unnamed Office-Holder

In Ausonius's

most famous poem,

the Mosella, the

laudesfluminis

generically

mixed with

an

itinerarium, not wholly dissimilar

to Hor. S. 1.5,

elaborate the

relationship between man and

nature, and between poet and emperor-patron.2

Interpretationsof the Mosella

exhibit some of the

same tensions that appear in

the scholarship of the Iter

Brundisinum: do these

itinera of poets, close to

matters of state, show the political undermined

by the personal,

or the personal

by

the

political?3

Interpretations

have

ranged

from the exclusively political to

the ironist. 4

There has likewise been

speculation

about the date of the poem.

In the following paper,

I will discuss some historical evidence for the date of the

Mosella. Elsewhere I will turn

to its literary genre

and

context,

both in Auson-

ius's ceuvre and

in relation to the

Orations

of

Symmachus.5

Knowledge

of its

date and of its literary setting

are essential for

a

valid

interpretation.

As a

bonus,

it should become clear

that a correct

interpretation

of evidence in the Mosella

and in texts related to

it can shed

light

on various historical

and

prosopograph-

ical problems.

Ausonius

himself was of two minds

when he wrote the Mosella. It seems

to

start

as a

personal poem,

an itinerarium. It soon modulates

into a

hymn

to

the

river

(v. 22)

and

praises

of

its natural

beauties,

the

opus

naturae

(v. 51),

its

clear

water, fish,

vineyards, boat-men, nymphs

and

satyrs,

and rustic

regattas.

But

even these

descriptive passages

exhibit

discordances:

the

catalogue

of fish

has

clear

mock-epic overtones,

while the rustic

water-games

are

compared

to

I T.

D. Barnes,

S.

J.

B. Barnish,

A. R. Birley, and

R. S.

0.

Tomlin

all

readdrafts

of

this

article.

I am

mostgrateful

or theircriticism

and

for helpfulargument

nd

comments.

2

The

Moselle

is

classified

as a

satura

odeporica

by L. Illuminati,

La Satira

odeporica

latina (Milan

1938).

3

See

W.S.

Anderson,

The Roman

Socrates:

Horace

and his

Satires,

n W.S.

Anderson,

Essays

on

Roman

Satire

(Princeton

1982)

p. 20; I.M.

Le

M. Du Quesnay,

Horace

and

Maecenas

... Sermones

1, in

Poetry

and

Politics

in the

Age

of

Augustus,

ed.

A.

Woodman

and

D.

West

(Cambridge

1984).

4 See F. Marx,

Ausonius'

Lied

von

der

Mosel,

RhM

80

(1931)

pp.

368-92

and

M.

Roberts,

The

Mosella

of

Ausonius:

an

Interpretation,

APA

114

(1984)

pp.

343-53

as

examples

of both

poles.

5 The companion-piece

to this article,

The

Date

and

Literary

Context

of

Ausonius's

Mosella:Ausonius,Symmachus, ndtheMosella, hasbeenpublishedn P. Knox andC.

Foss,

eds., The

Discipline

of

the

Art. Studies

of Style

and

Tradition

n LatinLiterature

n

Honor

of

Wendell

Clausen (Stuttgart

1997) pp.

286-307.

Historia,

Band XLVII/2

1998)

C)

Franz

Steiner

Verlag

Wiesbaden

GmbH,

Sitz

Stuttgart

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/31

The Date and

Literary

Contextof Ausonius's

Mosella 205

weightier historic

naval events. The section on the naturalbeauties

of the river

ends with a poignant fishing scene. Then the poet praises the works of men,

above

all villas and

baths,

in

highly

overblown terms. Yet

up

to this

point

nothing openly historico-political has

appeared.

It is

only

in the

second part of

the

poem (vv. 349ff.)

that historical

reality impinges

on the

shimmering pasto-

ral world of the river. Ausonius follows the tributaries of the Moselle and

mentions the imperial

villa

at

Konz, lapped by

the waters of the Saar. The

tributariesall exhibit humanambitus and mores in their

longing to be part of the

Moselle.6 Ausonius then turns to the denizens of the

Moselle-region (vv. 381-

417) and unashamedly includes

the praises of various men, but all in veiled and

allusive terms: no names are mentioned. The rhetoric of the end of the poem

exemplifies

the two directions in which the

poet

is torn. Vv.

418-437

are

addressed to the

Rhine,

the

great northward-thrustingriver, site of recent

imperial military

activities. Yet the

sphragis

which identifies the

poet

and

alludes to his

consulship,

ends on a different and more

personal

note. He

commends the Moselle to his home

river,

the tidal Garonne.

The date

of

the Mosella

has

never been established with complete preci-

sion. The

general

consensus is that

it

was written between 371 and

375.7

In

1990, however,

H. Sivan advocated a

composite

date: the

Mosella was written

very early (pre-368), but

retouched and published considerably later at the end

of Valentinian's

reign.8

Sivan states

(p. 383), By scholarly consensus, then,

Ausonius

composed

Moselle in 370/371.

Not strictly so,

9

for, although some

scholars

accept

a date of

370/371,10 many regard

370/371

merely

as a terminus

post quem,

and would

suggest

371/75 A.D. It has

long

been known that there

are internal contradictions in the

poem, e.g. Ausonius optimistically looks

ahead to a

consulship

which he

actually

held in 379 in a

poem

that alludes to

Valentinian's Alamannic victories of 368 as

recent. 1

Sivan's

dating

is

based

largely

on

military

and

prosopographical

concerns.

Since I will

question

some of her

interpretationsof the usual evidence, I will

begin by reviewing

the treatmentof the

key passages used for dating the poem.

Subsequently, however,

I

would

also

like to turn

to less

explicit evidence,

such

as possible sources

for

the piece.

6 See Mosella 360 and 374.

7 For a concise statement f the datasee R. Herzog,ed.,Restauration und Erneuerung:

Die

lateinische Literatur von 284 bis 374 n. Chr. (Munchen1989)

p.

300.

8 H. Sivan, RedatingAusonius'sMoselle, AJP 111 (1990) pp. 383-94.

9 The same misinterpretationppearson p. 386.

10 R.S.O. Tomlin,

The Emperor Valentinian I (unpublished

D. Phil. thesis Oxford 1973)

p. 507.

1

1 Marx

n. 4) p. 386

thinks hatat the end of theMosella we see Ausonius'sclear intentions

of makinga second edition of the poem, but assumes thatAusoniushad beenpromiseda

consulship.See also C. Hosius,Die Moselgedichte des Decimus Magnus Ausonius und

des Venantius Fortunatus3

(Marburg 926) p.

22.



4/31

206

DANUTASHANZER

The Mosella's

date has traditionallybeen established by various significant

internal features of the poem.'2

1. Vv. 420-25 allude

to recent victories of Valentinian

I and Gratian on the

Neckar at

Lopodunum. This victory is usually identified as Valentinian I's

battle

near Solicinium in 368.

2. Vv. 409-411

provide a terminus post quem by

describing an important

unidentified

office-holder in a way that can only be topical.

3. Vv. 1-22 describe a journey of Ausonius from

Bingen on the Rhine down

towards Trier on

the Moselle. Ausonius, it is generally supposed, accompa-

nied

Valentinian I on his campaigns of 368 on the

Rhine and Neckar.

4. Vv. 448-453 allude apparently to Valentinian I and both of his sons. The

birth of Valentinian II thus

provides a terminuspost quem of 371.

5.

Ausonius's own

consulate fell in 379, and he alludes to it at Mosella 451.

Ausonius

is

most unlikely to have mentioned his

consulship until it had

happened,

or was at least a sure

thing (Sivan p. 386).

I

would like to review all of the above

points.

I. IMPERIAL VICTORIES

1. Mosella

vv.

420-25

...

Nec

praemia

in undis

sola,

sed

Augustae

veniens a moenibus urbis

spectavit

iunctos

nati

patrisque triumphos

hostibus exactis Nicrum

super

et

Lupodunum

etfontem

Latiis

ignotum

annalibus

Histri

haec

profligati

venit

modo laurea belli.

Ep. 4

Illyricis regnator aquis, tibi, Nile,

secundus

Danuvius laetum

proferofonte caput.

salvere

Augustos

iubeo, natumque patremque,

armiferis

alui

quos ego

Pannoniis.

nuntius

Euxino iam

nunc volo currere

ponto,

ut

sciat

hoc

superum

cura secunda Valens.

caede

fuga flammis

stratos

perisse

Suebos

nec

Rhenum Gallis

limitis esse loco.

quod si lege maris refluuusmihi curreretamnis,

huc

possem

victos

inde

referre

Gothos.

12 In

this

listing,

for

points

1-4,

1

follow Sivan's

(n. 8)

order

p. 382), though

not necessarily

her

wording.



5/31

The Date and

Literary

Contextof

Ausonius's

Mosella 207

Ep. 5

Danuvius penitis caput

occultatus in oris

totus sub vestra

iam

dicionefluo.

qua gelidum

fontem

mediis

effundo Suebis,

imperiis gravidas

qua

seco Pannonias

et qua dives

aquis Scythico

solvo ostia

ponto:

omnia sub

vestrumflumina

mitto

iugum.

Augusto dabitur sed

proxima palma Valenti:

invenietfontes

hic

quoque, Nile, tuos.

Sivan (384) identifies the victories of the Mosella and those mentioned by

Ausonius in

Ep.

4 and

5,

and notes

that the foe is not named in the

Mosella, but

that the

epigrams

refer to the Suebi.13 This identification

seems reasonable.

Mos. 424

etfontem

Latiis

ignotum annalibus

Histri

clearly

alludes to

the source

of the

Danube,

as do the

epigrams.

Yet,

while

Ep.

4.7 and 5.3

certainly mention

the defeat of

Suebi, Ep.

4.8 adds to their death a

more

general point: nec

Rhenum Gallis limitis esse loco. This could

be

a

consequence

of the defeat of

the Suebi near

the

source

of

the

Danube,

but it could also be

additional news

relating

to

other

victories further north near the

mouth

of

the Neckar. In either

case the Romanspenetratedeast of the rightbank of the Rhine. In the epigrams,

however, the rhetorical emphasis falls on

the

Suebi. Both

poems speak in

the

voice

of the

Danube and announce both victories

over

Suebians (stratos

peri-

isse

Suebos Ep.

4.7)

near

its source in Suebia

(Ep.

5.3)

and

(with far less

emphasis) victory

on the

right

bank of the Rhine

(Ep. 4.8).

The conceit of these

epigrams

is that the two brothers are

fighting

at

opposite

ends of the

mighty

river.

The river flows one way and

brings

Valentinian's news to Valens. If it

could flow both

ways,

like the

sea,

it could

bring

equally joyful

tidings

from

East to West.

Hence the fact that the victories were in

Suebia

(at

the source of

the

Danube)

is

all-important.'4

The

epigram

provides

a nice resolution to the

account of the

beginning

of both of these

troubles

in

Ammianus 26.5.7

(the

invasion of the

Alamanni)

and 26.5.8

(the

revolt

of

Procopius),

where the news

of both disasters reaches

Valentinian

on the same

day.'5

Thus Ausonius mentions victories

against

the Suebi and

beyond the Neckar

near Lopodunum. But Sivan is disturbed that

Ammianus

Marcellinus,

our one

13 Sivan (n. 8)

p.

384 Moreover he chief source of trouble was not the Suevi, but the

Alamanni.

14 Ausonius's Bissula herself was Suebian Bissula 2.2), and she was bornacrossthe Rhine

near he sourceof the Danube Bissula4.1 4), so the areanear he sourceof the Danube s

clearly

what Ausoniusthinksof as Suebia.

15 Note however that Symmachus (Or. I. 17 et tu quidem bellico intentus operi dudum

ferocis

Alamanniae

erga vertebas,

ed

parte aliafraterni imperii

iberam

pacem

rebellis

exul inruperat) implies

that the attacks of the Alamanni

preceded Procopius's

revolt.



6/31

208

DANUTASHANZER

other source for Valentinian

I's campaigns, says nothing of victories against

the

Suebi, while concentratingon campaigns against the Alamanni, and a victory at

an unidentified place called Solicinium. She notes

the discrepancy between

the geography of the battle

in Ausonius and Ammianus and Ausonius' complete

ignorance of the true identity of Rome's chief

enemy. '6 By discrepancy I

assume she means Solicinium

(Ammianus) vs. Lopodunum

(Ausonius), and by

complete ignorance

that Ausonius seems unaware that Valentinian and

Gra-

tian were fighting the

Alamanni, and mentions only

the Suebi.

S. concludes from the discrepancy and the

ignorance that Ausonius

was not talking about

the victory at Solicinium in 368, but about victories

that

preceded the more decisive

engagement at Solicinium. She attributesAmmi-

anus's silence about the Suebi to the indecisive

nature of the early phases of

the campaign.

Thus she hopes to move the terninus post quem for the Mosella

earlier

than 368.17

A number of objections may be raised.

a)

Ammianus's

silence about the Suebi cannot be

explained by

the indeci-

sive

nature of the

early phases

of the

campaign.

Book 27 was not written

concurrently

with the events it describes.

Ammianus was

writing

after the

event,

when he had what information

was available -

probably

in 389/92.18

b)

If the victories

against

the Suebi of

Epigrams

4 and 5 and the victories of

the

Mosella are one and the

same,

but are not the same as the events narrated

by

Ammianus,

it

is

odd

that S. can describe

them

as indecisive. The

titles of the

epigrams proclaim

that

they

were

written

iussu Valentiniani

Aug.,

and their

tone

is

triumphant (as

is that of the

Mosella).

This

may

be

pure panegyrical

exaggeration,

but unless there is counter-evidence

that

proves

it to be

so,

it

should

be taken at face

value: there was some sort of successful

campaign

against

the Suebi

fought

near

the source of

the Danube.

Ausonius's Bissula was

a Suebian

war-captive,

no doubt

a

product

of this

campaign.19

c)

It is

wrong

to

suppose

that Valentinian's

Alamannic

campaigns

became

increasingly

successful,

and thatAusonius's

hope

for futurevictory means that

16

Sivan

(n. 8)

p.

384.

17

Sivan

(n.

8)

p. 385.

18

E.

Gerland, Valentinians

eldzug

des

J. 368

und die Schlacht

bei

Solicinium,

Saalburg

Jahrbuch

7

(1930)

p.

115 insists

that Ammianus

must

havebeen

present.

Matthews,

The

Roman

Empire

of

Ammianus

Marcellinus

(London

1989)

p. 21 also

seems to

suggest

autopsy,

Its author

must have

come

to the

West,

but

equivocates

omewhat

a

look

at

the larger context (e.g. p. 22) suggests

Matthews

means

that

Ammianus

pursued

wit-

nesses.

Yet

p. 377

suggests

that

he

used

a communique

orthe battle.

But

when

was

Ammianus

n the

West?He

was with

Valens

in

the

East in

370.

Thompson

n.

86) p.

19

suggests

392/4

as

a

hypothetical

date

for

Books

26-31.

Matthews

p.

22

puts

the

composi-

tion

of

Books

26-31

ca.

390.

On

p.

24 he

suggests

388/90

as

a date

for

Books

26

and

27.

19 See

Ausonius,

Biss.

4.3-4

and

4.2 conscia

nascentis

Bissula

Danuvii.



7/31

The Date

and

LiteraryContext

of

Ausonius's

Mosella

209

he

must have been

writing earlier

(pre-368

A.D.) rather than

later.20 All of

Valentinian's Alamannic campaigns, not just the earlier parts, could be de-

scribed

as

indecisive: in

the

course of his

struggles,

Valentinian's fortunes

varied.21Ammianus

attests an

early

victory

at

Solicinium in

368, but this

was

not

the

end. Valentinian

fortified the

Rhine and

Neckar

in 369

and

suffered

a

bad

loss

at Mons

Piri

(Amm. Marc.

28.2.8-9);

in 370

he

negotiated with the

Burgundians

against

the

Alamanni,

and

missed a

rendez-vous with

the

former,

while

Theodosius

campaigned

against the

latter n

Rhaetia

(Amm.

Marc.

28.5.8-

15).22 His activities in 371

are not clear.

He is

attested at

Contionacum

(Konz)

between 12

July

and 16

August,

and on the 6th

of

September at

Mainz,

and on

the 11th of December at Trier.23 A campaign (of disputed date)24 against

Macrianus near

Wiesbaden

failed,25

and

it was

not until

autumn of

374

that

Valentinian

made a

truce

with

him near

Mainz

(Amm.

Marc.

30.3.40-45). Even

the

victory

at

Solicinium

(Amm.

Marc.

27.10.5-16)26

is

described as a

close

call.

When Ammianus

mentions it

again

at

30.7.7,

he relates

that the

coming

of

darkness saved a

few

Alamanni,

but that

the

Emperor was

nearly

captured.

Indecisiveness is no

evidence for

an

early

date.

Reference

to

future

victories

merely puts the

poem

anytime

before

375. Valentinian

never

seems to

have

given

up

hope

of better luck

-

perhaps

even the

capture

of

Macrianus.27

d)

Epigrams

4

and 5

must date to

369,

or

shortly thereafter, because they

mention a

victory

of

Valens over

the Goths

(Ep.

4.10).28 If

they

describe the

20 Sivan

(n.

8) p. 385.

21 A.

Demandt,

Die

Feldzugedes

alteren

Theodosius,

Hermes 100

(1972) p. 92

goes so far

as to

say

Andem

rein

defensiven

Charakter

ller

Kriege

Valentinianskann

kein

Zweifel

bestehen.

See

also C.M.

Ternes,

Paysage

r6el

et

coulisse

idylliquedans la

Mosella

d'Ausone,

REL48

(1970-7

1) p.

390, andA.

Nagl,

Valentinianus,

PWRE 4A

(1948)

2174.

22

Valentinian tayed in

Trieruntil

June 1, at

least.

After that

his

whereabouts

re not

clear

until the 15thof

August,when

he was

at Alteia

(Alzey).

Afterthathis

movements

annot

be

traced.He is

next

attested n

Trieron

1

December.See

0. Seeck,

Regestender

Kaiser

und

Papste

(Stuttgart

1919) pp.

238 and

240.

23

Seeck,

Regesten(n.

22) pp.

240

and 242.

24

See NagI

(n. 21)

2179-80;

Demandt n. 2

1

pp.

92-93.

Some date

it to 371,

others o 372.

Demandtprefers371.

25 See

Amm. Marc.

29.4.1-7

especially for

Valentinian's

discouragement.The

passage

contains

two

major

acunae.

26

PWRE

1927)

Solicinium

20 providesno definite

identification,

but

rejects

dentifica-

tions with

either Sumelocenna

Rottenburg)

r with Sulz. Tomlin

(n.

10) p.

155 n.

50

identifiesSoliciniumwithSpitzbergnearRottenburgnd gives a full listingof bibliogra-

phy on the

problem.

27

See

Amm. Marc.30.7.1 1.

28

See

Amm. Marc. 27.5.5-6

for

a

successful

campaign against

Athanaric

n

369.

The

campaign

of 367 was abortive

(Amm.

Marc. 27.5.2

redit

...

nec inlato

gravi

vulnere

nec

accepto;

likewise thatof

368: Amm Marc.

27.5.5).



8/31

210

DANUTA

SHANZER

same

events

as

the

Mosella,

hen

here

s agoodchance

hat heywere

written

t

the same time, with a similar series of concerns

-

hence, perhaps,a terminus

post

quem

of

369.

They

exhibit

the same

fluminal propaganda

as

appears

in

Mosella

418ff.

In

Ep.

5.6 the Danube

subjects

all its tributaries

o the

emperors.

Amm.

Marc.

27.5.9

may further

explain

the importance

of the Danube.

Athanaric

would

not

make

peace

on

Roman

soil,

so a

treaty was

signed

from

boats

in

medioflumine.

e) There

does

not

have

to be

a geographical

discrepancy

between

Lopo-

dunum

and

Solicinium.

Let

us look

at

Ausonius's

precise

wording

in

the

Mosella:

420ff.

... Nec praemia

in

undis

sola,

sed Augustae

veniens

quod

moenibus

urbis

spectavit

iunctos

nati

patrisque

triumphos

hostibus

exactis

Nicrum

super

et Lupodunum

etfontem

Latiis

ignotum

annalibus

Histri.

haec

profligati

venit

modo

laurea

belli.

Nicrum

super

et

Lupodunum

and

etfontem

...

Histri

could

mean

beyond

the

Neckar,

beyond

Lopodunum,

nd

beyond

the source

of the

Danube

and

refer

to three places

and

events,29

but

it is

more

likely

that

it

means

beyond

the

Neckar

near Lopodunum

and beyond

the source

of the

Danube.

A river

is

a

line,

not

a point,

and,

whereas

the source

of

a

river

is a precise

geographical

location,

a river

in and

of itself

is

not,

unless

it is specified

at

what

point

on

the

river

an

event

occurred.

Beyond

the

Neckar

is

excessively

vague

(where

along

the

Neckar?),

and

the second translation

is

almost

certainly

the

correct

one. Super

Nicrum

et

Lupodunum

is

a

zeugma

cum hendiadys,

and

Lopo-

dunum

tells

us

where on

the

Neckar

the

victory

took place.30

The

correct

translation

is

Nor

are the

only

rewardsit brings in its waters, but also because,

on

its

way

from

the

ramparts

of Trier,

it beheld

the

joint triumphs

of father

and

son,

the

enemy

driven away,

beyond

the Neckar

near

Lopodunum,

and

near

the

source

of

the

Danube,

unknown

to Latin

annals.

This

laurel-crowned

letter

bearing

news

of this

decisive

turn

in the

war has recently

come.

Thus

we

have

29

Sivan (n. 8)

P.

384

seems

to be

translating

t this

way,

as did

H. G.

Evelyn-White,

Ausonius

(Cambridge,

M.A.

&

London

1958)

v.

I

p.

259

the

united

triumphs

f

father

andsonoverfoes vanquishedbeyondNicerandLupodunum

nd

Ister's

source,

unknown

to

Latin

chronicles.

30

R.

P. H. Green,

The

Works

of

Ausonius

(Oxford

1991)

ad

loc.

cites

an

exceedingly

attractive

emendation

of

Mommsen's,

ad

for et.

He

misinterprets

Mommsen's

sugges-

tion,

however:

ad surely

means

at,

not

to;

see

Lewis

&

Short

s.

v.

ad

A

3.

Marx

(n.

4)

p.

385

gets

it

right.



9/31

The Date and

Literary Context of

Ausonius's Mosella

211

allusions not to

one,

or

three,

but

to two

military

events. The

first occurred on

the Neckar near its confluence with the Rhine, the second nearthe source of the

Danube

in

the Swabian Juranear

Donaueschingen.31

Although

Ausonius refers

to the news as laurea

profligati

belli

(note the

singular of

bellum),

because he

alludes to a

minimum of two

events, he must be

using bellum to mean

a series

of

campaigns considered as a

unit. 32

The

location of

Lopodunum (modern

Ladenburg), one

of the

main

Roman

towns

on the

right

bank of the

Neckar,

midway

between

Heidelberg and

the

confluence of the Neckar

and the

Rhine,33

s

known,

as is that of the

source of

the

Danube (near

Donaueschingen).

The

identification of

Solicinium,

however,

is much disputed. Candidateshave included Rottenburg,34

SUlZ,35

Schwetzin-

gen,36

Altk6nig,37and

Spitzberg.38Three of

these

candidates

are

on the

upper

Neckar

(Sulz,

Rottenburg,and

Spitzberg),39

one

is

far to the

north in the

Taunus

(Altkonig),

and the

other

on the lower

Neckar near

Heidelberg

(Schwetzingen).

31

Marx(n.

4) p.

385

interpretshe

evidence

correctly.

32

Given

the

presenceof

bellum,one

cannot

accept

the

interpretationf

H.

Maurer,

Kaiser

Valentinians

Aufenthalt

mRhein

m

Sommerdes

Jahres

369,

Zs. ur die

Geschichte

des

Oberrheins25

(1910) pp. 13-14

who

claims

thatno

fighting

occurredat

Lopodunum.

33 See PWRE 1927) Lopodunum 428, site of a castellum, he main townof the Civitas

Ulpia

Sueborum

Nicretum, which

supposedly

stayed in Roman

hands after

260

and

commanded he main

road

from

Mainz to

theUpper

Neckar,now

Ladenburg;

ee Army

Map

Service

Germany

1:100,000, 1st

edition,

1943.

U-3

=

Mannheim: 490

28

N

80

37 E on the

right bank of the

Neckar,

directly

N. of

Schwetzingen.

P.

Goessler, ed.,

Tabula Imperii

Romani

M32

Mogontiacum,

Archaologisches

Institut des

deutschen

Reiches

(Frankfurt

940) 49/8. P.

Filtzinger,

D.

Planck,& B.

Cammerer, ds., Die R6mer

in

Baden-Wurttemberg

Stuttgart& Aalen

1976)

p. 350 thinks that the site was

aban-

doned

after 259/60 and

plundered or

building

Altrip, but that

there is some

slight

evidencefor continued

nhabitation y

provincial

Romansand

continuity n the transmis-

sion of

its name.

34 1. von

Jaumann,

ColoniaSumlocenna

Stuttgart,

Tubingen

1840)

p. 128ff.

Baden-Wurt-

temberg;

ee Army

Map

Service

Germany

1

100,000, I st

edition,

1943.

W-3

=

Reutlin-

gen:

480

28

N

80 56 E elev. ca.

400

metres;on

a hill

SW of

Tubingen.TIR48/8.

35

Hosius, (n.

I

1)

ad

loc.

Sulz

(on the

Neckar),

ee

ArmyMap

Service

Germany

1:

100,000,

1

t

edition,

1943.W-3

=

Reutlingen:

80 22 N

and

8? 38 E, a

townon

the left

bankof

the

Neckar,

elev. 562 m.

TIR48/8.

36

J.C.

Rolfe,

Ammianus

Marcellinus,

v.

3

(Cambridge,M.A.

1939) p.

66

n.

2.

37

Gerland

n.

18) pp.

1

3-123

arguing

or

Altkonig

n the

Taunus

Hessen), see

Army

Map

Service

Germany

1:100,000, 1st edition

1943,

T-3

=

Frankfurt:

00

13 N

80

29

E;

Germany,

a wooded

hill, NW of

Frankfurt,

lev. 798 metres.

38 Spitzberg,Baden-Wurttemberg,ee ArmyMapServiceGermany1:100,000,1st edition

1943, W-3

=

Reutlingen:

8?

31 N 90 01

E, elev. ca.

470

metres,a

wooded

ridge

directly west of

Tubingen.

Tomlin

(n. 10) p.

155 n. 50 identifies

Solicinium with

Spitz-

berg near

Rottenburg

nd

gives

a full

listing

of

bibliography

n the

problem.

39

These

scholarswere

presumably

aking Nicrum

superand

Lupodunum s two

different

engagements,

and were

looking

for

sites on the

upper

Neckar.



10/31

212

DANUTA

SHANZER

There

are various

ways

of treating

the apparently

contradictory

evidence

in

Ausonius and Ammianus. 1. We may assume that for whatever reason Ammi-

anus

omits

any

mention

of

the

victories

at Lopodunum

and

at the source

of

the

Danube.

2.

We

may

attempt

to identify

the

battle

at Solicinium

either

with

the

former

or

the latter.

Ammianus

does

not tell

us the

emperor's

starting

point, but

in the spring

of

368

Valentinian

crossed

the

Rhine

(Amm.

Marc.

27.10.6

[Main:acc.

to

Gronovi-

us's

emendation]),

and

marched

throughabandoned

territory

until he came

to

a

place

called

Solicinium,

which

was near

a high

hill

or

mountain.40

The

moun-

tain

had steep

cliffs

that

rendered

it impregnable

from

all

directions

except

the

north, where there was a smooth and gentle gradient. There must have been

woods

and

swampland

somewhere

not

far

from

the

circumference

of the

hill.

The

Romans

attacked

from the

north,

and,

despite

the

unfavourable

territory,

were able

to

execute

a frontal

assault

in which

the

enemy

were enveloped

and

partly

outflanked

when

they

retreated.

The

routed

barbarians

made

for

the

forest.

Ammianus

mentions

no rivers,

and says nothing

about

where

the

soldiers

headed

when

they made

for

their

hiberna

castra

and

the

emperors

for

Trier.41

From

Cod.

Theod.

1.6.6

we

know that

Valentinian

was

in

Nova

Mansio

(?Neu-

magen)

on

the 20th

of September,

368.42

If, for the time being, one tried to make a case

for

the

identification

of

the

battle

at Solicinium

(368)

with one

of

the

events

mentioned

by Ausonius,

we

would

have

an

important

point

in our

favour.

Valentinian

had been

gravely

ill

in

367 (Amm.

Marc.

27.6.1),

an occasion

on

which

other candidates

for

Emperor

had been

suggested.

When he

recovered

(27.6.4),

he

unexpectedly

elevated

the

child

Gratian

to

the

rank of

Augustus.

In his

speech

to the army

as

reconstructed

by

Ammianus,

Valentinian

emphasised

the fact

that Gratian

had not

cam-

paigned.43

Hence

it

became important

hat Gratian

as new Augustus

campaign

as

soon

as

possible

-

Valentinian

had promised

as

much

(27.6.9).

And this

he

did the

following

spring.

Since

Gratian's

presence

on

campaign

is

mentioned

by

both

authors,

and

it

is

only

on

the Alamannic campaign

of 368 that

there

is

positive

evidence

that Gratian

was present,44

and

since

Gratian

had

clearly

not

taken

part

in

any

military

expeditions

before 368,

a

date

before

368

for

the

victories

of

the Mosella

is untenable.

Given

that Solicinium

almost

certainly

cannot

be

scanned

in

a

hexameter,

one

might

seek

to

identify

Solicinium

with

a

place

on the lower

Neckar

in

the

40

1

am paraphrasing

mm.

Marc.

27.10.6ff.

41 Amm.Marc.27.10.16.

42

Demandt

n. 21) p.

I

10.

43

27.6.8

non

rigido

cultu

ab

incunabulis

ipsis

ut

nos

educatum

nec

tolerantia

rerum

coalitum

asperarum,

nec

capacem

adhuc

Martii

pulveris,

ut

videtis.

44

Amm.

Marc.

27.10.6

cum Gratiano.

Gratian

was

still

too

young

to

fight

and

observed

he

campaign

(Amm.

Marc.

27.10.10).



11/31

The

Date andLiteraryContextof Ausonius' Mosella

213

vicinity

of Lopodunum

-

in

which

case Schwetzingen

is

the only

one

of the

suggested places that might match. Ausonius might well have mentioned the

better

known place

in

very general terms.45

Schwetzingen is very

near

Heidel-

berg46

and directly

south

of Lopodunum. If the

Alamannic

hostages mentioned

in

Ammianus 28.2.5

were

indeedhostages from

Solicinium the

previous year,47

then

their

fathers' presence

near

Lopodunum

might suggest

that

this was

indeed

where

the battle had taken place.

The only difficulty is

that,

if

the

mountain near

Solicinium which the Romans attacked was Mons

Piri

(Heidelberg),

as

Rolfe

suggested, it

is

odd that Ammianus

did

not

mention

the

battle

of

the

previous

year

at

28.2.5

or know

the name

of

the mons at 27.10.9.48

One

could,

however,

take the battle of Solicinium as the event to which Ausonius alludes in Nicrum

super

et

Lupodunum,

and assume

a

terminus

post quem

(but

not

necessarily

a

date)

of

368 for the

Mosella.

The victories of

Valentinian

I

near the source of the

Danube attested by

Ausonius may

also

find

confirmation

in the

duplicitous Historia Augusta.49 In

the

Vita Probi

13.7 Germans are driven

beyond

the

Neckar

and the

Swabian

Alb.50

The

latter lies

S.

of

the

Neckar

and

E.

of

the

Black

Forest,

and

thus

45 This,

however, is the first literaryallusion to

Lupodunum ccording o Tomlin (n.

10)

p. 165.

46

M.-A. Marid,AmmienMarcellin

Histoire,

t.

5, Livres 26-28

(Paris 1984) p. 267

puts

SoliciniumnearHeidelbergbut

notes that ts exactlocation s still

unknown.

47 So Nagl (n. 21) 2177.

48

Ammianus

does

sometimes

show

odd

sorts of

amnesia.

At

15.8.19,

for

example, he

identifies

Cologne in some

detail,as if it werea new place in his

narrative, espitethe fact

that he

has just described the

usurpation f Silvanus in 15.5, and

referred o

Cologne

several times.

49 See E. Norden,Altgermanien

Leipzig 1934) p.

31-37: Germania rovincia,eine

Fal-

schungder

Probusvita, nd

(agreeing)

W.

Hartke,Geschichteund

Politik m spatantiken

Rom:

Untersuchungen ilber die Scriptores

Historiae Augustae,

Klio Beiheft 45 (Leipzig

1940) pp.

82-84.

G.

Kerler, however, (Die

Aufenpolitik in der

Historia Augusta

[Bonn

19701

pp.

246-47 esp. n. 47), believes the HA

implicitlyhere.

50

HA Probus 13.7-8 reliquos

ultra Nicrum fluvium et Albam

removit; tantum his praedae

barbaricae tulit quantum ipsi

Romanis abstulerant.

This interpretation, however,

depends

on

the

identificationAlba

=

Alb,

not Alba

=

Elbe. Supporting he latter see J.

Straub,

Alba

=

Elbe oder Alb?

Bonner Jahrbucher 155/56 (1955-56) pp.

136-55. (Straub is

followed by Kerler

pp.249-50.) E.g.: He seeks to

prove

that Alba

is

not

attested in

Classical

Latin

with

the

meaning

Swabian

Alb,

and tries

to do so

by editing possible

referencesout of some texts and

reinterpreting

thers to

provethat

Alba

always

means

Elbe.

Not all of

Straub's nterpretationseem

plausible

and some

of the

steps

in his

argumentarequestionable.E.g.: He wishes to supportValesius's conjecturealveumat

Claudian, 3 Cons. Stil.

1.226 pascat Belga pecus,

mediumque

ingressa per Albam (Hall's

text; Bouquet's

emendation)/Gallica

Francorum montes

armenta

pererrant. Yet

he

ignores

the

flow of the

passage and the

fact that

t is

not describinga

water-crossing dynaton.

t

is

clear hat

Alb*m is ot a river,nor s it

something dentical

o themontes.

Therhetorical

force

is

on

themontes Francorum.

The Alb as a land areamakes he

best sense

here.



12/31

214

DANUTA

SHANZER

corresponds closely

to the area near the sources of the Danube.

These victories

may have been completely omitted by Ammianus. But, if Solicinium were far

enough south near the upper

Neckar for Ausonius to consider

it as virtually

on

or near the source of the Danube,

then it

might be possible to identify Solicin-

ium with

Ausonius's et fontem Latiis ignotum

annalibus

Histri. In the latter

case,

it

would

then

appear

that Ammianus omitted the

engagement

at Lopo-

dunum.

This

might

seem

surprising,

since the event was

of

sufficient magnitude

to attract

the

attention both of Ausonius

and of

Symmachus.51

But both of these

were writing panegyrics;

After all Ammianus

at 27.2.11 admitted that there

were engagements in Gaul

he

was

going

to leave out.52

For him the

engagement

might have been no more importantthan the exigua castella he intentionally

omits.53

But it is

a

possibility.

Above

all,

it is worth

remembering

hat

there

are

instances where

Ammianus's account

of Julian's

Alamannic

campaigns

leaves

a

great

deal

to be desired.54

Given

the

context

of

the HA

passage

it

seems

very unlikely

to me that Alba=Elbe

n

it.

First

of

all the

Elbe

is generally

Albis

in Latin,

notAlba.

(The text

in Pan. Lat.

12.21.5

is

uncertain:

M has

Album,

which

could

easily

be

a

corruption

f

Albim.

Alba

appears

at

Pan.

Lat.

1

1.16.4

and

clearly

refers

o

the Elbe, but

is also often

emended

o Albis.)

Since

the Elbe is decisively East of theNeckaranda muchgreater iver,it rendersallusionto

the Neckar

superfluous.

The

author

of

theHA wanted

o specify

two different

directions:

East

and South.

In

other

passages

mentioned

by Straub

p. 149,

e.g. Res Gestae

5.1

1,

Suet.

Aug.

21 Germanosque

ltra

Albimfluvium

ummovit,

Eutropius

.9

ipsos quoque

trans

Albim

fluvium

summovit

qui in barbarico

longe

ultra Rhenum

est,

Tac.

Ann.

4.44.2

fluvium

Albim

ranscendit

ongius

penetrata

Germania

uam

quisquam

riorum,

he

Elbe

is a boundary

arEast

of

the

Rhine,

and

these

passages

do

not

mention

another

river

in

conjunction

with

the

Elbe.

Already

by Tacitus's

time

(Germania

41)

no one

saw

the

Albis:

flumen

inclitum

et

notum

olim,

nunc

tantum

auditur.

In

Claudian,

Epith.

Hon.

et

Mar.

227-229

where

the

Elbe

also appears

with

the Rhine,

it is cited

purely

figuratively

as

one of several

great

rivers

ncompany

with

the

Danube.

The

pairing

with

a

fairly

minor

and,

above all,

unknown

iver

ike

the

Neckar

represents

ot rhetorical

mplificatio

pace

Straub

p.

152)

but real geography.

Auxesis

would

have

used

the

distant

Elbe

alone.

Indeed,

the passages

cited

by

Straub

n

p.

150show

that

Germania

as

used

by

panegyri-

cists

has no

precise

significance:

one

cannot

assume

hat

t

includes

all

land

from

Rhein

to

Elbe.

The

HA author

did not

intend

he

Elbe.

See

now

in

agreement

with

me A.

Chastag-

nol,

Histoire Auguste

Paris

1994)

p.

1088

n.

3.

51

For

Symmachus

see

The

Date

and Literary

Context

of

Ausonius's

Mosella:

Ausonius,

Symmachus,

and

the Mosella

above

n.

5).

52

Praeter

haec

alia

multa narratu

minus

digna

conserta

sunt

proelia

per

tractus

varios

Galliarum,

quae

superfluum

est explicare,

cum

neque

operae pretium

aliquid

eorum

habuere proventus, nec historiam producere per minutias ignobiliter decet.

53

Amm.

Marc.

26.1.1 super

exiguis

silere castellis.

H.

Maurer above

n.

32) p.

14

misguid-

edly

tried

to make

an argument

x

silentio

on

the

basis

of

Ammianus's

omissions.

54

Take Constantius's

Alamannic

ampaign

f

356/357.

There

s

no

explicit

narrative

f

the

emperor's

actions.

Ammianus

makes

two retrospective

llusions:

at

16.11.2-3

he

speaks

of

a

pincer

action

that nvolved

Barbatioattacking

he

Alamanni

ussu

principis

from

the



13/31

The

Date

and

Literary

Context

of

Ausonius's

Mosella 215

We need not convict

Ausonius

of not

knowing the identity of

Rome's

enemy. The Tabula Peutingeriana puts Suevia on the right bank of the Rhine

between Mainz

and StraBburg.55

he

name

Alamanni is a

later

term, and first

appears

in

the 3rd

C. A.D.

denoting

a federation of German

tribes and

splinter-

groups.56

The

Semnonian Suebi

became known

as

Alamanni,

and there

is

abundantevidence (including

Ausonius and

Claudian)

for confusion

of the

two

names.57

Seeck

has

pointed

out a

complete

lack

of

consistency

in

emperors'

adoption

of

triumphal

titles.58 This same inconsistency appears

in Ausonius's

Grat. Act. 8.2.8 possum ire per omnes appellationes

tuas ... vocare

Germani-

cum deditione gentilium,

Alamannicum

traductione captorum, vincendo

et

ignoscendo Sarmaticum. Ladenburgwas the main town of the Civitas Ulpia

Sueborum

Nicrensium,59

and it is

quite possible

that, although

Ammianus

called Valentinian's enemies Alamanni,60

Ausonius

might

have

called

the

same

people Suebi.

Thus

we may draw the following conclusions.

First, Ausonius knew

whom

Valentinian was fighting. Second,

since Gratian's

presence is securely attested

first, and only,

on the

campaign

of

368,61

there is a strong presumption

that the

joint triumphs

of

father

and

son belong to

that

year, or

to the beginning

of

369.

If

we

thus

agree

that the Mosella

reflects

the

campaigns

of

the summer of

368, then we are justified in trying to identify either of the two theatres he

mentions (the Neckar

near Lopodunum

or

the

source

of the Danube)

with

Solicinium.

Hopes should

not run

high.

None of the cases for various towns

and

hills

is

truly

convincing.

There must be countless

places

in

Germany

that

would

fit Ammianus's

topographical description.

Matthews

has

recently noted

that

Solicinium

seems similar

to

the average

hill-fort

site.62

Depending on

its

longitude (which

we do

not

know),

Solicinium

could,

without wrenching

evi-

dence,

be

identified

either with the

conflict

near

Lopodunum

or

with

the

campaigns

near

the

source

of

the

Danube.

In

any

event

it

is

Ammianus whose

account

is

defective. He

omitted either

Lopodunum

or

the

Southern Alamannic

south.

At 16.12.15/16 Constantius's

strategy

is alluded

to explicitly.

Ammianus has, no

doubt, deliberately

put Julian's

heroics in the

foreground.

55

L. Schmidt, Allgemeine

Geschichte

der germanischen

Stamme

(Osnabruck 1971)

p. 172.

56 Ihm in PWRE

1.1 (1893) sv.

Alamanni 1277ff.

57

Schonfeld

in

PWRE

4A

I

(1931)

sv. Suebi

570.

58

Seeck

in PWRE

1.1

(1893)

sv. Alamannicus 1280. See also

A.

Chastagnol,

La

signification gdographique

et ethnique

des mots Germani

et Germania

dans les

sources

latines,

Ktema 9

(1984) pp. 98-99.

59 For the name (not Nicretum ) see M. Speidel and B. Scardigli, Neckarschwahen (Suebi

Nicrenses),

Archaologisches

Korrespondenzblatt

20

(1990)

pp.

201-207.

60

So too

an

inscription

of 369,

see Dessau,

ILS 771.

61 See my The

Date

and

Literary

Context of Ausonius's Mosella: Ausonius, Symmachus,

and

the

Mosella (n. 5)

for the

possibility

of his having campaigned

in

369.

62 Matthews

(n. 18 ) pp. 311-12.



14/31

216

DANUTA

SHANZER

campaigns.

As

we have

seen, however,

the reasoning

in

support

of an early

date

(pre-368) for the campaigns described by Ausonius is faulty. The scholarly

consensus

should

stand.

The

events described

by

the Mosella occurred

in

or

after

368,

which

still

remains

a

terminus

post

quem.

II. THE tMINENCE

GRISE

OF

MOSELLA

05FF.

quique

suas

rexere

urbes

purumque

tribunal

sanguine

et

innocuas illustravere

secures:

aut

Italum

populos

aquilonigenasque

Britannos

praefecturarum

titulo

tenuere

secundo:

quique

caput

rerum

Romam,

populumque

patresque

tantum non

primo

rexit

sub nomine,

quamvis

par fuerit

primis:

festinet

solvere tandem

erroremfortuna

suum libataque

supplens

praemia

iam

verifastigia

reddat

honoris

nobilibus

repetenda

nepotibus.

Those

who ruled their

own cities63

and

who have distinguished

a

tribunal

free of

blood and

harmless

axes,

or

governed

the peoples

of Italy

and

the

northern-bornBritons with a title second to that of prefectures,64and he

who ruled

Rome, the

head of the

world,

its

people

and

its senators

in an

office

that

was first in everything

but name,

however

much

he

was the

equal

of those

who were

first. Let fortune

hasten finally

to

undo her

error,

and

supplying

the

prize

that he

has

tasted,

now

give

him the heights

of

true

honour,

to be

sought

again by

his noble

grandchildren.

Ausonius begins

with

praise

of

provincial

governors

and vicarii

of

Italy

and

Britain.65

He then

narrows

his focus

to

concentrate

on one office and

one

man.

There

are three

problems

in the

passage,

and

unfortunately

all are

interconnect-

ed: the office, the man, and the date. In the past various offices and candidates

have

been

suggested

to

explain

the allusions

of vv.

408-11,

and scholars

have

clearly

not

found it

possible

to limit Ausonius's

phraseology

in and of itself

to

any

one office

beyond

the

shadow

of a doubt. The

office,

however,

has to be

a

63

This could

also

mean

the

cities

to

which they

were

assigned.

64

The

awkward

phrase

must

refer to

the

vicarii

of

the

praetorian

prefects,

specifically

the

diocesan

governors

of

Britain

and

Italy, governing

pro praefectis.

See

Amm.

Marc.

27.8.10

and

A.

H.

M. Jones,

Later

Roman

Empire

(Oxford

1964)

v.

I

p.

373.

Ausonius

does not use the plural of praefectura anywhere else. Oblique cases of vicarius cause

problems

in

dactylic

hexameters.

H. de

La

Ville

de

Mirmont,

La

Moselle

d'Ausone

(Bordeaux

1889)

p.

116

mistakenly

cites

Gronovius,

who

interprets:

hoc

estfelici,

non

falsis

iudiciis

eligentium.

65

Green

(n.

30)

p.

506

inexplicably

seems

to

suggest

that

he

cannot

have

specific

people

in

mind.



15/31

The Date and Literary

Context of Ausonius's

Mosella

217

high

one connected

with the city of Rome.

The

Urban Prefecture

is the

most

obvious possibility. The vicariate of Rome or a prefectureof the annona have

also been

suggested.

So

too the Praetorian

Prefecture

of

Italy, Africa,

and

Illyricum.66

Candidates

nominated have

varied

accordingly.

The lines

have

been

interpreted

as an allusion

to

Bappo (Seeck),

67

Petronius

Probus (Boeck-

ing,

Hosius,

and

others),68

Maximinus

of

Sopianae (de

la Ville de Mirmont),69

Probus and others

(Green),70

or

an unsolved

mystery

(Sivan). 71

I shall

try

to

avoid circularity

in

reasoning

by separating

the man

from the office. But

this

knotty problem

still

presents

some

of the difficulties

of a crossword:

one may

obtain the best

results

by working

both vertically

and horizontally (on

man and

on office) at the same time.

The profile

of the

mysterious

office:

We should

begin by reviewing

the description

of the office itself. It must

in

some sense

have fallen short

of the

highest

possibilities,

because

fortune can be

said

to have made an error

that she could make

good.

The office

may

also be

one

that the office-holder

can be said to have

tasted,

(libataque

supplens

praemia).

It involved ruling

Rome,

its

people,

and its senators

(Romam, popu-

lumque

patresque

...

rexit).

The office above

it

is one that can be called

the

fastigium

veri

honoris (the peak

of true

honour/office)

and a fit

prize

for the

owner's noble grandchildren.Here there is an additionalproblem in interpreta-

tion. If the

person

addressed is noble, then

nobilibus

nepotibus

can be read as a

66 See

below nn.

95-96.

67

0. Seeck, Q.

Aureli Symmachi

Opera

quae supersunt, MGH

aa

6

p.

cxli n. 716

interprets

quique suas

rexere urbes

as

consulares

Germaniae

primae,

aut Italum

populos

aquiloge-

nasque Britannos

praefecturarum

titulo

tenuere secundo

correctly

as the

vicarii praefec-

torum per

Britannias et per Italiam,

and the

mysterious

personage

who was

par primis

as

the vicarius

urbis.

He argues

that Ausonius

would not

have failed

to

mention

an important

man from

Trier, and

that this must

be an allusion

to Bappo (the

name must

be Gallic or

Germanic),

who became urban prefect

in

372.

There is however

no

evidence

that Bappo

was

from Trier,

or that he

was ever vicarius

urbis, and there

is no gap

in thefasti

of the

urban vicariate before

366. So this

identification

must be dismissed

as

improbable,

given

the state of our

evidence.

Bappo

had previously

been dismissed

by

Tomlin (n.

10) p. 509.

68 Eduard

Boecking,

Des Decimus

Magnus

Ausonius Mosella, lateinisch

und

deutsch

(Ber-

lin

1828)

(non vidi);

Ausonius, ed.

C. Schenkl,

index 2 p. 281;

Hosius

(n.

I I) pp. 18-23.

W.

Seyfarth,

Sextus

Petronius

Probus, Legende

und

Wirklichkeit,

Klio

52 (1970)

p.

415 n. 3; D.

M.

Novak,

Anicianae

domus culmen,

nobilitatis culmen,

Klio 62

(1980)

p.

488.

69 De La

Ville

de Mirmont

(n.

64) p.

122

who,

like Seeck,

thinks

that tantumn

non primo

sub

nomine must refer to the vicariate of Rome.

70 R.P.H.

Green,

The Eminence

Grise of Ausonius' Moselle,

Res Publica Litterarum

1

(1978)

pp.

89-94 and

in his (n. 30) p.

506 asserting that

the reference

is a more open

one

and that it

may

have been

designed

so as to allow

other

dignitaries

to see

them-

selves

here. This

notion

(unsupported

as it

is)

is

highly questionable.

71 Sivan (n.

8) p. 391.



16/31

218

DANUTA

SHANZER

matter

of fact.

If the

person is not

noble, then

the usage must

be

proleptic, and

thehigherofflce mustbe onethatconfersnobilitas.72Green p. 507) confuses

matters

by stating hat,

Again here

s

a studiedambiguity.

The new

honour

mightbe seen

as a prefecture

or

a consul,or

a consulship

or a prefect,

or

a

repetition of

either

honour. His

first alternative

is impossible:

the second

office

is

clearly

in some sense

higher

than the current

one

(cf. Cod.

Theod.

6.1.1).

Furthermore

he

duties

and functions

of the higher office

and those

of the

one immediately below

it

must be substantially

identical,

either

as a

general

matter of fact,

or in a special

situation.

Ausonius

states that

the person

who held

the lower office

(and

ruled

Rome,

etc.)

did so

in effect

-

only

not

under

the

primum nomen. This statement implies that the higher office also involved

ruling

Rome, its

people, and

its senators, but

under the primum

nomen

instead.

It would be

convenient

to narrow

the field by

eliminating

either certain

candidates

or certain

offices.

Sivan

suggested

that the

office-holder

had

to be

Gallic,

and

points

out

that Ausonius

appears

to extol

people

associated

with

Gaul

at

vv.

394ff.:

it seems

to

be clearly implied

that these

personalities

had

some

sort

of

link

with

Belgica,

probably by

virtue of

living

there

if not

of

having

been born

there.

If

we look

at the

passage

it is true

that it is

introduced

by (394)

cum

facta

viritim

Belgarum patriosque

canam,

decora

inclita,

mores,

but it is by no means clear that this idea of singing thefacta Belgarum and the

mores patrii

is carried

on all

the

way

down

to

line 399ff.

memorabo

quietos

agricolas,

etc.

Nothing

is said

of the

heavy-handed

hint of vv. 398-399

dabitur

nostris

quoque

purpurafusis.

Iquis

mihi

tum non dictus erit? Ausonius

is

surely

suggesting

that

he will

be

given

a chance

to

write an

imperial

panegyric.73

Unless

the

envisaged mperial

panegyric

was to

sing

a Gallic

emperor

a

rather

imprudent

offer

for

the

court-poet

of a

notoriously

irascible Pannonian

-

then

there

is

a break

in

the

sequence

of

Gallic

notables,

and no

guarantee

that

Ausonius

returned

pedantically

to

praise

Gallo-Roman

office-holders

alone

in

72

See

Amm.

14.11.27 quos

trabeae

consulares

nobilitarunt

et

praefecturae

and

T.

D.

Barnes,

Who

were the

nobility

of the Romanempire?,

Phoenix

28

(1974)

pp.

444

49

who

points

out

on

p.

446

that

n the

4thC.

one was

a

nobilis

if one

(or

one's

ancestor)

held

an

ordinary

onsulship,

a

prefecture

f

Rome,

or

a

praetorian

refecture.

73

Although

thefusus

is

often

a

metaphor

or

a

man's

fate,

Ausonius

can

hardly

be

suggest-

ing

that

he

will be

emperor.

nstead

hefusus

is the

instrument

f

his

poetic

capabilities.

The

colour

of the wool

on

a

spindle

is

determined

by

the

subject

of

the

spinner.

See

Seneca,

Apocol.

4.5-9

where

the

wool spun

by

the

Fates

changes

o

gold

at the

beginning

of the

quinquennium

eronis;

also Claud.Rapt.

1.

53ferratis

evolvunt

aeculafusis;

Sid.

Carm.22.199staminefulvo/praegnantisfusimollitumnesse metallumorspinningwith

gold

thread.

For

a

parallel

in

Ausonius,

see

Griphus

11

ter

nova

purpureos

implevit

purpura

usos.

It is

often

difficult

to

tell

how

the

translator

s

interpreting

Ausonius's

lines.

A.

Pastorino,

Opere

di

Decimo

Magno

Ausonio

(Torino

1971)

p.

531

translates

Anche

miei

fusi

avranno

'onore

della

porpora.

velyn-White

n. 29)

commits

himself

(correctly,

p.

257)

to ourspindles

also

shall

not

lack

for

purple.



17/31

The

Date

and

Literary

Contextof Ausonius'sMosella

219

vv. 399-414. Since

the objections to a

non-Gaul

have been shown to

be

questionable, we may return to the unknown office preparedto consider all

possibilities

and all holders.

Two lower

offices were

suggested by

Sivan

(p.

390):

a

Prefecture

of the

Annona

or

a

Vicariate of Rome

The

Prefecture of the Annona:

This office

is

particularly

unlikely

in

that

the one above it, the urban

vicariate,

was not

a

prime

one (hardly a veri fastigium

honoris), nor did

the

prefecture

of the annona

form a standard part of an upmarket

senatorial ca-

reer.74One might

also wonder

why

Ausonius would try

to

curry

favour at

a

long

distance with someone who was not important for him in some fairly obvious

way. Except for the

exceptional Maximinus

7, little seems

to be known of the

Praefecti

Annonae VR from 366 to 375/8,

and there seems

to be no obvious

presumption

that they

would move on

up

to be the

Vicarius

VR,

or the

PVR.75

This office

is a

poor

match for Ausonius's

description.

The Vicariate

of Rome:

The vicariate

of

Rome is more

likely

for the following reasons: the office

above

(PVR)

is

a major

ennobling

honour and it is an office

(VVR)

hat is clearly

second in name to it.76 (It

is

unlikely

that Ausonius intended a vicar of the

PVR.)77In at least one case, the verb regere is used of the office (cf. urbem

rexit),

78

and it is known that there could

be

friction between the PVR and the

Vicarius

VrbisRomae.79In addition,

as

we have seen,

Ausonius uses periphras-

es involving

secundus to characterise offices that were vicariates,

and

here we

have non

primo

sub

nomine.80

Between 365 and 375 two people

with

known

later careers

held the office.81

Aginatius, though

an Anician and so at the time

worth flattering,

seems a poor

choice for someone

who ruled tantum non

74 W. Kuhoff,

Studien zur zivilen

senatorischen

Laufbahn

im 4.

Jahrhundert

n. Chr.

(Frank-

furt

am Main 1983) p. 252

Die

praefectura

scheint in jener Zeit

eine

Domane

von

Aufsteigern

und

weniger angesehenden

Senatoren geworden

zu

sein.

Cod.

Theod.

1.6.5

(365) and Cod.

Theod. 1.6.7

(376)

indicate conflict

between the

Praefectus Annonae

and

the

PVR.

75 See PLRE

I

lulianus 16, Aurelianus

2,

Ursicinus 7, and Sempronius

Faustus

9. Ursicinus,

however,

did become Vicarius

after Maximinus,

see

Amm. Marc. 28. 1.44.

76 Tomlin (n. 10)

p.

509 settles

for

it,

The vicarii

of Italia (Annonaria),

Britain, and

of urbs

Roma are

clearly

meant

- not of course the PVR himself,

for he was the

Emperor's

direct

representative,

and the primo

nomine

open to Ausonius's

man would be

the purple itself,

which is

absurd.

77 None are known by name between 359 and 394. See PLRE I p. 1078-79.

78 See Amm. 28.1.5

Maximinus regens

quondam

Romae vicariam

praefecturam.

But then

Ammianus

uses curantium vicariam

praefecturam

at

28.1.43 immediately

below.

79

See

Jones

(n. 64)

v.

2

p.

690.

80 Above

n. 64.

81 The others are

PLRE I Volusianus

1, Magnus

5,

Ursicinus

6,

and Fl.

Simplicius

7.



18/31

220

DANUTA

SHANZER

primum

sub nomine,

since to

his pique he was

displaced by his

inferior, the

Praefectus Annonae Maximinus7.82Maximinussubsequentlyobtained a death-

warrant or

Aginatius from

Valentinian

and had him

ignominiously executed.83

The

situation pertaining at the

time of the magic

and

adultery trialswas a rather

exceptional

one

-

it was not

that the office of the

Praefectus Annonae

or that of

the vicariate became

more powerful in

itself, but that,

because of

Olybrius's

awkward

situation

and Maximinus's

force of personality and

connections at the

court at

Trier, the latter

gained

considerable

influence.84

Maximinus 7 himself, de

la Ville de

Mirmont's

candidate, might be a better

possibility,

given that

exceptionally he

conducted the

trials at Rome, both as

Praefectus Annonae and as Vicarius.85Olybrius,thoughPVR, had to stay in the

background;allegedly because of

illness,

but

perhaps because of

family con-

nections to Anician malefactors. 86

Par (in power, though

not

birth) to the

primi (Olybrius)

might fit. But if the

unknown were

Maximinus,

unless used

proleptically,

the words nobilibus

repetenda nepotibus

would

ring

oddly.

Ac-

cording

to Ammianus

(28.1.5)

he was obscurissime natus and

he

characterises

him as one of those who were

despicatissimae

sortis

(28.1.42).

Even

though

Ausonius

might

well be found

toadying

to one of Valentinian's

less

pleasant

Pannonian

heavies,

it would also be

curiously

inept

to find him

exalting

the

bloody

Maximinus of

Sopianae

immediately

after

praising governors

graced by

innocuas

secures.87

Maximinus was

equally

harsh after his

appointment

as

praetorian

prefect

when Ausonius could have

met

him in Gaul.88And

since the

final edition of the Mosella that exists

must be dated after late fall

378,89

had

the

anonymous

been

Maximinus

7,

it would have been

very

odd for Ausonius

to

leave in the laudes Maximini:

Maximinus

was executed under Gratian

n

376.90

Symmachus rejoiced

at his demise

immediately

thereafter.91

Would

Ausonius

have

eagerly praised

someone

so detested

by

his dear Roman

friend?

The PraetorianPrefecture of

Italy:

Chastagnol92

cites

Bocking, Jouai,

and

Piganiol,93

all

of

whom

appear

to

accept

urbemrexit as an allusion to Probus's

praetorianprefecture

of

Italy,

and

82

See

Ammianus

28.1.32.

83

See Ammianus

28.1.51-56.

84

See

Ammianus

28.1.9.-10.

85

De La

Ville de

Mirmont

n. 64)

p.

122according

o whom

tantumnon primo

sub

nomine

refers

to the

vicariate

of Rome.

He identifies

the

unknown

as

Maximinus

7.

86 E.A. Thompson,

The Historical Work

of

Ammianus

Marcellinus

(Cambridge

1947)

p.

104.

87

The

same

praise

s

accorded

Gratian

by

Symmachus,

Or. 3.2

incruentas

ecures.

88 Ammianus28.1.41.

89

See Section

V

below

, Ausonius's

Consulate.

90 See

Ammianus

28.1.57.

91 See Symm.

Ep.

10.1.3

and Or. 4.5

and

I

1.

92

Les Fastes de

la prefecture

de

Rome

au

Bas-Empire

(Paris 1962)

p.

189.

93

A.

Piganiol,

L'Empire

chretien (325-39S)2

(Paris 1972)

p.

204

n.

2.



19/31

The Date

and Literary

Contextof Ausonius's

Mosella

221

to interpret this

passage

of the Mosella

as a wish for the consulship.

This

interpretationwould imply a dating between March368 and mid-to late 370.94

But

it is unclear to

what extent

there was any formal association

between

the

PPO

of Italy and the

City of Rome,95 and the PPO

of Italy, Africa,

and

Illyricum

would

have been based

at Sirmium

or

Milan,

not at Rome.96

The Urban

Prefecture:

An urban prefecture

is

obviously

a

strong

contender, given the

apparently

familiar phrase

urbem

rexit.97 Such a

PVR

is

likely

to have

been

the sort of

person

with whom

Ausonius was connected, or at least

might desire

to be

connected, given the

fact that Ausonius praised

him

allusively.

A number of

aristocrats held the PVR in the late 360's: C. Ceionius Rufius Volusianus 5

signo Lampadius

(365),

Praetextatus

(367-68),

Olybrius

3

(368-70).98

But

in

none of these cases

do we know of any

connection

between the PVR and

Ausonius. Given

the tragicdisturbances

affecting the patres

in Rome

in

368-73

with the trials

for magic

and adultery,99

t would

be odd for Ausonius

to praise

a PVR who

had

ruled then.

Ampelius

3 (1 Jan.

371-5 July 372)100

might be a

possibility,

but has

no

apparent

connection to

Ausonius.

Bappo

2

(22 August

372),101

and

Principius

(29 August

373) are,

in

effect,

unknowns.102

Flavius

Eupraxius

(

Ausonius Mosella

Documents

Transcript of Ausonius Mosella