Fictive Past and Modern Propaganda: The Reversal of Candidus’ Biblical Archaiologia in the Age of the Anastasius (1)
Pasqua De Cicco
Université de Nantes
Introduction : an archaeological case study
An archaiologia is, according to Hippias’ words (as imagined by Plato), a combination of “ genealogies of heroes and men” and “ foundations of cities in ancient times”. (2) Genealogies and foundations, even if pertaining to myth, were entitled by historians to serve as historical data: rationalization was a method of investigation (3). Genealogies and foundations continued to serve as a literary (and political) strategy also in Late Antiquity and Byzantine era: mythical past was often exhumed from the mists of time and deeply manipulated with the purpose of encourage new interpretations of history. The goal was mainly of a political nature: mythical past helped to create or destroy imperial propaganda. In order to show how this complex strategy
(1) This contribution would not have been possible without the precious support and the priceless suggestions of many colleagues with whom I had the chance to discuss my research on Candidus : that is why I would like to thank Eugenio Amato (Université de Nantes), Paola D’Alessio (Université de Nantes) Gianluca Ventrella (Université de Nantes) and Laura Mecella (Università Europea di Roma). Many thanks also to Peter Van Nuffelen, Jan Willem Drijvers, Lorenzo Focanti and Raf Praet for their warm reception in Ghent, on the occasion of the International Conference “ Finding the Present in the Distant Past : The Cultural Meaning of Antiquarianism in Late Antiquity” (19th-21st of May 2016). The deadline for the submission forced me not to discuss in this article some important suggestions on Zeno’s reign Audren Le Coz recently presented in his Ph. D. dissertation (Résistance et mutation de l’autorité impériale entre Antiquité tardive et Moyen Âge. Le règne de Zénon [ 474-491], Université Paris-Sorbonne, 25 Novembre 2017). Nonetheless, I would like to thank the author for so kindly sharing his work “ en avant-première”. (2) Hipp. Ma., 285d-e : ΙΠ. Περὶ τῶν γενῶν, ὦ Σώκρατες, τῶν τε ἡρώων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τῶν κατοικίσεων, ὡς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐκτίσθησαν αἱ πόλεις, καὶ συλλήβδην πάσης τῆς ἀρχαιολογίας ἥδιστα ἀκροῶνται, ὥστ’ ἔγωγε δι’ αὐτοὺς ἠνάγκασμαι ἐκμεμαθηκέναι τε καὶ ἐκμεμελετηκέναι πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα (“ They are very fond of hearing about the genealogies of heroes and men, Socrates, and the foundations of cities in ancient times and, in short, about antiquity in general, so that for their sake I have been obliged to learn all that sort of things by heart and practice it thoroughly” ; transl. Fowler, 1963, p. 353). See in this regard Momigliano, 1950. (3) I think, in particular, to Attidographers : the examples being countless, I just report the famous case of the “ humanization” of Boreas in Athenian literature of the fourth century BC (Plat., Phædr., 229b-e and Philoch., F 11 Costa ; cf. also Hereas, BNJ 486, F 3 = F 1 Piccirilli) and the subsequent rationalization of the genealogy of Boreads and the myths related to them I discussed in De Cicco, 2015, p. 9-13.
Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, 96, 2018, p. 995-1010
