Panegyrici Latini
Encyclopedia
The Panegyrici Latini or Latin Panegyrics is a collection of twelve ancient Roman
panegyric
orations. The authors of most of the speeches in the collection are anonymous, but appear to have been Gallic in origin. Aside from the first panegyric, composed by Pliny the Younger
in 100 CE, the other speeches in the collection date to points between 289 and 389 CE. The original manuscript, discovered in 1433, has perished; only copies remain.
, early allies of Rome and eager to assimilate to the ways of their new rulers: Maenian schools were celebrated as early as the reign of Tiberius
(r. 14–37 CE). They continued to flourish into the days of Eumenius' grandfather, but were closed by the mid-third century. There was some revival in the city in the late-third century, but after the establishment of Trier as an imperial capital in the 280s, the orators began feeling jealousy for the imperial patronage enjoyed by the citizens of Trier. Despite the political and economic hegemony of the city, however, Trier failed to make any significant mark on the rhetoric of the period. Nixon and Rodgers suggest that it was simply too close to the imperial court. The surviving evidence (which might be prejudiced by Ausonius
' Professors of Bordeaux) points to a shift from Autun and Trier as centers of the art in the Tetrarchic and Constantinian period, moving to Bordeaux later in the fourth century.
The panegyrics evince a familiarity with prior handbooks of rhetoric. Some have argued that Menander of Laodicea
's treatises were particularly influential on the collection, and believed his precepts were used in the tenth panegyric. However, because so much of Menander's advice consisted of standard rhetorical procedure, the parallels adduced in favor of Menander as a model are insufficient to prove his direct use by the panegyrists. Other handbooks of rhetoric might also have had influence on the collection. Quintilian
's Institutio Oratoria, for example, treats the subject of an oration's ancestry, parentage, and country in a manner similar to the panegyrics of 289, 291, 297, 310, 311, 321, and 389. In any case, the other panegyrics in the collection vary widely from Menander's schema. Parallels with other Latin orators, like Cicero
and Pliny the Younger
, are less frequent than they would have been if those authors had served as stylistic models.
terms. To students of Latin in Late Antiquity, Cicero and Virgil
represented the paragons of the language; as such, the panegyrists made frequent use of them. Virgil's Aeneid
is the favorite source, the Georgics
the second favorite, and the Eclogues a distant third. (Other poets are much less popular: there are infrequent allusions to Horace
, and one complete borrowing from Ovid
.) When drawing from Cicero's body of work, the panegyrists looked first to those works where he expressed admiration and contempt. As a source of praise, Cicero's panegyric of Pompey
in support of the Manilian law (De Imperio Cn. Pompei
) was quite popular. It is echoed thirty-six times in the collection, across nine or ten of the eleven late panegyrics. Cicero's three orations in honor of Julius Caesar
were also useful. Of these, the panegyrists were especially fond of the Pro Marcello
; across eight panegyrics there are more than twelve allusions to the work. For vilification, the Catiline
and Verine
orations were the prominent sources (there are eleven citations to the former and eight to the latter work).
Other classic prose models had less influence on the panegyrics. Pliny's Panegyricus model is familiar to the authors of panegyrics 5, 6, 7, 11, and especially 10, in which there are several verbal likenesses. Sallust
's Bellum Catilinae is echoed in the panegyrics 10 and 12, and his Jugurthine War in 6, 5, and 12. Livy seems to have been of some use in panegyric 12 and 8. The panegyrist of 8 must have been familiar with Fronto
, whose praise of Marcus Aurelius he mentions, and the panegyrist of 6 seems to have known Tacitus
' Agricola
. The Aeduan orators, who refer to Julius Caesar in the context of Gaul and Britain, are either directly familiar with his prose or know of his figure through intermediaries like Florus
, the historian. Panegyric 12, meanwhile, contains a direct allusion to Caesar's Bellum civile
.
Accentual and metrical clausulae were used by all the Gallic panegyrists. All of the panegyrists, save Eumenius, used both forms at a rate of about 75 percent or better (Eumenius used the former 67.8 percent of the time, and the latter 72.4 percent). This was a common metrical rhythm at the time, but had gone out of style by the fifth century, when metrical considerations no longer mattered.
The collection comprises the following speeches:
, or "arrival". The panegyrics held it as a matter of fact that the appearance of an emperor was directly responsible for bringing security and beneficence. The orators held this visible presence in tension with another, more abstract notion of the timeless, omnipresent, ideal emperor. The panegyrist of 291 remarked that the meeting between Diocletian and Maximian over the winter of 290/91 was like the meeting of two deities; had the emperors ascended the Alps together, their bright glow would have illuminated all of Italy. Panegyrics came to form part of the vocabulary through which citizens could discuss notions of "authority". Indeed, because panegyrics and public ceremony were such a prominent part of imperial display, they, and not the emperor's more substantiative legislative or military achievements, became the emperor's "vital essence" in the public eye.
Because the collection is thematically unconnected and chronologically disordered, Nixon and Rodgers conclude that "it served no political or historical purpose", and was simply a tool for students and practitioners of panegyrical rhetoric. Roger Rees, however, argues that the circumstances of its composition (if Pacatus is taken as its compiler) suggest that it was intended to illustrate Gaul's continuing loyalty to Rome. Along the same line, Pacatus' speech of 389 might have been meant to reassure Theodosius (who had defeated the usurper Magnus Maximus
in Gaul the previous year) that Gaul was completely loyal to him.
, Germany by Johannes Aurispa
. That manuscript, known as M (Moguntinus), was copied several times before it was lost. Two branches of Italian manuscripts derive from a copy Aurispa made of M, X1 and X2. These are also lost, but twenty-seven manuscripts descend from the pair. The evidence of the surviving manuscripts suggests that Aurispa's copy of M was made in haste, and that the Italian manuscripts are generally inferior to the other tradition, H.
Another independent tradition branches off of M: H (at the British Library
: Harleianus 2480), N (at Cluj
, Romania: Napocensis), and A (at the Uppsala University Library
). H and N are both fifteenth-century manuscripts, transcribed in a German hand. H shows corrections from a near-contemporary, h. N was copied at some time between 1455 and 1460 by the German theologian Johannes Hergot. Detailed investigation of the manuscripts by D. Lassandro has revealed that A derives from N and N derives from H. H is usually considered the best surviving manuscript.
Modern editions of the Panegyrici incorporate variant readings from outside H. For example, when X1 and X2 are in agreement, they sometimes preserve the true reading of M against H. They also contain useful emendations from the intelligent humanist corrector of Vaticanus 1775. Early print editions also prove helpful, as Livineius' 1599 Antwerp edition contains variant readings from the work of scholar Franciscus Modius, who made use of another manuscript at the abbey of Saint Bertin
at Saint-Omer
(Bertinensis). Bertinensis is now generally believed to be cognate with, rather than derived from, M. Cuspinianus
' 1513 Vienna edition has proved more problematic. The relationship of M to the manuscripts Cuspinianus used is a mystery, and additional material, varying in length from single words to whole clauses, is found in Cuspinianus' text and nowhere else. Some scholars, like Galletier, reject Cuspinianus' additions in their entirety; Nixon and Rodgers chose to judge each addition separately. Puteolanus' 1476 Milan edition and hs corrections have also proved valuable.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
orations. The authors of most of the speeches in the collection are anonymous, but appear to have been Gallic in origin. Aside from the first panegyric, composed by Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
in 100 CE, the other speeches in the collection date to points between 289 and 389 CE. The original manuscript, discovered in 1433, has perished; only copies remain.
Background
Gaul had a long history as a center of rhetoric. It maintained its dominance of the field well into the fourth century. An early lead in the field was taken by the AeduiAedui
Aedui, Haedui or Hedui , were a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who inhabited the country between the Arar and Liger , in today's France. Their territory thus included the greater part of the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire, Côte-d'Or and Nièvre.-Geography:The country of the Aedui is...
, early allies of Rome and eager to assimilate to the ways of their new rulers: Maenian schools were celebrated as early as the reign of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
(r. 14–37 CE). They continued to flourish into the days of Eumenius' grandfather, but were closed by the mid-third century. There was some revival in the city in the late-third century, but after the establishment of Trier as an imperial capital in the 280s, the orators began feeling jealousy for the imperial patronage enjoyed by the citizens of Trier. Despite the political and economic hegemony of the city, however, Trier failed to make any significant mark on the rhetoric of the period. Nixon and Rodgers suggest that it was simply too close to the imperial court. The surviving evidence (which might be prejudiced by Ausonius
Ausonius
Decimius Magnus Ausonius was a Latin poet and rhetorician, born at Burdigala .-Biography:Decimius Magnus Ausonius was born in Bordeaux in ca. 310. His father was a noted physician of Greek ancestry and his mother was descended on both sides from long-established aristocratic Gallo-Roman families...
' Professors of Bordeaux) points to a shift from Autun and Trier as centers of the art in the Tetrarchic and Constantinian period, moving to Bordeaux later in the fourth century.
The panegyrics evince a familiarity with prior handbooks of rhetoric. Some have argued that Menander of Laodicea
Menander of Laodicea
Menander of Laodicea on the Lycus was a Greek rhetorician and commentator.Two incomplete treatises on epideictic speeches have been preserved under his name, but it is generally considered that they cannot be by the same author...
's treatises were particularly influential on the collection, and believed his precepts were used in the tenth panegyric. However, because so much of Menander's advice consisted of standard rhetorical procedure, the parallels adduced in favor of Menander as a model are insufficient to prove his direct use by the panegyrists. Other handbooks of rhetoric might also have had influence on the collection. Quintilian
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing...
's Institutio Oratoria, for example, treats the subject of an oration's ancestry, parentage, and country in a manner similar to the panegyrics of 289, 291, 297, 310, 311, 321, and 389. In any case, the other panegyrics in the collection vary widely from Menander's schema. Parallels with other Latin orators, like Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
and Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
, are less frequent than they would have been if those authors had served as stylistic models.
Language and style
The Latin of the panegyrics is that of a Golden Age Latin base, derived from an education heavy on Cicero, mixed with a large number of Silver Age usages and a small number of Late and VulgarVulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
terms. To students of Latin in Late Antiquity, Cicero and Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
represented the paragons of the language; as such, the panegyrists made frequent use of them. Virgil's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
is the favorite source, the Georgics
Georgics
The Georgics is a poem in four books, likely published in 29 BC. It is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil, following his Eclogues and preceding the Aeneid. It is a poem that draws on many prior sources and influenced many later authors from antiquity to the present...
the second favorite, and the Eclogues a distant third. (Other poets are much less popular: there are infrequent allusions to Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, and one complete borrowing from Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
.) When drawing from Cicero's body of work, the panegyrists looked first to those works where he expressed admiration and contempt. As a source of praise, Cicero's panegyric of Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
in support of the Manilian law (De Imperio Cn. Pompei
De Imperio Cn. Pompei
De Imperio Cn. Pompei was a speech delivered by Cicero in 66 BC in support of the proposal made by Gaius Manilius, a tribune of the people, that Pompey the Great be given sole command against Mithridates in the Third Mithridatic War....
) was quite popular. It is echoed thirty-six times in the collection, across nine or ten of the eleven late panegyrics. Cicero's three orations in honor of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
were also useful. Of these, the panegyrists were especially fond of the Pro Marcello
Pro Marcello
Pro Marcello is Latin for on behalf of Marcellus.Marcus Claudius Marcellus was descended from the most illustrious families at Rome, and had been consul with Servius Sulpicius Rufus; in which office he had given great offence to Caesar by making a motion in the Senate to deprive him of his command;...
; across eight panegyrics there are more than twelve allusions to the work. For vilification, the Catiline
Catiline Orations
The Catiline Orations or Catilinarian Orations were speeches given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, the consul of Rome, exposing to the Roman Senate the plot of Lucius Sergius Catilina and his allies to overthrow the Roman government....
and Verine
In Verrem
In Verrem is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily...
orations were the prominent sources (there are eleven citations to the former and eight to the latter work).
Other classic prose models had less influence on the panegyrics. Pliny's Panegyricus model is familiar to the authors of panegyrics 5, 6, 7, 11, and especially 10, in which there are several verbal likenesses. Sallust
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
's Bellum Catilinae is echoed in the panegyrics 10 and 12, and his Jugurthine War in 6, 5, and 12. Livy seems to have been of some use in panegyric 12 and 8. The panegyrist of 8 must have been familiar with Fronto
Marcus Cornelius Fronto
Marcus Cornelius Fronto , Roman grammarian, rhetorician and advocate, was born at Cirta in Numidia. He also was suffect consul of 142.- Life :Fronto, who was born a Roman citizen c...
, whose praise of Marcus Aurelius he mentions, and the panegyrist of 6 seems to have known Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
' Agricola
Agricola (book)
The Agricola is a book by the Roman historian Tacitus, written c 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general. It also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain...
. The Aeduan orators, who refer to Julius Caesar in the context of Gaul and Britain, are either directly familiar with his prose or know of his figure through intermediaries like Florus
Florus
Florus, Roman historian, lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian.He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus . The work, which is called Epitome de T...
, the historian. Panegyric 12, meanwhile, contains a direct allusion to Caesar's Bellum civile
Commentarii de Bello Civili
Commentarii de Bello Civili , or Bellum Civile, is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Senate...
.
Accentual and metrical clausulae were used by all the Gallic panegyrists. All of the panegyrists, save Eumenius, used both forms at a rate of about 75 percent or better (Eumenius used the former 67.8 percent of the time, and the latter 72.4 percent). This was a common metrical rhythm at the time, but had gone out of style by the fifth century, when metrical considerations no longer mattered.
Contents
| Orator | Manuscript order | Date | Chronological order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pliny the Younger Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him... |
I | January 9, 100 | 1 |
| Pacatus Pacatus Drepanius Latinus Pacatus Drepanius, one of the Latin panegyrists, flourished at the end of the 4th century AD.He probably came from Aginnum , in the south of France, in the territory of the Nitiobriges, and received his education in the rhetorical school of Burdigala... |
II | 389 | 12 |
| Claudius Mamertinus Claudius Mamertinus Claudius Mamertinus was an official in the Roman Empire. In late 361 he took part in the Chalcedon tribunal to condemn the ministers of Constantius II, and in 362, he was made consul as a reward by the new Emperor Julian; on January 1 of that year he delivered a panegyric in Constantinople by way... |
III | January 1, 362 | 11 |
| Nazarius | IV | March 321 | 10 |
| Anonymous | V | 311 | 8 |
| Anonymous | VI | 310 | 7 |
| Anonymous | VII | September 307 | 6 |
| Anonymous | VIII | 297 | 4 |
| Eumenius Eumenius Eumenius , was one of the Roman panegyrists and author of a speech transmitted in the collection of the Panegyrici Latini .-Life:... |
IX | 298 | 5 |
| Anonymous | X | 289 | 2 |
| Anonymous | XI | 291 | 3 |
| Anonymous | XII | 313 | 9 |
| After Rees, Layers of Loyalty, 20. | |||
The collection comprises the following speeches:
- by Pliny the YoungerPliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
. It was originally a speech of thanks (gratiarum actio) for the consulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
ship, which he held in 100100Year 100 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Frontinus...
, and was delivered in the SenateRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
in honour of Emperor TrajanTrajanTrajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
. This work, which is much earlier than the rest of the collection and geographically anomalous, probably served as a model for the other speeches. Pliny was a popular author in the late fourth century—SymmachusSymmachusSymmachus can refer to several different people of Roman antiquity:*Symmachus the Ebionite , was the author of one of the Greek versions of the Old Testament;*Pope Symmachus, pope from 498 to 514....
modeled his letters on Pliny's, for example—and the whole collection might have been designed as an exemplumExemplumAn exemplum is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point.-Exemplary literature:...
in his honor. He later revised and considerably expanded the work, which for this reason is by far the longest of the whole collection. Pliny presents Trajan as the ideal ruler, or optimus princeps, to the reader, and contrasts him with his predecessor DomitianDomitianDomitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
. - by PacatusPacatus DrepaniusLatinus Pacatus Drepanius, one of the Latin panegyrists, flourished at the end of the 4th century AD.He probably came from Aginnum , in the south of France, in the territory of the Nitiobriges, and received his education in the rhetorical school of Burdigala...
in honour of Emperor Theodosius ITheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
, delivered in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 389389Year 389 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Timasius and Promotus...
. - by Claudius MamertinusClaudius MamertinusClaudius Mamertinus was an official in the Roman Empire. In late 361 he took part in the Chalcedon tribunal to condemn the ministers of Constantius II, and in 362, he was made consul as a reward by the new Emperor Julian; on January 1 of that year he delivered a panegyric in Constantinople by way...
in honour of Emperor JulianJulian the ApostateJulian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
, delivered in ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 362362Year 362 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mamertinus and Nevitta...
, also as a speech of thanks at his assumption of the office of consul of that year. - by Nazarius. It was delivered in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
before the Senate in 321321Year 321 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Constantinus...
at the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the accession of Constantine IConstantine IConstantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
and the fifth anniversary of his sons CrispusCrispusFlavius Julius Crispus , also known as Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus, was a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He was the first-born son of Constantine I and Minervina.-Birth:...
and Constantine II (emperor)Constantine II (emperor)Constantine II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 340. Co-emperor alongside his brothers, his short reign saw the beginnings of conflict emerge between the sons of Constantine the Great, and his attempt to exert his perceived rights of primogeniture ended up causing his death in a failed invasion of...
becoming caesaresCaesar (title)Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
. The speech is peculiar because none of the honoured emperors was present at its delivery, and because it celebrates Constantine's victory over MaxentiusMaxentiusMaxentius was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian, and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius.-Birth and early life:Maxentius' exact date of birth is unknown; it was probably around 278...
(at the Battle of Milvian BridgeBattle of Milvian BridgeThe Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the...
) in 312312Year 312 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus...
, avoiding almost any reference to contemporaneous events. - from the year 311311Year 311 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Maximinus...
, delivered in TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
by an anonymous orator, who gives thanks to Constantine I for a tax relief for his home town AutunAutunAutun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...
. - by an anonymous (yet different) author, also delivered at the court in Trier in 310310Year 310 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Andronicus and Probus...
, at the occasion of Constantine's quinquennalia (fifth anniversary of accession) and the founding day of the city of Trier. It contains the description of an appearance of the sun god ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
to Constantine, which has often been regarded as a model of Constantine's later Christian visionBattle of Milvian BridgeThe Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the...
. Also, the speech promulgates the legend that the emperor Claudius IIClaudius IIClaudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...
was Constantine's ancestor. - by an anonymous author delivered at the wedding of Constantine to MaximianMaximianMaximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
's daughter FaustaFaustaFausta Flavia Maxima was a Roman Empress, daughter of the Roman Emperor Maximianus. To seal the alliance between them for control of the Tetrarchy, in 307 Maximianus married her to Constantine I, who set aside his wife Minervina in her favour. Constantine and Fausta had been betrothed since...
in 307307Year 307 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Constantius...
, probably also at Trier, and it therefore contains the praise of both emperors and their achievements. The bride and the wedding feature only to a very limited degree in the oration. - celebrates the reconquest of BritainRoman BritainRoman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
by Constantius ChlorusConstantius ChlorusConstantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the...
, caesar of the tetrarchyTetrarchyThe term Tetrarchy describes any system of government where power is divided among four individuals, but usually refers to the tetrarchy instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293, marking the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and the recovery of the Roman Empire...
, from AllectusAllectusAllectus was a Roman usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296.-History:Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286...
in 296296Year 296 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Constantius...
. The speech was probably delivered in 297297Year 297 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius...
in Trier, then the residence of Constantius. - is the second speech in the collection where the emperor was not present. It is by EumeniusEumeniusEumenius , was one of the Roman panegyrists and author of a speech transmitted in the collection of the Panegyrici Latini .-Life:...
, teacher of rhetoricRhetoricRhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
at Autun, and is directed at the governor of the province of Gallia LugdunensisGallia LugdunensisGallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul. It is named after its capital Lugdunum , possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint...
. It was most probably delivered in 297297Year 297 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius...
/298298Year 298 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustus and Gallus...
, either in Autun or LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. Apart from its main subject, the restoration of the school of rhetoric at Autun, it praises the achievements of the emperors of the tetrarchy, especially those of Constantius. - from the year 289 (and therefore the earliest of the late antiqueLate AntiquityLate Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
speeches of the collection), at Trier in honour of Maximian at the occasion of the founding day of the city of Rome. According to a disputed manuscript tradition, the author was a certain MamertinusClaudius MamertinusClaudius Mamertinus was an official in the Roman Empire. In late 361 he took part in the Chalcedon tribunal to condemn the ministers of Constantius II, and in 362, he was made consul as a reward by the new Emperor Julian; on January 1 of that year he delivered a panegyric in Constantinople by way...
, who is identified with the author of the next speech. - from 291, also at Trier to Maximian, at the emperor's birthday. It is often attributed to Mamertinus, probably magister memoriae (private secretary) of Maximian, though the manuscript is corrupted and the authorship not entirely certain.
- by an anonymous orator, delivered in Trier in 313313Year 313 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus...
, celebrating (and describing extensively) Constantine's victory over Maxentius in 312. The author of this panegyric makes heavy use of Virgil.
Themes
The panegyrics exemplify the culture of imperial praesentia, or "presence", also encapsulated in the imperial ceremony of adventusAdventus (ceremony)
The adventus was a ceremony in ancient Rome, in which an emperor was formally welcomed into a city either during a progress or after a military campaign, often Rome. The term is also used to refer to artistic depicitions of such ceremonies. Its 'opposite' is the profectio.-External links:*...
, or "arrival". The panegyrics held it as a matter of fact that the appearance of an emperor was directly responsible for bringing security and beneficence. The orators held this visible presence in tension with another, more abstract notion of the timeless, omnipresent, ideal emperor. The panegyrist of 291 remarked that the meeting between Diocletian and Maximian over the winter of 290/91 was like the meeting of two deities; had the emperors ascended the Alps together, their bright glow would have illuminated all of Italy. Panegyrics came to form part of the vocabulary through which citizens could discuss notions of "authority". Indeed, because panegyrics and public ceremony were such a prominent part of imperial display, they, and not the emperor's more substantiative legislative or military achievements, became the emperor's "vital essence" in the public eye.
Compilation and purpose
The formation of the Panegyrici Latini is usually divided into two or three phases. At first, there was a collection of five speeches by various anonymous authors from Autun, containing numbers 5 through 9 above. Later, the speeches 10 and 11, which are connected to Trier, were appended; when 12 joined the collection, is uncertain. At some later date, the speeches 2, 3 and 4 were added. They differ from the earlier orations because they were delivered outside of Gaul (in Rome and Constantinople), and because the names of their authors are preserved. Pliny's panegyric was set at the beginning of the collection as classical model of the genre. Sometimes the author of the last speech, Pacatus, is credited as the editor of the final corpus. This belief is founded on the position of Pacatus' speech in the corpus—second after Pliny's—and because of the heavy debt Pacatus owes to the earlier speeches in the collection. Although most of the speeches in the borrow from their predecessors in the collection, Pacatus borrows the most, taking ideas and phraseology from almost all the other speeches. He is especially indebted to the panegyric of 313.Because the collection is thematically unconnected and chronologically disordered, Nixon and Rodgers conclude that "it served no political or historical purpose", and was simply a tool for students and practitioners of panegyrical rhetoric. Roger Rees, however, argues that the circumstances of its composition (if Pacatus is taken as its compiler) suggest that it was intended to illustrate Gaul's continuing loyalty to Rome. Along the same line, Pacatus' speech of 389 might have been meant to reassure Theodosius (who had defeated the usurper Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383...
in Gaul the previous year) that Gaul was completely loyal to him.
Manuscript tradition
The Panegyrici Latini make up most of the sixteen pre-400 Latin prose speeches in praise of Roman emperors that survive today. (The remaining four consist of three fragmentary speeches from Symmachus and one speech by Ausonius.) Only one manuscript of the Panegyrici Latini has survived into the 15th century, when it was discovered in 1433 in a monastery in MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany by Johannes Aurispa
Giovanni Aurispa
Giovanni Aurispa was an Italian historian and savant of the 15th century. He is remembered in particular as a promoter of the revival of the study of Greek in Italy. It is to Aurispa that the world is indebted for preserving the greater part of our knowledge of the Greek classics.-Life:He was...
. That manuscript, known as M (Moguntinus), was copied several times before it was lost. Two branches of Italian manuscripts derive from a copy Aurispa made of M, X1 and X2. These are also lost, but twenty-seven manuscripts descend from the pair. The evidence of the surviving manuscripts suggests that Aurispa's copy of M was made in haste, and that the Italian manuscripts are generally inferior to the other tradition, H.
Another independent tradition branches off of M: H (at the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
: Harleianus 2480), N (at Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, Romania: Napocensis), and A (at the Uppsala University Library
Uppsala University Library
Uppsala University Library at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, consists of 12 subject libraries, one of which is housed in the old main library building, Carolina Rediviva...
). H and N are both fifteenth-century manuscripts, transcribed in a German hand. H shows corrections from a near-contemporary, h. N was copied at some time between 1455 and 1460 by the German theologian Johannes Hergot. Detailed investigation of the manuscripts by D. Lassandro has revealed that A derives from N and N derives from H. H is usually considered the best surviving manuscript.
Modern editions of the Panegyrici incorporate variant readings from outside H. For example, when X1 and X2 are in agreement, they sometimes preserve the true reading of M against H. They also contain useful emendations from the intelligent humanist corrector of Vaticanus 1775. Early print editions also prove helpful, as Livineius' 1599 Antwerp edition contains variant readings from the work of scholar Franciscus Modius, who made use of another manuscript at the abbey of Saint Bertin
Abbey of Saint Bertin
The Abbey of St. Bertin was a Benedictine abbey in Saint-Omer, France, now in ruins and open to the public...
at Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....
(Bertinensis). Bertinensis is now generally believed to be cognate with, rather than derived from, M. Cuspinianus
Johannes Cuspinian
Johannes Cuspinianus , born Johan Spießhaymer , was an Austrian humanist, scientist, diplomat, and historian. Born in Spießheim, near Schweinfurt in Franconia, of which Cuspinianus is a Latinization, he studied in Leipzig and Würzburg...
' 1513 Vienna edition has proved more problematic. The relationship of M to the manuscripts Cuspinianus used is a mystery, and additional material, varying in length from single words to whole clauses, is found in Cuspinianus' text and nowhere else. Some scholars, like Galletier, reject Cuspinianus' additions in their entirety; Nixon and Rodgers chose to judge each addition separately. Puteolanus' 1476 Milan edition and hs corrections have also proved valuable.