Les nouveaux Sylla : violence de l’empereur et discours sur la mémoire des violences civiles sous Septime Sévère et Caracalla

This paper focuses on direct references made by Septimus Severus and Caracalla to Sylla and, more widely, to a memory of civil unrest in republican or imperial times. They are the cornerstone of a dialogue between emperor and senators in which the imperial institution appropriated the imagery of sev...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bertrand Cahut
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: University of Ottawa & Laval University 2025-04-01
Series:Cahiers des Études Anciennes
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/etudesanciennes/6420
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Summary:This paper focuses on direct references made by Septimus Severus and Caracalla to Sylla and, more widely, to a memory of civil unrest in republican or imperial times. They are the cornerstone of a dialogue between emperor and senators in which the imperial institution appropriated the imagery of severity (or cruelty depending on the point of view) related to the memory of Sulla’s dictatorship. These images acquire a performative value in a context of reaffirming imperial authority and enrich an “imperial” memory of Sylla, which was partially inherited from the past. Several monuments, such as the Equus Seueri, show that this ambivalent memory was claimed as part of a continuum of examples that contributes to build the public image of the emperors of the dynasty.
ISSN:0317-5065
1923-2713