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La morte di Valentiniano in Ammiano Marcellino
Feraco, Fabrizio
2024
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e-ISSN
2785-1346
Abstract
In the Ammianus’ account of Valentinianus’ death, first of all there is a ‘medical-scien¬tific’ dimension with an accurate description of the symptoms of the apoplexy of which the emperor was the victim, as a result of an outburst of anger provoked by an embassy of the Quadi. The symptoms enumerated by Ammianus (shortness of breath, loss of voice, sweating, immobility, convulsions etc.) and the indicated therapy are confirmed in the texts of the Hippocratic medical tradition in where apoplexy is treated. But a fo¬reground of medical-scientific nature is combined with a background of literary nature, not only due to the presence of poetic echoes of various origins, but in particular due to the emergence, behind the image of Valentinianus on the edge of death, of the Ovidian myth of Aglauros, punished by Mercury with petrification, because she was jealous of god’s love for her sister Herse. Like the protagonist of the myth, the tumultuous agita¬tion of the emperor, carried away by anger, is as if ‘petrified’, in a sort of requital, by a mortal paralysis.
Nel resoconto ammianeo della morte di Valentiniano c’è anzitutto una di-mensione ‘medico-scientifica’, con una accurata descrizione dei sintomi della apoplessia di cui è vittima l’imperatore a causa di un accesso d’ira suscitato da un’ambasceria dei Quadi. I sintomi enumerati da Ammiano (mancanza di respiro, perdita della voce, sudore, immobilità, convulsioni etc.) e la terapia indicata trovano conferma nei testi della tradizione medica ippocratica in cui è trattata l’apoplessia. Ma ad un primo piano di natura medico-scientifica si accosta uno sfondo di natura letteraria, non solo per la presenza di echi poetici di varia provenienza, ma in particolare per l’emer¬gere, dietro l’immagine di Valentiniano in punto di morte, del mito ovidiano di Aglauro, punita da Mercurio con la pietrificazione, perché gelosa dell’a¬more del dio nei confronti della sorella Erse. Alla stregua della protagonista del mito, la tumultuosa agitazione dell’imperatore, trascinato dall’ira, viene come ‘pietrificata’, in una sorta di contrappasso, da una parali si mortale.
In the Ammianus’ account of Valentinianus’ death, first of all there is a ‘medical-scien¬tific’ dimension with an accurate description of the symptoms of the apoplexy of which the emperor was the victim, as a result of an outburst of anger provoked by an embassy of the Quadi. The symptoms enumerated by Ammianus (shortness of breath, loss of voice, sweating, immobility, convulsions etc.) and the indicated therapy are confirmed in the texts of the Hippocratic medical tradition in where apoplexy is treated. But a fo¬reground of medical-scientific nature is combined with a background of literary nature, not only due to the presence of poetic echoes of various origins, but in particular due to the emergence, behind the image of Valentinianus on the edge of death, of the Ovidian myth of Aglauros, punished by Mercury with petrification, because she was jealous of god’s love for her sister Herse. Like the protagonist of the myth, the tumultuous agita¬tion of the emperor, carried away by anger, is as if ‘petrified’, in a sort of requital, by a mortal paralysis.
Journal
Source
Fabrizio Feraco, "La morte di Valentiniano in Ammiano Marcellino" in: "ERAT OLIM. Nuovi materiali e contributi per la storia della narrativa greco-latina 4 (2024)", EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, Trieste, 2024, pp. 57-75
Languages
it
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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