Claudian, Bellum Geticum: a literary and historical commentary (Preface and ll. 1 - 123)
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Date
04/12/2021Author
Sagliardi, Giulia
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Abstract
This thesis contains a literary and historical commentary on the preface and on the first
123 verses of the poem Bellum Geticum, composed by the Latin poet Claudian to
celebrate Stilicho’s defeat of Alaric’s Gothic army at Pollentia in 402 AD. This
commentary fills a gap in current scholarship on Claudian, thus aiming to promote a
fuller understanding of the poem and to offer a fresh perspective which will act as
basis for potential future research. Bellum Geticum belongs to a group of compositions
by Claudian which blend different literary genres, making use of epic metre, language
and imagery, but with the eulogistic content peculiar to laudatory literature. In modern
scholarship they are often described as ‘epic panegyrics’. Their intent is to endorse the
public influence and personal power of the general Stilicho, regent to the young
western emperor Honorius. As the tendentious historical narrative is expressed
through mythological allegory and the extensive use of imagery drawn from the epic
tradition, the analysis of the poem pays particular consideration to the way meaning is
constructed in the text. In this context, the commentary addresses the difficulties raised
by Bellum Geticum by adopting an interdisciplinary approach and looking
simultaneously at his historical, literary and philological aspects. It has also aimed at
revealing yet undocumented connections between Bellum Geticum and other texts. The
commentary is preceded by an introduction, which sets the poem within the literary
and historical context of the turn of the fifth century. In particular, the first section of
the introduction analyses the development of the literary genre of epic panegyrics,
whereas the second provides a detailed discussion of the political dynamics of the
Roman Empire, the role of the generalissimo Stilicho, the Gothic invasion of Italy led
by Alaric and the battle of Pollentia. The commentary itself focuses on discrete
segments of text which have an internal coherence and are suited to be examined as a
unit. The first of these segments is a preface in elegiac couplets placed before the main
text; the subsequent sections have been identified on the basis of their function within
the poem – as in the case of the mythological proem – or on the basis of content. Each
part of the text is accompanied by a new English translation which helps to
demonstrate the interpretation of the text as developed in the commentary.