Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

As faces de Roma e os centros do poder em Amiano Marcelino

2011; Issue: 27 Linguagem: Inglês

2357-9587

Juliana Bastos Marques,

Classical Studies and Legal History

It is in the works of Ammianus Marcellinus that we find the last echoes of the presence of Rome as the great Capital of the empire. However, while Rome remains as the indisputable center of the Roman Empire, the facts narrated by Ammianus reveal the real character of the city of almost complete irrelevance as political center. Indeed, what stands out for Ammianus is ultimately the symbolic character of the city of Rome, urbs aeterna. Constantinople is the new center of power, but remains for the historian an inexpressive place. This paradox stems from the fact that the centers of power for Ammianus are not physical places anymore, but rather the emperors themselves, their courts and armies.