Fabrizio Feraco, University of Calabria
The final chapter of the 16th book of the Res Gestae of Ammianus Marcellinus is dedicated to the description of the battle of Strasbourg, during which the Romans, led by Julian, defeated a huge force of Alamanni in 357. As several scholars have highlighted (cf. Rosen; Bitter; Brodka), the description of Ammianus is based on the contrast between the Romans and the barbarians and, in particular, between Chnodomarius, king of the Alamanni, and Julian. Apart from this important aspect, my aim is to take a step forward from an interpretative point of view, showing that Ammianus represents the battle between the Romans and the Alamanni also in a symbolic way, through the contrast between water and fire. The two elements, water and fire, are associated with Romans and barbarians respectively. Chnodomarius, the antagonist of Julian, is characterised by boldness and impudence, but another aspect we have to highlight is his connection with fire: cf. 16.12.24 ...belli totius incentor, cuius vertici flammeus torulus aptabatur... The adjective flammeus is clearly linked with fire, but also the noun incentor, that, according to a false etymology, was believed to derive from the verb incendere (cf. Isidorus, orig. 10.130). In contrast with Chodomarius' boldness, Julian is cautious (cf. § 19); the latter, in a speech to his soldiers, announces the arrival of the day, which is destinated to give honour to the Romans once again, after washing away the "old-time stains". In particular, it should be noted the expression elutis pristinis maculis (§ 31), in which there is a metaphoric reference to the deletion of the stains in the past. The verb eluere properly means "to wash", so that it is not casual its use by Ammianus, because it alludes to the crucial moment of the battle, when the troops of the enemy partly sink into the Rhine, whose waters carry out the function of 'washing' the shame of previous defeats. Then, there are other symbolic references to water and fire: e.g., the battle-cry of Cornuti and Bracchiati is compared to waves dashing against the cliffs (§ 43 Qui clamor...paulatimque adolescens ritu extollitur fluctuum cautibus illisorum); conversely, the barbarians, due to their violence and anger, flame up like fire (§ 44 in modum exarsere flammarum). The reference to water turns from the metaphoric plane to the real one, when the barbarians, in extreme difficulty, in vain struggle to save themselves plunging into the river (§ 54 ...ad subsidia fluminis petivere...). The personified Rhine, as an ally of the Romans, definitely influences the result of the battle. This victory was the beginning of the political ascent of Julian and it is not casual that it is in the middle of the entire historical work of Ammianus. With the battle of Strasbourg it contrasts, at the end of the Res Gestae, the defeat of the Romans at Adrianople, where fire works against the Romans, who are not able to face the tumor barbaricus flammeus (31.12.6).