Damnatio memoriae or creatio memoriae? Memory sanctions as creative processes in the Fourth Century AD

Omissi, A. (2016) Damnatio memoriae or creatio memoriae? Memory sanctions as creative processes in the Fourth Century AD. Cambridge Classical Journal, 62, pp. 170-199. (doi: 10.1017/S1750270516000038)

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Abstract

Damnatio memoriae, the ill-defined processes that we often now refer to by the term ‘memory sanctions’, is generally thought of in wholly negative terms. It is imagined as a process of destruction, of erasure, and of silence. Yet these complex assaults on the memory of fallen enemies were far more than simply destructive processes. Through the example of Magnus Maximus (383-8) and his commemoration in Rome and Constantinople during the reign of Theodosius I, this article considers how memory sanctions could be generative of historical material and how emperors used oratory, ceremony, and triumphal architecture to memorialise their fallen enemies.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Damnatio memoriae, memory sanctions, later Roman Empire, emperor Theodosius I (379-95), emperor Magnus Maximus (383-88), Constantinople.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Omissi, Dr Adrastos
Authors: Omissi, A.
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Classics
Journal Name:Cambridge Classical Journal
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISSN:1750-2705
ISSN (Online):2047-993X
Published Online:31 May 2016

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