In this thesis I shall reconsider the Stoic figuring in the character of Caesar in Lucan's Civil War, and in particular its relevance within this Neronian epic. Here, the interaction between Lucan and Seneca will be significant. In Seneca's essay De Clementia, he addressed the young emperor Nero directly, in order to hold up a mirror to Nero so that he may view himself as 'Caesar', and to understand what it means to hold such a position. In this thesis I shall explore the extent to which Lucan's poem may also be configured as a 'mirror' that is both Stoic and Caesarian. However the reflections that will follow are multiple: in my reading, Caesar is no straightforward 'exemplar of evil'. He remains, at times, shockingly arrogant and sacrilegious, and the crimes enacted in his name are difficult to countenance. But he is also a revolutionary figure, overturning a corrupt republic, driven by his men and the will of the people. At times he appears courageous and resourceful, a Caesar who is both informed and facilitated by Stoicism. Caesar is an exemplum in the sense of both 'warning' and 'precedent': a reflection, perhaps, held up to Nero in order that he might glimpse what it might mean to be Caesar: a reflection that is far more complex and arguably far less flattering than the one provided by Seneca. Lucan's Caesar is indefatigable, but he also appears vulnerable and isolated. He is an outrageous criminal, but he will suffer as he is recast as Rome's new figurehead, the target for all Rome's blame. Lucan's Caesar is criminal (nefas), on his way to becoming divine (divus), and it is within this tension, I will suggest, that we may finally glimpse a Caesar who is more human, sympathetic, but always - necessarily - deeply problematicized.

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This thesis explores the basis of the political power wielded by Roman emperors. Its hypothesis is that their power was of an essentially coercive nature, and was a manifestation of the Roman ethos of competition for personal dominance. This competition took place within the context of a society in which war and military organisation were of prime significance. As a result, political power was habitually obtained and held through the direct and indirect involvement of soldiers. It was inevitable that the relationship between emperors and their soldiers should be the major determinant of their authority. Issues considered to be relevant to this view are examined from a wide perspective and within the broad time scale of the classical world before the advent of the Christian Empire. Ancient writing on the nature of political power is explored, and every effort is made to give due weight to the direct expressions of our primary sources in their discussions of personal authority. Evidence is also cited from sociological and other modem theories of political power in order to illuminate the coercive basis of the Roman state. The development of power within Rome is traced, together with the explanations, justifications and mechanisms inherent to its operation. Soldiers are shown to have been the key agents of Roman political coercion. Bases of authority other than coercion are considered for their relevance, but are found either to have been derivative of, or secondary to, force and the threat of force. The qualities required of a successful emperor are explored. These are demonstrated to have been primarily military, while in the most significant aspects of political and personal behaviour the Roman ruler sought to establish and strengthen the bond between himself and his soldiers. When this link finally weakened, political authority passed directly to the soldiers.

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This thesis is an attempt to address the surprising lack of study into the question of usurpation in late antiquity. During a period defined by a textual corpus (289-389), the thesis looks at how usurpers and usurpation were presented in the panegyrics delivered to emperors and their courts. That usurpation features very heavily in this corpus should tell us something in itself, but it is a feature of these texts which has hardly been observed. The thesis shows how the panegyrics employed aggressive rhetorical tactics that sought not to bury usurpers in silence but rather to glory in their destruction and to create characters for the usurpers and their regimes that were designed to reinforce the legitimacy claims of the victorious emperor. The language of the panegyrics concerning usurpers and usurpation is thus virtually worthless as a tool to reconstruct the historical actualities of the people and times that they discuss. It cannot be used, as some scholars have done, to give insight into the working of particular usurpations. But the study also demonstrates that the panegyrics are far too valuable a body of sources to simply ignore, as many more scholars have tended to do. The panegyrics demonstrate the beginnings of the processes of memory sanction, or damnatio memoriae, that were imposed upon defeated usurpers and, as such, give us a valuable insight into how imperial Romans recorded their history and conceived of the power structures through which they were governed. Panegyrics are vital to our understanding of usurpers and usurpation because they are the first step in the process of understanding why our narrative sources are so unreliable concerning such men.

Entre 193 et 324, l’Empire, l’empereur et l’armée romaine ont traversé une période difficile couramment qualifiée de « crise du IIIe siècle ». Mais si cette dernière a fait l’objet de nombreux débats et controverses, le phénomène de la révolte militaire, pourtant omniprésent, est resté inexploré. Or pendant cette période, l’empire romain n’a vraisemblablement jamais autant connu de révoltes militaires, ce qui signifie que jamais, sans doute, la construction politique impériale, reposant en grande partie sur un « pacte » implicite entre le prince et son armée, n’avait été à ce point contestée. Après avoir travaillé à la définition même de la notion de révolte et à la quantification réelle du phénomène, on s’attachera à l’étude des catalyseurs qui en ont favorisé l’apparition et des mécanismes qui sous-tendaient des enchaînements de faits pouvant rassembler d’importants effectifs et embraser des étendues géographiques considérables. On s’efforcera ensuite d’esquisser une « géopolitique » de la révolte militaire pour tenter de mieux identifier les rebelles, les meneurs, les mots d’ordre ou les programmes politiques volontiers dénigrés ou caricaturés par les auteurs anciens. Il s’agira enfin de voir comment le phénomène de la révolte a conduit le pouvoir impérial à réformer l’armée et à se réformer lui-même / From 193 to 324, the Empire, the Emperor and the Roman Army went through a difficult period usually qualified « Crises of the Third Century ». But if this latter has been the subject of many debate and controversies, the phenomenon of the military revolt, yet omnipresent, remains unexplored. But during this period, the Roman Empire has probably never known, so many military revolts, that means, that ever, without any doubt, the political process, based in a large part on an implicit « pact » between the Prince and his army, had never been so contested. After working on the very concept of the notion of revolt and on the real quantification of this phenomenon, we will study catalysts that have favored it and mecanisms underlying patterns of facts that could gather numbers and rise up large geographical areas. Then, we will seek to outline « geopolitics » of the military revolt in an attempt to better identify the rebels, the leaders, the wathwords or the political programs readily betittled or parodied by the Ancients. It will be finally seen how the phenomenon of the revolt led the imperial power to reconsider, or not, its relations with the army, or even to reform itself.

La présente étude interroge la conceptualisation chrétienne de l’autorité et des interrelations politiques dans l’Antiquité tardive, à travers motif assez récurrent dans les textes chrétiens des IVe et Ve siècles pour être considéré comme une stratégie rhétorique, celui des associations ‘empereur-croix’. À la confluence de ces deux référents suprêmes de la souveraineté, l’empereur et la croix, se pense et se construit une autre autorité personnelle ou collective, pensée comme médiatrice. Une association peut se définir comme un groupement entre au moins deux entités, concrètes et symboliques, dans un but commun, celui de la royauté glorieuse de l’empereur, du Christ et de leurs médiateurs. La croix y est sollicitée dans son acception prodigiale, en tant que signe puissant et dynamique, iconique et théologique. Elle peut donc être intégrée à une unité de temps et de lieu ou à un discours métaphorique et allégorique. L’objet de la présente enquête est de démontrer que les tenants d’une autorité médiatrice, qu’ils soient laïcs ou ecclésiastiques, revendiquent une visibilité et une assise politique, que le prince est capable de leur concéder, leurs pairs en mesure de leur reconnaître, et auxquelles le peuple peut adhérer. Par conséquent, les associations ‘empereur-croix’ servent un discours engagé, partisan et conquérant, réclamant ou se réclamant d’une autorité spécifiquement chrétienne. Dans tous les cas, celui qui manipule la puissance de la croix est bénéficiaire de qualités prophétiques qui légitiment son inclusion politique. De ce fait, la qualité médiatrice se construit sur la concurrence entre intermédiaires ou sur l’appropriation de cette qualité par le truchement de la loi, et non sur un conflit avec l’autorité impériale. En associant l’empereur et la croix dans leurs textes, les auteurs fabriquent des interactions, des rapports relationnels, des systèmes de contact, qui, loin d’un paysage binaire, révèlent une véritable dynamique de liens politiques multiples et multiformes dans l’Antiquité tardive et non un essoufflement et une ‘standardisation’ de ceux-ci. / This study investigates the Christian conceptualization of authority and its political contexts by focusing on a rather common but never systematically analyzed rhetorical strategy in the texts of the 4th and 5th centuries: the associations between the Roman Emperor and the symbol of the cross. At the interface between the Emperor and the cross stands another authority, personal or collective, who is considered a mediator. Concrete or symbolic associations between at least two parties usually form themselves under a common goal: the glorious kingdom of Emperor, Christ, and their mediators. In this case, the cross is solicited in its profuse meaning as a powerful and dynamic sign, both iconic and theological; it is thus integrated in a specific setting of time and place or in a metaphorical and allegorical discourse. The goal of this study is to look at the different proponents of a mediating authority, whether secular or ecclesiastical, and their claims for visibility, political basis and public recognition. The manifold associations between the Emperor and the cross are part of a vibrant discourse, which is both partisan and conquering in reclaiming a specific Christian authority; and whoever is able to manipulate the power of the cross gains prophetic qualities that also legitimize political participation. Thus, the capacity to act as a mediator builds upon competition between intermediaries or upon the appropriation of this capacity by legal means, but not upon conflict with the Imperial authority. In associating the Emperor and the cross in the texts, the authors describe interactions and networks of contacts. Rather than breathless and “standardized” processes, these networks reveal the multiple and polymorphic dynamics of political relationships in Late Antiquity.

Les protectores diuini lateris Augusti, soldats de haut rang attestés dans l’armée romaine entre le IIIe siècle et le VIe siècle, ont été considérés tour à tour par les historiens comme des gardes du corps impériaux, des officiers d’état-major, ou les successeurs des centurions. Mais ces interprétations soulèvent bien des contradictions que cette étude d’histoire militaire et sociale, appuyée sur un corpus prosopographique, vise à résoudre. Les évolutions du recrutement, des carrières et des fonctions des protectores sont révélatrices des recompositions du commandement de l’armée romaine tardive. L’analyse ouvre également une fenêtre sur l’environnement social et culturel de ces soldats privilégiés, amenés à fréquenter tant les champs de bataille que la cour impériale. Enfin, en plaçant au centre de la réflexion la relation de ces soldats avec l’empereur, à la fois chef de l’armée et garant de l’ordre social et symbolique du monde de l’Antiquité tardive, on comprend comment les protectores s’inscrivaient, aux yeux des Romains, au sein d’un ordre terrestre des dignités reflétant la hiérarchie céleste. / The protectores diuini lateris Augusti, high-ranking soldiers attested in the Roman army from the 3rd c. to the 6th c. AD, have been alternately defined by historians as imperial bodyguards, staff officers, or centurions under a new name. This study, based on a prosopography, aims to resolve the contradictions raised by these interpretations, from a military and social point of view. The evolutions of these soldiers’ recruitment, careers and functions, reflect deep changes in the command structure of the Late Roman army. The analysis also sheds light on the social and cultural background of these privileged soldiers, who were familiar with both the battlefield and the imperial court. By focusing on their privileged relationship with the emperor, who was at the same time general in chief and responsible for the social and symbolic order of the Late Antique world, we can finally understand how the protectores were part, in the eyes of the Romans, of an earthly order of dignities reflecting the celestial hierarchy.

Cette étude est un travail de recherche, d'inventaire, d'analyse (archéologique, épigraphique, métrologique, technique et artistique) et d'une nouvelle approche méthodologique sur des différents témoignages archéologiques et épigraphiques relatifs à la mesure du poids, capacité et temps en Algérie romaine. Cette étude est un nouveau thème qui mérite beaucoup d'attention et qui représente beaucoup d'intérêt pour l'archéologie algérienne en particulier et de l'Afrique romaine en générale et qui contribuera à l'enrichissement de la bibliographie spécialisée dans ce domaine. Notre objectif principale, c'est de réaliser un inventaire systématique des instruments de mesures (poids, balances, pesons, crochets et plateaux de balance, ponderarium, mensa ponderaria, cadrans solaires) en notant les spécificités de chaque élément ainsi que l'état de conservation et le lieu de son emplacement actuel. L'étude de l'ensemble de ces objets, malgré leur état de dégradation pour certains et la disparition d'autres, les résultats obtenus sont tout de même importants et prometteurs : ils contribuent à éclaircir l'histoire des cités romaines en Algérie dans les domaines de l'économie, du commerce, de la technique et de l'organisation de la vie publique; ils témoignent néanmoins l'intégration de ces instruments dans la société et attester d'une connaissance de la multiplicité typologique, et les différentes caractéristiques d'utilisation. La plupart sont inédits et non répertories, certain sont rares (les deux cadrans solaires du type plan vertical dièdre de Djemila et le ponderarium du marché de cosinius) et d'autre hors normes (les deux cadrans plan horizontaux monumentaux de Timgad et de Lambèse). Ils sont considérés comme une valeur ajoutée ajoutant du crédit à nos propos et éclairant d'une façon exhaustive notre étude et qui ouvrer des nouvelles perspectives. / This study is a research, inventory, analysis (archaeological, epigraphic, metrological, technical and artistic) and a new methodological approach on various archaeological and epigraphic testimonies relating to the measurement of weight, capacity and time In Roman Algeria. Tis study is a new topic which deserves much attention and which represents a lot of interest for Algerian archeology in particular and of Roman Africa in general and which will contribute to the enrichment of the specialized bibliography in this field. Our main objective is to carry out a systematic inventory of weighing instruments (weights, scales, weighers, hooks and balance trays, ponderarium, mensa ponderaria, sundials), noting the specificities of each element and the state of Conservation and location of its current location. The study of all these objects, despite their state of degradation for some and the disappearance of others, the results obtained are still important and promising: they contribute to clarify the history of the Roman cities in Algeria in the Economy, trade, technology and the organization of public life; They nevertheless testify to the integration of these instruments into society and attest to a knowledge of the typological multiplicity, and the different characteristics of use. Most of them are unpublished and not repertory, some are rare (the two sundials of the type vertical plane dihedron of Djemila and the ponderarium of the cosinius market) and other out of norms (the two monumental horizontal planes of Timgad and Lambèse). They are seen as an added value adding credit to our remarks and enlightening our study in a comprehensive way and opening up new perspectives.

Cette thèse a pour objet de mener une réflexion sur les différentes fonctions entre la frontière de Germanie supérieure et celle de Germanie, en insistant plus particulièrement sur sa dimension militaire et sa place dans la stratégie de défense de l’Empire. L’étude de ce limes est particulièrement intéressante des Sévères à Dioclétien, car c’est une période où il connaît de nombreuses transformations et adaptations jusqu’à son abandon et le retour sur la 'ripa ' du Rhin. Après avoir défini le limes et ses fonctions, nous verrons que les échanges y sont limités entre le monde romain et germanique et qu’il est efficace pour lutter contre les raids de faible intensité. Son abandon s’explique à la fois par les guerres civiles et par les mutations dans le monde germanique. Après l’unité retrouvée de l’Empire, les empereurs créent une nouvelle ligne de défense sur le Rhin qui est complétée par la création d’un Etat-tampon, l’Alamannia. / This thesis aims to reflect on the different functions between the upper border of Germany and that of Germany, with particular emphasis on its military dimension and its place in the Empire defense strategy. The study of the limes is particularly interesting from the Severi to Diocletian, because this is a period when it has many changes and adjustments to its abandonment and the return on the 'ripa' the Rhine. After defining the limes and its function, we will see that trading is limited between the Roman and Germanic world and that effective against low-intensity raids. Its abandonment is explained both by civil wars and by changes in the Germanic world. After the rediscovered unity of the Empire, the emperors created a new line of defense on the Rhine which is complemented by the creation of a buffer state, the Alamannia.