La thèse analyse, à travers l’examen de la correspondance de Sidoine Apollinaire, le rôle fondamental que ce dernier a joué lors de la grande crise et de l’effondrement de l’Empire Romain d’Occident et, surtout, sa position assumée dans le face à face avec des populations barbares. On considére les lettres de Sidoine principalement comme un témoignage de la manière dont la nobilitas de ce temps s’est adaptée à la nouvelle situation politique et sociale, mais aussi comme une source de références à valeur documentaire. À l’apogée du déclin des institutions impériales et devant le désintérêt de l’administration centrale pour les incursions continues et les dévastations, les représentants de la vieille nobilitas sénatoriale se font le rempart des communautés: c’est l’avènement de la figure de l’évêque-sénateur qui, par le biais de l’acquisition d’une charge épiscopale, obtient ce pouvoir d’action et ce suivi que les carrières politiques traditionnelles ne garantissent plus et, lors de la formation des royaumes barbares, se fait l’intermédiaire des exigences de la cité qui est sous sa juridiction. Sidoine est un exemple emblématique de ce phénomène: par le biais de la correspondance qu’il entretient avec les plus hauts personnages de la vie ecclésiastique et culturelle, on trace le cadre des évolutions de la société du temps ainsi qu’un témoignage sur sa façon de se colleter au barbare, senti comme une altérité menaçante qui nécessite pour s’en défendre non seulement qu’on participe activement à la résistance armée mais aussi qu’on s’adonne à l’étude inépuisable et consciente du patrimoine littéraire et culturel qui forme le fondement de cette Romanitas dans laquelle il se reflète.Sans négliger la partialité du point de vue de l’auteur et le caractère profondément littéraire de l’œuvre prise en considération, on les traite aussi comme des témoignages fondamentaux de l’ambiance culturelle à laquelle appartient l’évêque d’Auvergne, intellectuel raffiné ayant reçu une formation rhétorique et scolaire soignée et qui réussit à se tailler un champ d’action dans la réalité qui l’environne. / The thesis analyses Sidonius Apollinaris' Letters in order to shed light on his perception of the so-called 'Barbarians' during the period of transition from Roman imperial institutions to the Romano-barbarian Kingdoms. In the V century AD, due to imperial central administration's indifference to barbaric incursions and devastations, exponents of ancient senatorial nobilitas stood up for their communities by holding the episcopal seat; by so doing, senatorial bishops kept the authority which traditional political offices could not ensure anymore and defended the needs of their communities. Sidonius Apollinaris is the major symbol of this phenomenon. His letters, addressed to the main personalities of his time, depict a portrait of the social developments occurred in that period and of the approach of Gallo-Roman aristocracy towards the Barbarians; the armed resistance and the study of Roman literary and cultural heritage appear to Gallo-Roman aristocracy the only way to save the principle of identity, which lays under the label of Romanitas. The work determines which literary schemes Sidonius uses to interpretate his political and social environment; his letter collection is examined as a mirror of his time thanks to its literary dimension, not despite it, and the literary filter itself is seen as a primary source. This critical methodological approach has been adopted to answer to all research questions as far as 'Identity' and 'Otherness' are concerned, in order to give a definition of 'Barbarian' and 'Roman Citizen'.

The expansion of the Roman Empire had compelled disparate cultures to mingle and assimilate. In relation to education this fact meant that teachers used a variety of curricula to convey an amalgamation of cultural dynamics. Evidence for this phenomenon is found in the content Colloquia, a fourth-century elementary language textbook, which displays aspects Greek and Roman culture through the explicit and implicit instruction of the text. The existence of this mixture education displays the motivations of the author, as well as information about the values of the contemporary culture.

A study of the cultural and ideological effects of Roman citizenship on Greeks living in the first three centuries AD. The ramifications of the extension of citizenship to these Greeks illustrates that ideas such as 'culture' and 'identity' are not static terms, but constructions of a particular social milieu at any given point in time. Roman citizenship functioned as a kind of ideological apparatus that, when given to a non-Roman, questioned that individual's native identity. This thesis addresses, via an examination of four sources, all of whom were Greeks with Roman citizenship - Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, Ulpian, the minters of eastern civic coins - the extent to which one could remain 'Greek' while participating in one of the most Roman institutions of the Empire. Utilizing these sources with the aid of a number of theoretical bases (notably Louis Althusser and Pierre Bourdieu), this study attempts to come to a conclusion about the nature of 'Romanness' in the ancient world.

A study of the cultural and ideological effects of Roman citizenship on Greeks living in the first three centuries AD. The ramifications of the extension of citizenship to these Greeks illustrates that ideas such as 'culture' and 'identity' are not static terms, but constructions of a particular social milieu at any given point in time. Roman citizenship functioned as a kind of ideological apparatus that, when given to a non-Roman, questioned that individual's native identity. This thesis addresses, via an examination of four sources, all of whom were Greeks with Roman citizenship - Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, Ulpian, the minters of eastern civic coins - the extent to which one could remain 'Greek' while participating in one of the most Roman institutions of the Empire. Utilizing these sources with the aid of a number of theoretical bases (notably Louis Althusser and Pierre Bourdieu), this study attempts to come to a conclusion about the nature of 'Romanness' in the ancient world.