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6 - Prophecies and Omens of the Fall of the Roman Empire in the Chronicle of Hydatius of Lemica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2023

Purificación Ubric Rabaneda
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada
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Summary

Abstract

This chapter analyses the historical conception, which presents a strong apocalyptical connotation, of the Chronicle of Hydatius of Lemica. Eyewitness to the historical events of his time, Hydatius asserts that the end of the empire (finis imperii ), perceived as imminent, coincides with the end of times (finis temporum ) and the advent of Judgement Day, as the massive presence of prophecies and omens of the break-up of the Roman empire denotes. Particular attention will also be paid to the analysis of the quote of the apocryphal Apocalypse of Thomas, which influenced the catastrophic eschatology of Hydatius and his interpretation of the coeval historical course.

Keywords: Hydatius, Chronicle, Iberian peninsula, Latin Historiography, Late Antiquity

In the unsettled socio-political and literary spheres of Late Antiquity, the Chronicle of Hydatius represents reliable and important evidence for the reconstruction of the political and military events that occurred in the Iberian peninsula during the fifth century. The Bishop of Aquae Flaviae (present-day Chaves in Portugal) pursues the previous historiographical works of the ‘holy and very erudite Fathers’ (patres sancti et eruditissimi ), Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome, and traces a chronological period that goes from 379 to 468: with a dark stylistic expressionism and a marked pessimistic vein, he makes a detailed report about the salient episodes of the barbarian penetration beyond the Pyrenees, of the violent conflicts between the Sueves and the Goths, and the restless relationship between the barbarian tribes and the native population. In that climate of uncertainty and precariousness, the Galician bishop developed a dramatic awareness of the demise of the empire: after having led an embassy to the general Aetius, between 431 and 432, and after assuming, thanks to his personal prestige and his episcopal office, the role of political mediator between the claims of the Ibero-Roman communities and the court of Ravenna, Hydatius seems to be aware of the weakness of imperial power and the inability of the central authority to stem the barbarian invasions.

The historical-apocalyptic conception of the Chronicle

It is not surprising, therefore, that Hydatius’s refined political knowledge, gained from the direct experience of leading diplomatic delegations, corresponds to an articulated historical conception, which, in some respects, presents very interesting elements of novelty. In this regard, Richard W. Burgess enthusiastically portrays Hydatius as one of the pioneers of the Latin chronograph genre.

Type
Chapter
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Writing History in Late Antique Iberia
Historiography in Theory and Practice from the 4th to the 7th Century
, pp. 101 - 116
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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