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Temas medievales
Print version ISSN 0327-5094
Abstract
SANCHEZ VENDRAMINI, Darío. Los breviarios históricos y la cultura de la nueva elite del Bajo Imperio Romano (260-395 D. C.). Temas mediev. [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.1, pp.00-00. ISSN 0327-5094.
Momigliano linked the success of historiographical breviaries in the fourth century AD with the educational needs of a new ruling class. According to him, its members had risen from humble origins through careers in the military and the bureaucracy and needed short, simple texts to help them to overcome their ignorance about the history of Rome. Momigliano's thesis was accepted and developed, with some variations, by several authors. However, it poses great difficulties that, to my knowledge, have not been so far identified. In this paper, a study of the new members of the elite of the Late Roman Empire will prove that they did not have, as a group, the educational deficiencies alleged by Momigliano and that knowledge of Roman history was not central to the performance of their activities. While it is very likely that some officials and officers read historiographical treatises of this kind, the analysis in this paper shows that the breviaries were not written exclusively for them or with an educational purpose, as argued in the traditional view.
Keywords : Historiographical Breviary; Roman Empire; Late Antiquity; Elites.