The image construction of the emperor GRATIAN in official documents (A.D. 369-383)

• Grant number: 18/03187-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Margarida Maria de Carvalho
• Grantee: Janira Feliciano Pohlmann Cavalcanti
• Supervisor: Rita Lizzi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/20942-9 - The construction of emperor Gratian's image in official documents (369-383 A.D.), BP.PD

Abstract

In the research developed in my postdoctoral study, I examined some images attributed to the Roman emperor Gratian (359-383), with the intention of understanding which were the official images accepted and proclaimed by Gratian to legitimize his power, and which actions and values these images highlighted when presenting him as a secular leader of the Romans. I suggested that these images were nourished by discourses of varying nature, and that they praised the superiority of Gratian's power in a context of contestations regarding the imperium, which were promoted by possible usurpers and by those with whom Gratian shared power: Valentinian II and Theodosius. In this research, I selected and analyzed testimonies written by two public men of the AD fourth century: Laudatio in Gratianum Augustum, Pro Trygetio and Pro Patre, by the neo-Platonic senator Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, and the De Fide and De Spiritu Sancto treaties by the Christian-Nicene bishop Ambrose. I added to this research the analysis of 32 Gratian coins that are under the custody of the National Historical Museum of Rio de Janeiro (Museu Histórico Nacional do Rio de Janeiro). Through the study of different discursive elaborations, I wish to propose another interpretation regarding the individual who was one of the imperium partners of Theodosius and who was deserving of such an honour. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

JANIRA FELICIANO POHLMANN. Um imperador cristão merece o céu: a construção de memórias sobre o imperador Graciano nos escritos de Ambrósio (séc. IV d.C.). História, v. 39, 2020-12-04. (18/03187-8, 17/26939-2, 16/20942-9)

JANIRA FELICIANO POHLMANN. “Glória” e “concórdia” nas moedas do imperador Graciano (367-383 d.C.). História, v. 41, 2022-08-12. (17/26939-2, 18/03187-8, 16/20942-9)