La mémoire et sa condamnation dans le monde romain : L’éloquence de l’oubli ?

Abstract

The Romans placed an immense value on memory, especially that of the ancestors, each generation considering itself as a link in a long family chain. In these circumstances, the punishment of the abolitio memoriae, which, under the Principate, strikes emperors considered tyrannical and their supporters, appears particularly serious. If its purpose was to erase from the public space the memory of a bad prince and of his supporters, by hammering the inscriptions bearing his name, by bringing down the statues that appeared on him..., it nevertheless had a warning value: anyone who behaved in such a way was likely to be similarly destined to be forgotten. In fact, the visible trace of the punishment could remain in place. This procedure thus testifies to the subtle relationships that the Romans had with memory and oblivion, which is not the exact negative.

Keywords

• memory
• oblivion
• ancestors
• abolitio memoriae