Progression géographique et régression mémorielle dans le De reditu de Rutilius Namatianus

Abstract

The travelogue is intimately linked to memory in Antiquity, as shown in the example of Rutilius Namatianus’ De reditu suo. The structure of the iter, borrowed from geographic literature, is part of a scholarly practice, linked to the arts of memory, which allows location on a mental map marked out by common literary or historical memories. Rutilius’ real journey is thus coupled with a textual and memorial journey which brings him back to Rome, and even, in the footsteps of Aeneas, to the origins of the City. Between spatial progression and temporal regression, the poem thus deploys a paradoxical space.

Keywords

• memory
• travel writing
• Rutilius Namatianus
• iter
• Aeneas