The Adaptation of Literary Culture and Paradigms of Roman Statehood in the Transition Period of the 5th Century AD An Analysis of Dracontius’ Satisfactio

Abstract

This article seeks to emphasise the considerable degree of cultural continuity between Graeco-Roman Antiquity and the early Christian world order that emerged in the 5th century. The arrival of Christianity is often associated with Rome’s socio-political decline and the eventual downfall of the Western Roman Empire, marking the beginning of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ of the early Middle Ages. A corresponding assumption is that pagan culture vanished along with the (pagan) Roman state. However, the surviving literary sources suggest the reverse is the case. By reevaluating familiar narratives of a rapid cultural decline, this paper intends to refute the widespread stance in academic discourse that portrays the period as a time when Roman tradition and identity were abandoned wholesale. Instead, this paper argues that Rome’s thousand-year classical heritage was adapted to the mores of Christendom, as evinced by the literature of the 5th century. The poem Satisfactio of late 5th century poet Blossius Aemilius Dracontius – a poet whose works were written in Vandal North Africa – is an exemplar of this cultural adaption. It is the primary source used throughout this paper.