Some Pictures in Ammianus Marcellinus

Readers of Ammianus are struck by the pattern which certain scenes of greeting follow (21. 10, 1, etc.), in an author who tries so hard to avoid pattern and repetition: a personage approaches a city; the populace streams out to receive him with torches and flowers; troops and senators cluster around; there are shouts hailing his presence and virtues; and thus accompanied he enters the city gates. From other sources, however, we know that such occasions, through a very long history, had accumulated features which were indeed patterned, which included also details passed over by Ammianus such as chants and incense, and which were advertised to a larger audience in imperial coinage or in inscriptions set up by the local magistrates.1 It would be interesting to find out how deeply into the society of Ammianus' time the impression of such events penetrated, and whether they were imposed by the rulers of the Dominate from above or whether they satisfied more widespread tastes. They are prominent enough in art, notably in relief sculpture; but most surviving art presents us with emperors, consuls, saints, great patrons. It is natural to attribute to the high position of men like these the qualities so often detected in the works they commissioned: grandiloquence, pose, theatricality, and dramatic richness. The present paper, however, pursues these qualities beyond painting and sculpture, into other forms and customs, and into lower levels of society. Its object is to add the support of some social history to the history of art; its conclusion is that, far from being isolated in the upper classes, fourth century art reflected with fair accuracy the enthusiasms and tastes of a popular audience.