Konstantinova paganska vizija u savremenoj istoriografiji 20. veka

Abstract

Konstantinu Velikom se tokom njegove vladavine ukazalo nekoliko vizija. Najčuvenije su one hrišćanske, koje opisuju Eusebije i Laktancije. U ovom radu pažnja će biti usmerena na pagansku viziju u hramu Apolona Grana (Apollo Grannus) u današnjem Granu (Grand) u Vogezima. Konstantinu se u ovom čuvenom svetilištu, koje je posetio 310. godine, ukazao Apolon u pratnji Pobede, proričući mu dug život i vladavinu. Car je u liku onoga kome su pesnici prorekli da će vladati čitavim svetom video i prepoznao sebe. Čitav događaj podrobno je opisan u anonimnom panegiriku iz 310. godine. Konstantinova vizija u Apolonovom hramu zaokupljala je pažnju modernih istraživača od prvih decenija XX veka. U ovom radu su izložena njena najznačajnija tumačenja i objašnjenja.

Ancient literary sources mention a number of visions experienced by the emperor Constantine. The one described by the anonymous panegyrist in 310 is equally important as the Christian visions found in Eusebius and Lactantius. After defeating his father-in-law Maximian, the emperor was returning to his residence in Augusta Treverorum and the Rhine frontier, threatened by Franks.When he had learned that the barbarians had forsaken their plan at the news of his return, he turned off the road to visit the temple of Apollo Grannus in Grand. There he saw Apollo, accompanied by Victory, offering him laurel wreaths and each of them was marked with a portent of thirty years. The god thus predicted that Constantine would rule even longer than Nestor, mythical king of Pylos. The emperor afterward saw and recognized himself in the likeness of the one to who, according to the prophecies of divinely inspired poets, would rule the whole world (cf. Pan. Lat. VI 21, 3–7). The vision of Apollo, described by the anonymous orator in 310, has provoked a lively discussion among modern scholars ever since the first decades of the twentieth century. They have asked and attempted to answer many questions. The most important ones are related to the authenticity and nature of Constantine’s vision and to the identity of the one in whose likeness the emperor recognized himself. Following H. Grégoire, many scholars have accepted the religious experience as a genuine one and some of them have attempted to explain what actually happened in the temple. Others have concluded that the story was invented by Constatine or, possibly, by one of his advisors or the anonymous orator. Some have surmised that the whole event was staged by the priests of Apollo’s temple in honor of the emperor. Bearing in mind the importance of visions and dreams in ancient world, it is not unlikely that Constantine actually had a religious experience of some kind in the sanctuary at Grand. One might presume that Apollo appeared to him in a dream. It seems that prophecy by incubation has been practiced in Grand. A tribune named Cosinius set up a dedication to Apollo Grannus after the god had ordered him to do so while he was sleeping. As to the identity of the one in whose likeness Constantine had recognized himself, modern scholars have presumed that the orator was alluding to Apollo or Augustus. Authentic or not, Constantine’s vision in the temple of Apollo is closely related to significant changes in his religious policy. By defeating his father-in-law Maximian in 310, the emperor had severed his bonds with the Herculian dynasty and renounced Heracles and Mars as his divine protectors. Searching for a new divinity that would protect him, he turned to Sol Invictus, usually identified with the Graeco-Roman Apollo. The change in religious policy is connected to the rise of the new imperial ideology. In 310 Constantine had abandoned the tetrarchic practice of inheriting the imperial power through adoption. Turning to the dynastic principle, he started to trace his lineage to Claudius Gothicus. The ancestry was fabricated with the purpose of showing that Constantine was destined to rule by his birthright. That would strengthen the legitimacy of his position weakened by severing the connections with the Herculian dynasty. Constantine chose Sol Invictus as his new divine protector for a number of reasons. The same deity also protected his father Constantius, as well as his fictive ancestor Claudius Gothicus. Furthermore, by turning to Sol Invictus, Constantine clearly laid claim to universal rule over the whole Roman empire. One must mention that the new divine protector was also acceptable to Christians, since its cult exhibited strong monotheistic traits.