<論説>二三八年のローマ帝国 : 「軍人皇帝」と元老院の戦い

Abstract

ローマ帝国史における二三八年は、内乱の年である。二三五年に登位した最初の「軍人皇帝」マクシミヌスに対して生じたこの年の内乱は、元老院の積極的な行動により、遂にこの皇帝を打倒するに至った。多くの研究者の注意を引いたこの年の出来事について、本稿は元首政史上異例の積極性をみせた元老院の行動に焦点を当て、その原動力を解明することで、意義を捉えようと試みた。 先行研究、とりわけこの問題に重要な業績をなしたK・ディーツの見解を検討・批判したのち、その成果をふまえて筆者は次の如く論じている。即ち、マクシミヌスの登位と統治は、元老院議員階層からの皇帝の遊離を示すものであり、この深刻な事実から生じた危機感が、首都の元老院議員たちを団結させ、積極的な行動へと至らせた。その意味で、二三八年は、政治支配層としての元老院議員階層、そしてそれと協同してきた皇帝の政治体制、いわば「アリストクラシーとしての光首政」が最後の光を放った年なのである。

In A. D. 238 M. Antonius Gordianus, the proconsul of Africa, rose against the first soldier-emperor Maximinus. The Roman senate supported this rebellion. After Gordianus' defeat, organizing a committee composed of twenty members, the senate chose its own two emperors from members of this committee. With an indomitable will the senate resisted Maximinus and succeeded in putting an end to his political power and life. In this article, analyzing the senators' driving force for this unity and action, the author tries to clarify the significance of the civil war in 238. First, the author criticizes the view of Dr. K. Dietz. Dr. Dietz laid a stress on the consilium principis of the last Severan emperor Alexander Severus who was destroyed by Maximinus in 235, and grasped the driving force of the senate as the senators' intention of recovering the politics of Alexander Severus. The author of this article does not accept Dietz's interpretation of Alexander's consilium. Secondly, the author expresses his own views, which are as follows. The most important strength of the senators was their accurate interpretation of crisis, themselves being members of the governing class. The knowledge of the crisis was instituted by Maximinus, who was not only the first soldier-emperor but also the first emperor alienated from the ordo senatorius. His rule broke off the principate as a senatorial aristocracy. As the politics of Alexander had all appearance of a senatorial aristocracy, the senators were deeply impressed by the change caused by Maximinus' personality and action. In sum, the senators in 238 displayed the last remarkable activity as the governing class in the history of the Roman Principate.