Memory spaces of Ausonius and Rutilius Namatianus

Abstract

Ausonius’ Mosella and Rutilius Namatianus’ De reditu suo suggest different cultural geographies of the Roman empire in the 4th and early 5th centuries CE. For Ausonius, the Moselle valley is a pleasance that matches or even surpasses the Mediterranean, and the poem recalls geographical texts from the high empire. By contrast, Rutilius recounts a journey from the City of Rome to his native Gaul following the sack of Rome (410 CE) and sounds a note of nostalgia. Yet for all their superficial differences, the two works are focused on a poetics of travel. Two critical frameworks are canvassed: “memory spaces,” as developed by Aleida Assmann; and travel writing as a “genre”—a term whose diverging ancient and modern senses present a challenge and an opportunity.