La distruzione delle statue di Pausania nella Sparta tardoantica (Lib. Ep. 1518)

Abstract: The late antique destruction of two bronze statues of Pausanias - the Spartan general responsible for the Greek victory at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC) - housed in the temple of Athena Chalkioikos in Sparta (Lib. Ep. 1518), has been interpreted as one of the few cases of a violent conflict between pagan and Christian population in Greece. Nevertheless the sources suggest that late antique Sparta was a bastion of Hellenic paganism and give a picture of a small and quiet town ruled by a pagan educated élite, where pagans like Libanius wanted to live. Since there is no evidence of a violent conflict between pagans and Christians in Sparta, and Libanius confirms that in 365 AD all the temples and cult statues were still in place, this paper addresses the issue from a different point of view and offers a new contribution to the history of Sparta in Late Antiquity. By using literary, archaeological and epigraphic evidence the paper explores: 1) the relationship between Roman administration and Spartan élite in the IVth century AD; 2) the historical memory of Pausanias in Late Antiquity. It will be emphasized that the obscure burning of the two statues helped to remove from Sparta the memory of Pausanias - a controversial figure, misrepresented in Late Antiquity and connected to the ancient staseis in Laconia - in order to promote a positive image of Sparta as a city without conflicts and ruled by the political system of Lycurgus (eunomia). As documented by local inscriptions in praise of late Roman governors, the mythical lawgiver Lycurgus was the paradigm of the imperial governors who rebuilded the town in the IVth cent. AD. It can be assumed that while Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Athens were troubled by political and religious violence or by seditions between different factions, Sparta aimed to revive its traditional model of civic order in the new historical context of Late Antiquity.