Aequora Danubii cunctis transnare sub armis: A new interpretation of the poem CLE 427

Abstract

The verse epitaph CIL III 3676, also published by Franz Bücheler in the Carmina Latina Epigraphica (CLE 427), which celebrates the deeds of a Batavian soldier, who first of his unit swam across the river Danube under the eyes of Hadrian, is very famous. The episode mentioned in the text, known also from Cassius Dio, as well as the possible unit in which the soldier had served have placed the text at the centre of a such lively academic discussion that reached also popular media. Nevertheless, it has not been suggested until now that the text might in fact have never been engraved on a funerary monument, but it might just be a poem, written in the Late Antiquity, which uses as a main topic some astonishing historical episode (mirabilia). The elements which support this hypothesis are multiple: (i) the text is known only from manuscripts containing literary texts, (ii) there is no reference to the find place or the place of preservation of the inscription, (iii) the type of text itself would be for its style and content an unicum in the epigraphic panorama, especially if we look at the verse inscriptions dedicated to soldiers. In this paper the text is analysed in a new light as an artistic product, probably composed in Late Antiquity, and compared with its possible historical sources and literary models. Moreover, its historical value is also tackled.