NJ378 - ch08 8/6/04 3:05 pm Page 163 Chapter 8 The So-called Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum: A Sixth-century African Addition to Prosper Tiro’s Chronicle?1 Roland Steinacher In 1898 Theodor Mommsen identified three manuscript fragments as the remains of a more detailed chronicle of the Vandal kingdom. Mommsen found these fragments in four codices: Par. Lat. 4860, which he defined as a copy of a so called Augiensis,2 Matr. univ. 134 from Madrid, Codex No. 223 from Augsburg and Codex Osmensis, known only from descriptions. In his edition of the Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum, which he distinguished from the chronicle of Prosper, Mommsen suggested that the text was composed as a separate chronicle. Holder-Egger had not recognized this independence in his own examination of Prosper’s Chronicle, written shortly before Mommsen’s edition. Scholarship since Mommsen has used only this edition in the Chronica Minora III and has valued the text chiefly for its supposed use of diplomas and hence the precision of its dating. This chapter argues that the text of the Laterculus did not originate in diplomas, but belonged to an African version of Prosper’s chronicle. I propose a new edition, which puts the text back in its original context. Rather than looking for ‘good’ and ‘bad’ texts according to nineteenth-century categories, I try to analyse the specific character of each manuscript under consideration. 1 This essay derives from my thesis ‘Der Laterculus Regum Wandalorum et Alanorum. Eine afrikanische Ergaenzung der Chronik Prosper Tiros aus dem 6. Jahrhundert’, (unpubl. PhD thesis, Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 2001), supervised by Walter Pohl. I am greatly indebted to Owen M. Phelan from Notre Dame University who kindly read the text and helped with the English translation. 2 For a detailed discussion of the codices cf. Steinacher, ‘Der Laterculus’, pp. 3–20. Compare Augiensis, Mommsen’s idea of an original mid ninth-century Reichenau codex: ‘Excursus I: The Reichenau Problem’; H. Mayr-Harting, Ottonian Book Illumination. An Historical Study. I: Themes (New York 1991), pp. 203–9; T. Mommsen, Die Chronicle des Cassiodorus Senator vom Jahre 519 n. Chr. nach den Handschriften herausgegeben, Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Classe der königlich sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. 3 vols (Leipzig 1861), pp. 574–90. 163 NJ378 - ch08 8/6/04 3:05 pm Page 164 164 Vandals, Romans and Berbers The starting point for any such study must be the edition provided by Mommsen in the Chronica Minora III. Introducing his edition, Mommsen discusses the manuscripts he used for his work: Laterculi regnum Wandalorum et Alanorum, quem edimus, accepimus recensiones duas. Pleniorem et meliorem ad nos propagavit. 1. Augiensis liber scriptus saec. VIII is, de quo egimus ad Prosperum vol. 1 p. 362 ipse deperditus, sed extant ex eo descripti: 2. Parisinus 4860 saec. X. ad hunc librum laterculus editus est inter opera Prosperi publicata Parisiis a. 1711 p. 756. 3. Augustanus saec. XV. ad hunc librum laterculum edidit Canisius a. 1601 in lectionem antiquarum vol. 1 p. 161. Breviorem formam exhibent libri hi: 4. Matritensis univ. 134 saec. XIII. de quo ad Victorem vol. 2 p. 167 diximus. compilationi ei volumini insertae f. 42’–47, quam ad Prosperum vol. 1 p. 493 seq. ennaravimus, attributae in codice Isidoro, vere formatae in Africa anno p. Chr. 523, adhaeret is de quo agitur laterculus. quae praecedunt Prosperiana adiectis Africanis quibusdam, item computus edita sunt vol. 1 p. 495–497; repetivimus inde hoc loco quae epitomator Africanus Prosperianis inseruit de suo. 5. Osmensis ‘non valde vetus’, de quo ad Hydatium vol. 2 p. 8 exposuimus, secundum Perezium laterculum eundem habuit ‘ad finem chronici d. Isidori’, scilicet chronicorum eorundem, quae praecedunt in Matritensi. archetypi deperditi exemplum Perezianum Segobrigense edidit Villanueva viage 3, 306 (cf. p. 203). computus quoque verba prima postremaque ita habet, ut ea vol. 1 p. 497 ex Matritensi rettulimus, nisi quod tranuamundi editur pro trasamundi et ingresso pro ingressum.3 The fifteenth-century Codex 223 in the Staats- and Stadtbibliothek Augsburg was not analysed, given that the versions of the chronicles of Eusebius/Jerome and Prosper were taken from Par. Lat. 4860, and the text is nearly identical in each. Consequently, the codex is chiefly of interest for the history of scholarship because Heinrich Canisius used it for his edition of Prosper.4 The codex Osmensis used by Villanueva in his ‘Viage literaro à las iglesias de España’5 is lost, although the transcriptions made at the time were used. For the following work, however, the codices from Paris and Madrid were most important. THE NINTH-CENTURY VERSION OF PARIS, BN FONDS LAT. 4860 The text called Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum6 by Mommsen is situated on a single page (fol. 49v). The text takes up about two thirds of this page. On fol. 49r the chronicle of Prosper in the version of Prosper Augustanus is written. Quire 6 ends with fol. 49bis immediately after the text of the Laterculus. The chronicle of Cassiodorus is written on the following quire. After the entry for King Geilamer there is some free space on the parchment. In this edition medieval 3 T. Mommsen, MGH, AA, XIII, Chronica Minora, III (Berlin, 1898), p. 456. 4 H. Canisius, Antiquae lectiones, tomus II (Ingolsstadt 1602); R. Schmidt, Reichenau und St. Gallen. Ihre literarische Überlieferung zur Zeit des Klosterhumanismus in St. Ulrich und Afra zu Augsburg um 1500, Vorträge und Forschungen, vom Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte, 33 (Sigmaringen, 1985), pp. 140–47 discusses the codex. 5 J. Villanueva, Viage literario à las iglesias de España (Madrid, 1817), vol. 3, pp. 306ff. 6 Mommsen, Chronica Minora, III, pp. 458–60. NJ378 - ch08 8/6/04 3:05 pm Page 165 The Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum 165 contractions are phased out and emendations are surrounded by square brackets. The medieval spelling was not changed, the e-caudatae, for example, not corrected to ae. Names of places and persons are capitalized. The paragraphs of the edition follow the columns of the manuscript. The specific variations of Augsburg Codex 223 are mentioned in the footnotes and taken from Mommsen’s edition. UUandali written in this way corresponds with the manuscript. Vandali is the usual Latin form, but the scribe wanted to pronounce it Wandali. W is not used before the eleventh century. The double u is the usual sound notation.7 Contemporary authentic records are rare, but an obvious example is the inscription on a silver bowl of King Gelimer: Geilamir Rex Vandalorum et Alanorum8. The names of the consuls Theodosius and Festus, the bishop Eugenius, the martyr Agileus, the emperors Avitus and Valens are written in the form familiar from other sources. Carthago (as a noun and as an adjective) and the province of Africa correspond to other sources. But the bishop Bonifatius is written Bonefacius. The names of the Vandal kings are not consistent. One can find Geisericus and Geisiricus, Hunerix and Henerici (but two times the correct genitive Hunerici), Guntamundus, Gento, Hiltirix and Geilamer. Edition I: The Reichenau Version from Par. Lat. 4860, Fol. 49v Post consulatum Theodosii XVII et Festi: Geisericus UUandalorum rex Carthaginem ingressus est die XIIII Kalendas Nouembris.9 Qui regnavit in eadem Africa civitate annis XXXVII mensibus III diebus VI.10 Post hunc regnavit Hunerix filius eius annis VII mensibus X dies XXVIII.11 Qui in fine anni VII regni sui catholice ecclesie persecutionem fecit omnesque ecclesias clausit et cunctos domini catholicos sacerdotes cum Eugenio Carthaginensi episcopo exilio religavit. Qui Dei iudicio scatens vermibus vitam finivit. Post eum regnavit Guntamundus, Gentunis eiusdem Hunerici fratris filius,12 annos XI menses VIIII diebus XI. Qui tertio anno regni sui cymeterium sancti martyris Agilei apud Carthaginem catholicis dare precepit,13 Eugenio Carthaginensis episcopo ab eodem iam de exilio revocato. X autem anno regni sui ecclesias catholicorum aperuit et omnes Dei sacerdotes petente Eugenio Carthaginense14 episcopo de exilio revocavit. Quae ecclesiae 7 B. Bischoff, Paläographie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters, Grundlagen der Germanistik (Berlin, 1986), p. 164. 8 Courtois, Les Vandales, p. 380 and n. 111; H. Wolfram, ‘Intitulatio I. Lateinische Königs- und Fürstentitel bis zum Ende des 8. Jahrhunderts’, MIÖG, Suppl., 21(Cologne/Vienna, 1967), p. 80 and n. 22. 9 19 October. 10 Augustanus 223: eandem africam ciuitatem. 11 Augustanus 223: dies XVIII. 12 Augustanus 223: filium. 13 Augustanus 223: praecipit. 14 Augustanus 223: carthaginensi. NJ378 - ch08 8/6/04 3:05 pm Page 166 166 Vandals, Romans and Berbers fuerunt clause annos X mensibus VI diebus V.15 Hoc est ab VIII anno Henerici, id est ex die VII Idus Februarii, usque in X annum regis Guntamundi in die IIII Idus Augusti in quo completi sunt supra dicti anni X menses VI dies V. Qui memoratus Guntamundus rex postmodum vixit annos II mensem I. Post quem regnavit Trasamundus Gentunis filius annos XXVI menses VIII dies IIII. Ab exordio ergo imperii Aviti usque annum XXVI Trasamundi....................XVIII. A XIIII autem anno imperii et morte Valentis usque in annum XXVI Trasamundi anni sunt CXVIII. Post quem regnavit Hiltirix16 filius Hunerici annos VIII dies VIII.17 Qui in exordio regni sui Bonefacium episcopum apud Carthaginem in ecclesia sancti Agilei ordinari praecepit et omnibus catholicis libertate[m] restituit. Quo regnante adsumpta tyranide Geilamer regnum eius invadit in quo fecit annos III menses III. Qui tanta homicidia scelestus commisit, ut nec parentibus parceret. Fiunt ergo ab exordio regni Geisirici regis usque ad exitum UUandalorum anni XCIII menses X dies XI. Ab interitu ergo Valentis quod erat18 in XIIII anno regni eius usque ad supra dictum tempus sunt anni CLIIII. Collecta ergo omnium19 summa annorum ab Adam usque ad UUandalorum perditionem fiunt anni VdccXXXIII.