Giuliano e i 'possessores' renani. Aspetti della proprietà fondiaria in una zona di frontiera

The aim of this article is to propose a unitary vision of the Roman provinces of Germania inferior, Germania superior and Gallia Belgica. The author searches for evidence relative to large and smaller agrarian properties in imperial age, chiefly in late antiquity. Archaeological documentation shows that there were large villas in the area near the Rhine and the Moselle in the 4th century, despite some discontinuities; Ammianus Marcellinus is aware of their existence. The paper then takes into consideration the evidence for emperor Julian’s economic activity in the Rhineland, in particular some passages from Ammianus concerning his policy towards local landowners. An overlooked excerpt documents a case of appeasement between defeated Germans and 'possessores' based in Germania secunda. Although the literary evidence of Julian’s relationship with the Salian Franks is conflicting, a coexistence of 'possessores' and ‘barbarians’ on the same bank of the Rhine is probable. It is possible that Julian’s attempts to achieve peace and agricultural welfare in an apparently dangerous borderland influenced some ideas of the author of emperor Probus’ biography in the Historia Augusta.