« Auguste “grand prêtre initié et roi”. La légende augustéenne chez Jean Malalas »
Abstract
In the universal chronicle written by John Malalas in the VIth Century, August is portrayed as a "Great Enlightened priest" who, at the twilight of his life, was allegedly given an oracle by the Pythia heralding Christ's celestial royalty. Subsequently, August is said to have built an altar dedicated to the God Protogonos.
This article is intended to trace back the sources and the genesis of this account which, far from being a far-fetched tale or a misunderstanding on the part of the byzantine chronicler, actually emerges at the confluence of various traditions and is a token of Christianization of the Roman space. The chronicle also finds itself extended and more extensively developed in the well-known medieval legend of the ara coeli.