The Theme of Age in the «Book in Honor of Augustus» by Peter of Eboli

The «Book in Honor of Augustus» by Peter of Eboli, written between 1194 and 1197, is considered one of the main sources that shed light on the realization of Henry VI’s political project of unio regni ad Imperium. Dedicated to the emperor, Peter’s work portrays an image of the decline of the Sicilian kingdom under Tancred of Lecce, whose rule comes to an end following Henry’s triumph, who brought wealth and prosperity to Sicily. The strategy of legitimizing Henry, on the one hand, and delegitimizing Tancred’s power, on the other, is mainly a matter of drawing a picture of the natural weakness of the Sicilian king in comparison with Henry’s omnipotence. In this case, Peter’s appeal to the categories of age and the puer-senex topos is remarkable. Combining the decrepitude of an old man and the incapacity of a boy, Tancred is opposed to Henry’s image of a gray-haired old man who is like a child being protected under the care of the Wisdom of God. This motif is related to the idea of the aging of the world, the withering of the kingdom, which was in the hands of an unworthy sovereign, and the advent of a new golden age associated with the accession to the throne of Emperor Henry VI. The present article attempts to explain the significance of this motif in terms of both the author’s narrative strategies and the overall intent of the work.