TESTIMONIARE LA “RESILIENZA” NEI SECOLI III-VI D.C. RESTITUTOR, RECEPTOR E ALTRI STRUMENTI STORIOGRAFICI DI FRONTE AI CAMBIAMENTI.

This article explores representations of crisis in the Late Roman Empire (third-fourth century AD) through the conceptual lens of resilience as an interpretative and heuristic category. Shifting attention away from traumatic events toward processes of adaptation and continuity, the analysis is grounded in a comparative reading of literary and epigraphic sources, both pagan and Christian, treated as interacting discursive fields. The study examines the vocabulary of imperial restoration (restauratio, renovatio, restitutio, resurrectio) and the construction of the emperor’s image as restitutor and rector, demonstrating how this language functions in both traditional and Christianized contexts, while also revealing significant semantic shifts. The article ultimately focuses on imperial ideology as a key factor in negotiating the relationship between the imperial center and local communities, and in redefining romanitas during a period of profound political, cultural, and religious transformation.