Catastrofi provvidenziali: uomo e natura nel sesto secolo

This article explores changing interpretations of natural catastrophes in the sixth century through literary, legal, and historiographical sources. It argues that early sixth-century authors such as Boethius and Cassiodorus viewed nature as fundamentally benevolent and providential, treating disasters as manageable exceptions that could highlight imperial wisdom and evergetism. From the 530s onward, however, climatic anomalies, pandemics, and warfare fostered a more pessimistic outlook. Earthquakes, famines, and plagues increasingly came to be understood as instruments of divine punishment and signs of an approaching eschatological crisis, a shift clearly reflected in Justinianic legislation, Eastern chronicles, hymnography, and the writings of Gregory the Great.