Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus circa annum CCCXXX p.C.n. natus est, Antiochiae, ut videtur, familia Graeca honesta. Adulescens inter protectores domesticos Ursicino duci adiunctus in Gallia et ad fines orientis militavit; anno CCCLV cum Ursicino Coloniae adfuit, cum Silvanus tyrannus interficeretur; anno CCCLIX, Amida a Persis capta, effugit.

Ammianus Marcellinus was born about A.D. 330, apparently at Antioch, into a Greek-speaking family of good standing. As a young man he joined the elite staff officers, the protectores domestici, attached to the general Ursicinus, and served in Gaul and on the eastern frontier; in 355 he was with Ursicinus at Cologne when the usurper Silvanus was killed; in 359 he escaped when the Persians took Amida.

Anno CCCLXIII expeditioni Iuliani in Persas interfuit. Iuliano mortuo cum exercitu sub Ioviano rediit, qui pace facta Nisibin et regiones trans Tigridem Persis cessit. Postea Romae consedit, ubi Latine historiam imperii a Nerva ad pugnam Hadrianopolitanam anni CCCLXXVIII scripsit, quasi Taciti continuationem; supersunt tantum libri qui annos CCCLIII–CCCLXXVIII complectuntur.

In 363 he took part in Julian's invasion of Persia. After Julian's death he shared the army's retreat under Jovian, whose treaty gave up Nisibis and Roman lands beyond the Tigris. He later settled in Rome, where he wrote in Latin a history of the empire from Nerva to the battle of Adrianople in 378, as a continuation of Tacitus; only the books covering 353 to 378 survive.

Iulianum admiratus vitia eius tamen notavit, Valentinianum laudavit quod inter religiones medius stetisset, luxum nobilium et plebis Romanae irrisit, et narravit quomodo Gothi anno CCCLXXVI trans Danuvium recepti et a ducibus avaris vexati ad Hadrianopolim Romanos vicerint. Ipse deorum cultor, de Christianis plerumque aequus scripsit, luxum episcoporum urbis cum frugalitate quorundam antistitum provincialium comparans. Post annum CCCXCI mortuus est.

He admired Julian but recorded his faults, praised Valentinian for standing neutral among the religions, satirized the luxury of Rome's nobles and populace, and told how the Goths admitted across the Danube in 376, exploited by greedy officials, defeated the Romans at Adrianople. A pagan, he wrote with notable fairness about Christians, contrasting the luxury of the bishops of Rome with the modesty of some provincial bishops. He died some time after 391.

1. c. 330 p.C.n.c. A.D. 330Antiochiae nascitur (ut videtur).Born, apparently at Antioch.
2. 353 p.C.n.A.D. 353Ursicino duci adiungitur.Attached to the general Ursicinus.
3. 359 p.C.n.A.D. 359Amida capta effugit.Escapes from the fall of Amida.
4. 363 p.C.n.A.D. 363Iulianum in Persas sequitur.Follows Julian into Persia.
5. 378 p.C.n.A.D. 378Pugna ad Hadrianopolim; historiae finis.The battle of Adrianople; the end point of his history.
6. c. 391 p.C.n.c. A.D. 391Romae historiam absolvit.Completes his history in Rome.