As almost all provinces were split into two under Diocletian, the early-4th-century Laterculus Veronensis already listed almost 100provinces. on the Internet. [18] In comparison with the classical age, Late Roman inscriptions are available in lesser quantity. He was aware, though, that many of the freedoms that had been enjoyed had been curtailed, describing at length the reigns of terror instituted by successive emperors and by the deplorable crew of secret police, spies and informers who surrounded them.[23] He also deplored the decent of the nobility into pointless pursuits, commenting that when intellectuals were expelled from Rome, thousands of dancing-girls received permission to stay.[24] He appears to have believed that a moral and cultural revival would save the city, The City is glorious and eternal but its current manifestations, seen in high and low society alike, are vile and call imperatively for the moral recovery which will save the empire.[25] He associated Rome with liberty and believed that moral renewal would revive a system that was not, itself, at fault. Books 21, 22, 23, and 24 all cover Julians reign, including his campaign against the Persians. On occasions, expeditionary forces developed into permanent detachments, like those dispatched to Africa, Britain and Isauria. Ammianus Marcellinus Soldier-Historian of the Late Roman Empire (Semple Lectures, University of Cincinnati, 1964), 22-26 offers a recent summary of the evidence. [56] He appointed his three sons, ConstantineII, Constantius II, and Constans Caesars between 328 and 333, but none of them was promoted to Augustus during his lifetime. Aetius and Ardabur reached a compromise whereby Aetius acknowledged the child ValentinianIII as emperor in return for his appointment as the supreme commander of the Western Roman army. | ISBN 9780140444063 He summarizes his true views of Justinian and Justinian's inner circle in the Secret History, describing him as a wicked and unscrupulous figure surrounded by intrigues and scandals. They divided Armenia. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. Paperback, 9780140444063, 0140444068 The Martyrs of Palestine by Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, introduced it in the early 4thcentury, but a later work, the Life of Anthony about the Egyptian hermit, Anthony the Great set a template for further works. Aside from the loss of the first thirteen books, the remaining eighteen are in many places corrupt with sections missing. The construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other pilgrim churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem started during his rule. His "New Rome" was consecrated as Constantinople on 11May 330. [47] To restore internal peace, Diocletian, Galerius and Maximian held a conference at Carnuntum in 308. Books 26 to 29 cover a series of violent and bloody events, including the trial and execution of the lawyer, Theodorus and restriction on the power of the Senate, suppression of a revolt in Africa, a rapid succession of emperors, various persecutions, the expulsion of intellectuals from Rome (383)Ammianus himself appears to have avoided this, possibly due to his military rankand the Visigoth invasion, Valen's defeat at the Battle of Adrianople (378)beginning what later became the Fall of Rome. [141] In 382, Gratian abolished all state grants to pagan cults in the city of Rome, including the Vesta Virgins' salaries (. [127], Most Roman soldiers were stationed along the frontiers around 260. As depicted in many studies of the later Roman Empire, the military sys- . Traditional imperial titulature was expanded with titles like dominus ("lord"), and Jovius or Herculius (in reference to the gods Jupiter and Hercules, respectively). Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators. Jovian adopted a moderate approach and only repeated bans on magical practices. [150], Christians lived in peace for decades from the 260s. [46], After recovering from a serious illness Diocletian concluded that he and Maximian had ruled long enough. [5][6] Orosius was the first scholar to integrate elements of classical and church history in the 420s. In: Yarshater, E. The later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) by Ammianus Marcellinus; Hamilton, Walter, 1908-Publication date 1986 Topics Ancient Rome, 354-378 [23] As only top bureaucrats could afford time-consuming and costly travels, low-level provincial officials rarely made contacts with their peers in other provinces. [26] During the following fifty years, twenty emperors ruled the empire in quick succession, and most of them were killed by mutinous soldiers. Grant suggests that this was in the main because he wanted to live up to Tacitus.[28] Recent studies have, however, shown the rhetoric power in his histories, which may have been written for the purposes of recitation. The plundering of the Eternal City shocked the Romans although the Goths quickly abandoned it. While the date of his death is unknown, he lived very near to the end of the 4th century AD. [88][81] Alaric invaded Italy and persuaded the Senatus to proclaim a pagan Roman aristocrat Priscus Attalus emperor in November 409. The Visigoths left Italy and joined the coalition supporting Jovinus in Gaul, but after Honorius promised grain supplies to them, Athaulf captured and beheaded Jovinus. Most Christian intellectuals embraced a modified version of Rome's imperialist ideology, claiming that God destined the empire to facilitate the spread of Christianity for the salvation of all mankind. 17 Books That Show Kids What It Means to Be Thankful, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews, Fascinating Biographies and Memoirs About the Royal Family. His Buildings provides a list of the achievements of Justinian's building program, but archaeological evidence sometimes contradicts it. [161] In practice, Christian influence on Roman society and state was limited, but Christianity was quickly Romanized. Yet he could not contemplate her actual Fall, believing that in the end its own heritage would enable its survival. Marcellinus served as a soldier in the army of . [83] Alaric resumed the attacks against northern Italy and Noricum and demanded 4,000pounds of gold for a peace treaty. Buy. The legend of Maximilian of Tebessa, an early conscientious objector indicates that the number of Christian troops was not insignificant around 295. Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330 - after 391) is the preeminent historian of the Late Roman Empire, whose extant work forms the most important narrative we possess on the Fourth Century A.D. Born of genteel extraction in a Greek-speaking part of the empire, Ammianus served in the army in campaigns ranging form Gaul to Persia before settling in Rome and beginning his literary carreer. [32] He admired the Christian martyrs and some provincial bishops for their moderation but criticized others for wasting money. The local Roman army could not stop the influx of further refugees across the Danube. [145], When the flooding of the Nile delayed, the pagan Egyptians wanted to make sacrifices for Serapis, the deity responsible for the flooding, but the Christians destroyed Serapis' reliefs on their houses and painted crosses on their places. Dive deep into Ammianus Marcellinus with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion . [8] Books 15 and 16 cover Julians exploits against the Germans and Constantius only visit to Rome. Ammianus Marcellinus, ca. This page was last edited on 17 May 2021, at 15:34. ), Encyclopaedia Iranica I/9 . Ammianus Marcellinus is often considered to be the last Roman historian of any merit. [118] To promote the development of his new capital, he granted Anatolian estates to all senators who built a private house in Constantinople. He announced the restoration of the confiscated property to the Christians, but also promised a compensation for those who had seized confiscated goods during the persecution. He choose his younger brother Valens, entrusting him with the administration of the eastern half of the empire. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. His writings are an indispensable basis for our knowledge of the late Roman world Member of. 395 CE, a Greek of Antioch, joined the army when still young and served under the governor Ursicinus and the emperor of the East Constantius II, and later under the emperor Julian, whom he admired and accompanied against the Alamanni and the Persians.He subsequently settled in Rome, where he wrote in Latin a history of the Roman empire in the period 96-378 . On his return to Italy, Sebastianus was deposed and Aetius was appointed as his successor. Part of the field army was organized into regional units each under the command of a magister militum. The lis t corroborates Ammianus Marcellinus ' com- plaints about conflicting imperial edicts found in his discussion of the late Roman advocate, the ' most violen t and rapacio us type of men . [147], Festivities were the most lasting elements of pagan cults. [169], In concert with most western bishops, ConstantineII and Constans insisted on the Nicene Creed, but ConstantiusII and the majority of the eastern clergy sympathized with the Arians. Walter Hamilton, trans. By the end of the 4thcentury, a highly centralized bureaucratic system, employing about 35,000officials, operated state affairs. TheodosiusI renewed their persecution, describing them as followers of a sect who meet in "nefarious retreats and wicked recesses". Non-compliant Christians were executed or forced into exile and the purge continued until Emperor Gallienus put an end to it in 260. 325-ca. [70], Theodosius was the first emperor to rule primarily from Constantinople. Besides shedding light on many events from the reign of Constantius to the calamitous defeat at Adrianople - including striking portraits of emperors Julian and Valentinian - his work offers as well a compelling description of Late Roman society. Ammianus Marcellinus (325/330 - after 391) was a fourth century Roman historian. [131] When praying, a pagan often used formulas that had allegedly been disclosed to the leaders of their native town by an oracle. [13] He even digresses to describe the Chinese, whom he characterized as a peace-loving people. This research paper "The Later Roman Empire" examines the factors of durability during establishment of Roman Empire. The Battle of Adrianople (378 AD) is considered one of the worst military defeats in all of Roman history. Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian and his work the "Res Gestae", known in English as "The Later Roman Empire", is one of the most important historical accounts to have survived from ancient Rome. Only pagan practices that the Christians regarded especially immoral or offensive were banned under his rule. Ammianus Marcellinus: The Later Roman Empire. In September 337, the three brothers assumed the title of Augustus and divided the empire at a meeting in Pannonia: Constantine received the western, Constans the central and Constantius the eastern regions. [53][54] Constantine developed a system of client states along the Danube and Rhine taking advantage of the neighboring tribes' dependence on commerce with the empire. With Ursicinus he went twice to the East, and barely escaped with his life from Amida (modern Diyarbakr), when it was taken by the Sassanid king Shapur II. The Christian God replaced the pagan gods in official documents and ceremonies, but few rich Christians renounced their wealth as Biblical stories proposed it. The later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) Item Preview remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. This notion of equality was manifest at the relatively high level of informality in the imperial court. With the regular appointment of five praetorian prefects, each ruling a well defined group of dioceses, new territorial administrative units, known as praetorian prefectures, came into being during his reign. Ammianus Marcellinus mentions the participation of the Picts in the barbarian coalition of 368 in Brittany. From 382 Manichaeans could not inherit property and their religious meetings were forbidden, from the late 5thcentury they were sentenced to exile or death. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. [121], Roman citizens regarded the defense of their homeland as the emperors' prime duty. Hypatia's death horrified Cyril, who, although he was her intellectual rival, held her in very high esteem, condemning the city for its violent nature. Their members often had the same ethnic or professional background. They were organized into legions and auxiliary forces under the command of the provincial governors. The author expresses himself in the obscure and labored Latin typical of the late empire. Seven years later, Constantine routed Licinius at Chrysopolis and enforced his abdication. Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. Christians were dismissed from imperial service and they were ordered to make sacrifices to pagan gods. The later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378). The Code of Justinian expands the Code of Theodosius with rulings issued by emperors between 437 and 529. Ammianus Marcellinus, (born c. 330, Antioch, Syria [now Antakya, Tur. Diocletian outlawed Christianity on 23February 303. The Christians were outlawed for their alleged opposition to traditional Roman values, but they were only sporadically persecuted. When Ursicinus lost his office and the favor of Constantius, Ammianus seems to have shared his downfall; but under Julian, Constantius's successor, he regained his position. The Later Roman Empire spans the period from 284 AD (Diocletian's proclamation as emperor) to 641 (death of Heraclius) in the history of the Roman Empire Evidence . "[35] Setting aside digressions and even lacunae in the text, Res Gestae remains a unique source of information on the history of the fourth century, especially European history. He accompanied this emperor, for whom he expresses enthusiastic admiration, in his campaigns against the Alamanni and the Sassanids. He essentially wrote a continuation of Tactius' histories, covering the period between the Emperor Nerva and . Comments: In the context of troubles in the East of the Roman empire in the mid-fourth century reigns of Constantius and Gallus, Ammianus Marcellinus provides an aside on the Saracens of Arabia who were, in his view, making regular, bandit-like . Ammianus eventually settled in Rome during the early eighties of the fourth century, where, in his fifties (calculating his age to be coeval to Julian, who was born in 331), he wrote (in Latin) a history of the Roman empire from the accession of Nerva (96) to the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople (378), thus forming a possible continuation of the work of Tacitus. [139] His successor, Jovian abolished Julian's anti-Christian edicts in the autumn of 363. TheodosiusI was the first emperor to rule as a full member of the Christian community, because he received baptism during a grave illness. The later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) by Ammianus Marcellinus First published in 1986 1 edition in 1 language 1 previewable He ordered Julian to send reinforcements but the Gallic troops revolted and proclaimed Julian Augustus. Episcopal elections became controlled by the aristocracy and the local communities could no more freely elect their bishops. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and . [142], It is popularly believed the Serapeum was destroyed by Patriarch Theophilus and his followers in 392, but Alexandria had suffer a long-term backdrop of frequent mob violence during four hundred years, since the 1st century BC, so is also possible that the Serapeum was a collateral destruction because that mob violence that has no religious background (gangs consisted of christians as well as jews and pagans, no matter the religion of the member). They paid taxes and raised troops in return for protection against the "howling people" surrounding the Roman Empire, but the emperors were not always able to meet their expectations. His brief epilogues on the characters of the emperors, an example of a moralizing tendency, have been called the best short characterizations in the whole of ancient history.[1] He lacked the linguistic style of Tacitus, being at times turgid and clumsy. The traditional senatorial aristocracy mainly held offices with limited military responsibility,[note 2] while military career became open to non-Roman soldiery. [73] Theodosius restored Valentinian as emperor in the west, but put him under the guardianship of a Frankish military commander Arbogast. [35] Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, after whom the plague is named, attributed the calamities to the "old age of the world", but the pagans blamed the Christians' reluctance to worship the ancient gods. [164] Donatism survived and the separate hierarchy of Donatist clergy endured for more than a century. The way in which Ammianus wrestled with the questions of objectivity, the way in which he used he drew on own presence at events to construct history while aware of political consequences of what he wrote, remain of considerable interest. [160] According to Emperor Julian, Christianity owed its success primarily to the Christians' generous acts of charity, their special care for the dead and their attempt to live a virtuous life, because all these features were of particular importance for the impoverished masses of Roman society. [168] On his death bed, Constantine received baptism from an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia. Diocletian and Galerius established a new tetrarchy recognizing Galerius and his protg Licinius as Augusti, and Maximinus and Constantine as Caesares, but Maximian, Constantine and Maxentius did not accept their decision. [171] In 338 Constantius achieved the deposition of Athanasius and Marcellus at a church council in Antioch, but they approached Pope Julius I for protection. Civil wars could ruin the defense system, talented barbarian chieftains could launch successful invasions deep into the empire, and catastrophic events could cause mass migrations towards the borderlands. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and . Caesar was the title next in rank and was conferred by the emperor on one or more of the imperial family; see Introd. 3 He was married to Constantia, daughter of Constantine the Great and Fausta, wrongly called Constantina, XIV. Porphyry of Tyre praised their piety, an Egyptian group using the name Hermes Trismegistus promoted the adoption of allegedly Egyptian priestly traditions, and Porphyry's pupil Iamblichus completed a coherent polytheist theological system under the Egyptian pseudonym, Abammon. [115] The maintenance of two separate hierarchies of equestrian and senatorial offices became obsolete by the end of the 3rdcentury. [163], Debates about the traditoresChristians who had given up holy books to state authorities or made pagan sacrifices during the Great Persecutionintensified in Numidia in the 310s. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman Empire which survives today. From these references, it has been deduced that he was born probably between 325 and 330 to an educated family of Greek descent, possibly in Antioch[3] This probability hinges on whether he was the recipient of a surviving letter to a Marcellinus from a contemporary, Libanius. New York: Penguin, 1986; Matthews, John. [152] Exorcism was an important component of Christianity in Late Antiquity. Some of their followers lived a solitary life, others assembled at least once a week for a communal meal or prayer. Portraying a time of rapid and dramatic change, Marcellinus describes an Empire exhausted by excessive taxation, corruption, the financial ruin of the middle classes and the progressive decline in the morale of the army. Galla Placidia distrusted Aetius. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. [138][183] Leading Christian intellectuals described Judaism as a major threat to Christianity from the late 4thcentury. The local deities were associated with the gods of the Roman pantheon, but elements of the local cults survived. His digressions on the various countries he had visited are particularly interesting. [174], Valens appointed the moderate Arian Demophilus to the see of Constantinople, but the western bishops insisted on the Nicene doctrine. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. A new high-ranking official, the magister officiorum, was first mentioned in 320. E. A. Thompson says that the reliability of Annianus narrative is confirmed both by its internal consistency and by comparison with the very sparse notices of other Greek and Roman historians who wrote about this period. The Later Roman EmpirePrefaceIntroductionFurther ReadingFamily Tree of Constantine the GreatIntroductory Note, The Later Roman EmpireBook 14Book 15Book 16Book 17Book 18Book 19Book 20Book 21Book 22Book 23Book 24Book 25Book 26Book 27Book 28Book 29Book 30Book 31, Notes on the TextNote on Officials and their TitlesNotes on PersonsDates of EmperorsGeographical keyMapsGeneral MapMonuments of RomeMap A: Gaul, Germany, and the RhineMap B: The Danube, Italy and ThraceMap C: The East and PersiaMap D: Asia Minor, Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. Ammianus Marcellinus: The Later Roman Empire T.D . [34] Furthermore, the deadly pandemic now known as the Plague of Cyprian first hit the Mediterranean in 249. Ammianus Marcellinus, ca. Ammianus was at times very detailed in his descriptions of events but at other times he expressed reluctance to get caught up in what he called insignificant details, such as what one emperor said at table, or left out the reasons why the common soldiers were led before the standards for punishment.[20] This was perhaps related to his awareness that proximity to events provided on the one hand an opportunity to draw on personal observation, and to include autobiographical content while on the other he could offend powerful people by omission as well as by inclusion.