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Eutropius (historian)

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Eutropius (fl. AD 363–387) was a Roman official and historian. His book, Breviarium Historiae Romanae, summarizes events from the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC down to the author's lifetime. Appreciated by later generations for its clear presentation and writing style,[1] the Breviarium can be used as a supplement to more comprehensive Roman historical texts which have survived in fragmentary condition.

Life

The exact background and birthplace of Eutropius is disputed. Some scholars claim he was born in Burdigala (Bordeaux) and was a man of medicine.[1] Others, however, most notably Harold W. Bird, have dismissed these claims as being highly unlikely. Eutropius has been referred to as 'Italian' in other sources and supposedly held estates in Asia. Aside from that, his name was Greek, making it unlikely he came from Gaul. Confusion about this has arisen due to the fact that Eutropius was a popular name in late antiquity.[2] He was, however, almost certainly a pagan and remained one under the emperor Julian's Christian successors.[1]

He served as the imperial secretary (Latin: magister memoriae) in Constantinople.[3] He accompanied Julian the Apostate (r. 361–363) on his expedition against the Sassanids in 363.[1][4] He survived at least as late as the reign of the emperor Valens (364–378), to whom he dedicated his Summary of Roman History.[3] Eutropius may have been the same Eutropius that was proconsul, or Governor of Asia from 371 to 372.[4] He may have also been the Praetorian Prefect of the Illyrian Provinces from 380 to 381,[4] as well possibly being a consul in 387.[4]

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Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called "Bordelais" (masculine) or "Bordelaises" (feminine). The term "Bordelais" may also refer to the city and its surrounding region.

Asia (Roman province)

Asia (Roman province)

The Asia was a Roman province covering most of western Anatolia, which was created following the Roman Republic's annexation of the Attalid Kingdom in 133 BC. After the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus, it was the most prestigious senatorial province and was governed by a proconsul. That arrangement endured until the province was subdivided in the fourth century AD.

Roman Gaul

Roman Gaul

Roman Gaul refers to Gaul under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

Late antiquity

Late antiquity

Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has generally been credited to historian Peter Brown, after the publication of his seminal work The World of Late Antiquity (1971). Precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century (235–284) to the early Muslim conquests (622–750), or as roughly contemporary with the Sasanian Empire (224–651). In the West its end was earlier, with the start of the Early Middle Ages typically placed in the 6th century, or earlier on the edges of the Western Roman Empire.

Paganism

Paganism

Paganism is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi. Alternative terms used in Christian texts were hellene, gentile, and heathen. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Graeco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry".

Julian (emperor)

Julian (emperor)

Julian was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place, caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate in Christian tradition.

Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople became the de facto capital of the Roman Empire upon its founding in 330, and became the de jure capital in AD 476 after the fall of Ravenna and the Western Roman Empire. It remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Following the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish capital then moved to Ankara. Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930, the city is today the largest city and financial centre of the Republic of Turkey (1923–present). It is also the largest city in Europe.

Julian's Persian expedition

Julian's Persian expedition

Julian's Persian expedition began in March 363 AD and was the final military campaign of the Roman emperor Julian. The Romans fought against the Sasanian Empire, ruled at the time by Shapur II.

Valens

Valens

Valens was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. In 378, Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the invading Goths, which astonished contemporaries and marked the beginning of barbarian encroachment into Roman territory.

Proconsul

Proconsul

A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.

List of Roman governors of Asia

List of Roman governors of Asia

This is a list of known governors of the Roman province of Asia. Created after 133 BC, the province was eventually reorganized by the emperor Augustus who assigned it to the Senate as a proconsular governorship. The province was divided by Diocletian during his reorganization of the empire during the 290s, and a small portion of the province retained the name. Eventually the province was absorbed into the Thracesian Theme sometime during the seventh century. Many of the dates listed are approximate dates for the holding of the office.

Roman consul

Roman consul

A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the cursus honorum after that of the censor. Each year, the Centuriate Assembly elected two consuls to serve jointly for a one-year term. The consuls alternated in holding fasces – taking turns leading – each month when both were in Rome. A consul's imperium extended over Rome and all its provinces.

Work

His Summary of Roman History (Latin: Breviarium Historiae Romanae) is a ten-chapter compendium of Roman history from its foundation to the short reign of Jovian.[4] It was compiled with considerable care from the best accessible authorities; it was written in a clear and simple style; and it treats its subjects with general impartiality.[3][1] The message of the book was simple, that Romans always overcome their problems. This theme became especially important after the Battle of Adrianople.[4] Eutropius stressed the importance of the Senate in his work.[4] This is probably secretly advice to Valens.[4] For the Republican period, Eutropius depended upon an epitome of Livy. For the Empire, he appears to have used Suetonius and the now lost Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte. At the end, he probably made use of his own personal experiences.[5] The fact that the work ends with the reign of Jovian implies that it was written during the reign of either Valentinian I or Valens.[4] If that was true, than the work would have been written between 364 and 378.[4]

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Jovian (emperor)

Jovian (emperor)

Jovian was Roman emperor from June 363 to February 364. As part of the imperial bodyguard, he accompanied Emperor Julian on his campaign against the Sasanian Empire. Julian was killed in battle, and the exhausted and ill-provisioned army declared Jovian his successor. Unable to cross the Tigris, Jovian extricated his troops from enemy territory by making peace with the Sasanids on humiliating terms. He spent the rest of his eight-month reign traveling back to Constantinople. After his arrival at Edessa, Jovian was petitioned by bishops over doctrinal issues concerning Christianity. He died at Dadastana, never having reached the capital.

Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Livy

Livy

Titus Livius, known in English as Livy, was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled Ab Urbe Condita, ''From the Founding of the City'', covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a friend of Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history.

Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic kings conventionally marks the end of classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Because of these events, along with the gradual Hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire, historians distinguish the medieval Roman Empire that remained in the Eastern provinces as the Byzantine Empire.

Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly referred to as Suetonius, was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of 12 successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian, properly titled De vita Caesarum. Other works by Suetonius concerned the daily life of Rome, politics, oratory, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians, and grammarians. A few of these books have partially survived, but many have been lost.

Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte

Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte

The Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte is a modern term for a hypothesized Latin historical work, written in the 4th century but now lost.

Valentinian I

Valentinian I

Valentinian I, sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor along with his brother Valens from 364 to 375. During his reign, he fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians, strengthening the border fortifications and conducting campaigns across the Rhine and Danube. His general Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scoti, and Saxons. Valentinian founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.

Valens

Valens

Valens was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. In 378, Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the invading Goths, which astonished contemporaries and marked the beginning of barbarian encroachment into Roman territory.

Legacy

The independent value of his Summary is small, but it sometimes fills a gap left by the more authoritative records. It is particularly useful to historians for its account of the First Punic War, as no copy of Livy's original books for that period have survived.

Its stylistic and methodological virtues caused it to be much used by later Roman chroniclers.[1] In particular, it received expanded editions by Paul the Deacon and Landolf Sagax[6] that repeated the original text and then continued it into the reigns of Justinian the Great and Leo the Armenian respectively.[3] It was translated into Greek by Paeanius around 380[1] and by Capito Lycius in the 6th century. The latter translation has survived almost in its entirety.

Although Eutropius's style contains some idiosyncrasies, the work's plain style made it long a favorite elementary Latin schoolbook.[3] A scholarly edition was compiled by H. Droysen in 1879, containing Capito Lycius's Greek edition and the expanded Latin editions of Paul and Landolf.[3] There have been numerous English editions and translations, including Bird's.[7]

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Source: "Eutropius (historian)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 17th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutropius_(historian).

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References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lieu (1998), p. 77.
  2. ^ Eutropius, active 4th century. (1993). The breviarium ab urbe condita of Eutropius : the right honourable secretary of state for general petitions : dedicated to Lord Valens, Gothicus Maximus & perpetual emperor. Bird, H. W. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-208-3. OCLC 28250017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Eutropius - Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  5. ^ Bird (1993), pp. xliv & seq.
  6. ^ Landolfus Sagax, Historia Miscella, about AD 1000.
  7. ^ Bird (1993).

Bibliography

External links
Political offices
Preceded by Consul of the Roman Empire
387
with Valentinian II
Succeeded by

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