Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived from ca. A.D. 330 until ca. A.D. 395, was the last true Roman historian. His Res gestae (History) was intended to be a continuation of the historian Cornelius Tacitus, ...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Thompson evaluates Ammianus as an historian, commenting that he is the best of his time period.
Some idea of his enormous stature may be obtained by contrasting him with t...
Read more
In the following essay, Blockley investigates the extent of Ammianus's borrowings from Tacitus and concludes that there is no convincing case that Tacitus was a major influence.
During the l...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Blockley argues that Ammianus wavers between the personae of objective historian and didactic moralist, using Ammianus's book on Constantius Gallus for illustration.
...
Read more
In the following essay, Momigliano reflects on Ammianus's motives in depicting himself as “intellectually isolated” and in keeping his emotions and opinions in check.
I
In the ...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Austin considers Ammianus's understanding of military intelligence.
It has been shown above [in N. J. E. Austin, Ammianus on Warfare: An Investigation into Ammianus...
Read more
In the following essay, Hunt discusses Ammianus's attitudes toward Christianity and Christians.
Ammianus Marcellinus, by common consent the last great historian of Rome, rounds off his obitu...
Read more
In the following essay, Wiedemann explores Ammianus's use of animal metaphors in describing individuals and groups of people.
Dietary practices are among the more obvious ways in which one g...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Barnes explores how reliable Ammianus is as an historian and discusses the divergent critical evaluations of his work.
At the close of his history, Ammianus Marcellinus de...
Read more
Ammianus Marcellinus
Critical Essay by E. A. Thompson
