The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Ammianus Marcellinus
b. c. AD 325/330, probably Antioch; d. after 391 at Rome · Soldier · Historian · Pagan external witness · Antioch → Gaul → Mesopotamia → Rome
External witness
Who Ammianus Marcellinus was
The last great historian of Rome, and a pagan — which is exactly why the archive cites him twelve times. He served as a protector domesticus under Ursicinus, survived the siege of Amida and Julian’s Persian campaign, and retired to Rome to write thirty-one books from Nerva onward; only books 14 to 31 survive, covering 353 to 378. He describes himself in his own last sentence. His judgements on Christian bishops — on their luxury at Rome, on their bloodletting over doctrine — are the sharpest outside testimony the fourth century affords, and he gives them without malice.
One attestation only — the work is self-attesting: the author names himself, his office or his circumstances inside his own text, and no independent ancient source describes him.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Ammianus Marcellinus live?
Ammianus Marcellinus is dated b. c. AD 325/330, probably Antioch; d. after 391 at Rome in the archive, which places Ammianus Marcellinus in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Ammianus Marcellinus write?
Ammianus Marcellinus has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Res Gestae (The Roman History), in thirty-one books.
Which early sources mention Ammianus Marcellinus?
Ammianus Marcellinus is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Libanius of Antioch. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Ammianus Marcellinus from?
The archive associates Ammianus Marcellinus with Antioch, Gaul, Mesopotamia, Rome. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Res Gestae (The Roman History), in thirty-one books
c. AD 390–391; books 14–31 survive, covering 353–378Haec ut miles quondam et Graecus explicavi — ‘These events, as a former soldier and a Greek, I have set forth.’Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Epistula 1063, addressed to Marcellinus at Rome
c. AD 392[The key external evidence for Ammianus’ Antiochene origin — a letter from the city’s greatest rhetor to a Marcellinus giving readings at Rome.]Libanius of Antioch · Libanius, Ep. 1063
A letter of the pagan rhetorician Libanius of Antioch to Ammianus, praising his work. Standard text: Richard Foerster, Libanii Opera, vol. 11 (Teubner, 1922); English selections in A. F. Norman, Libanius: Autobiography and Selected Letters, Loeb Classical Library (1992).
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
Place
Places served
The 4 places the sources put Ammianus Marcellinus, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Antioch
- 2Gaulprovince only
- 3Mesopotamiaprovince only
- 4Rome