Epilogue

The Epilogue offers a summation of the main arguments of the book; namely that Ammianus Marcellinus casts the major episodes of Julian’s reign as topoi, which are familiar from classicizing historiography in Latin, and that in doing so he deliberately presents a more ‘Romanized’ account of Julian for a Western, Latin-speaking audience. The Epilogue also compares the various points in the narrative where the narrator appears as a participant, and suggests that these are all conditioned by Ammianus’ wish to use his ‘presence’ as a way both of critiquing Julian, and of creating authority for his version of Julian’s reign.

Geography · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Globalization, Historical Perspectives, and International Relations · History