Principes cum Tyrannis
Two Studies on the Kaisergeschichte and its Tradition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9328836 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert W Burge (0000-0002-9229-3407, University of Ottawa, corresponding author), R W Burgess |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 491-500 |
| Publication date | 1993-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009838800040039 |
| OpenAlex | W2161247597 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 7 |
The Kaisergeschichte ( KG ) was a set of short imperial biographies extending from Augustus to the death of Constantine, probably written between 337 and c. 340. It no longer exists but its existence can be deduced from other surviving works. Amongst the histories of the fourth century – Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, Festus, Jerome's Chronici canones , the Historia Augusta , the Epitome de Caesaribus , and, in places, even Ammianus Marcellinus and perhaps the Origo Constantini imperatoris (Anonymi Valesiani pars prior) – there is a common selection of facts and errors, and common wording and phrasing in their narratives between Augustus and the death of Constantine, especially in their accounts of the third century. A natural assumption is that later historians copied earlier ones, yet later historians include information not contained in earlier ones, and historians who could not have known each other's work share similarities. For example, it looks as though Aurelius Victor was copying Eutropius, yet Victor wrote before Eutropius, and Eutropius contains information not in Victor and does not reproduce Victor's peculiar style or personal biases, things which he could hardly have avoided. Therefore Eutropius cannot be copying Victor. Since neither could have copied the other, there must therefore have been a common source. In his Chronici canones Jerome appears at first to be simply copying Eutropius. Yet when he deviates from Eutropius, his deviations usually mirror other histories, such as Suetonius, Victor, Festus, even the Epitome and the Historia Augusta , two works that had not even been written when Jerome compiled his chronicle and that did not use, and would never have used, the Christian chronicle as a source. Jerome was hurriedly dictating to his secretary, he had no time to peruse four or five works at a time for his brief notices. There must have been a single source that contained both the Eutropian material and the deviations common to Jerome and the other works. That source was the KG. It is the purpose of this paper to add to the above list of authors who relied upon the KG two other writers whose work can be shown to have derived, either at first hand or later, from the KG : Polemius Silvius and Ausonius
Art · Art history · Copying · Epitome · Literature · Narrative · Natural (archaeology · Style (visual arts · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
The Third-Century Usurpation and Fourth-Century Burial of Aureolus
The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of the Past
The Final 10 Years
Literary Sources on Constantine’s Time
Storia senza storie (IV-V secolo d.C.)
The Book Indices in the Manuscripts of Cassius Dio
A Common Source for Jerome, Eutropius, Festus, Ammianus, and the Epitome de Caesaribus between 358 and 378, along with Further Thoughts on the Date and Nature of the Kaisergeschichte
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2005 - 2022 (18) |
| Highly cited | No |