publication online or last modification online. 38 Cf. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Make international friendships? "Ammianus Marcellinus - Life" Literature and the Ancient World, Critical Edition He then reports the exclamation of a standard bearer: perge, felicissime omnium Caesar, quo te fortuna prosperior ducit. Yet the greater focus on detail allowed by the battle narrative means that the scope of action is somewhat exploded, and certain concluding elements of the speech are delayed, just as certain of the introductory elements were dispersed in explanatory text. 20Julian moves through the customary apostrophe flattering his audience (commilitones mei, XVI, 12, 9) and presents his proposition to their good judgment in the tractatio (XVI, 12, 11). Amsterdam, North-Holland, 1992, p.27-37. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military It was a major victory of barbarian horsemen over Roman infantry and marked the beginning of serious Germanic inroads into Roman territory. Fourth-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote: "Never, since the Battle of Cannae, has there been such slaughter." Thomas J. Sienkewicz. The whole of Ammianus Book XVI is a sort of textual monument to Julians unexpected prowess on the field and to the authority that Ammianus thought due him. R. Seager notes that Ammianus use of cautus in military contexts is apt to be negative27. References to this work on external resources. Nevertheless, his portrayal of Julian at such a crucial juncture reveals both a deep understanding of the motivation of his character and a subtle approach to the polemic he offers in Julians behalf. In the meantime, more information about the article and the author can be found by clicking on the authors name. Taking a group abroad? Now, in a narrative that is meant to add consummate weight to his account of Julians military successes in Gaul, Ammianus reveals the Caesar as an active participant in his own destiny. Ammianus's loyalty is to the Roman Empire, to his From Julians first appearance as a candidate for imperial office in Book XV, the historian takes the view, shared by Libanius and Julian himself, that the young scholar, snatched unexpectedly from a private life of study and thrust into a public life of imperial service, was but a pawn in his elder colleagues cynical game of rulership, Magnentius (350-353) and Silvanus (355). Omissions? Intense Roman patriotism led him to write in Latin and fill the void after Tacitus. Ammianus speech scenes, being careful amalgams of ceremony and direct speech and formally distinct from the surrounding narrative, are thus appropriate literary expressions of fourth-century imperial ideology and experience. In the speech that answers Julians usurpation of Augustan rank Constantius speaks with his face molded into an appearance of calm and confidence (, ad serenitatis speciem et fiduciae uultu format. , Columbia, University of Missouri Press, 1986, p.69; 7176. ber seine Ttigkeiten berichtet vor allem der Geschichtsschreiber Ammianus Marcellinus.. Paulus stammte aus Spanien. Priscus first tells of their long journey from Constantinople to Scythia, the territory then occupied by the Huns north of the lower Danube. Of special interest in this case is the tidy way in which the historian emphasizes the combination of divine and popular consent for Julian, which, though not excluding Constantius indispensable support, has the effect of diminishing its prominence and leaving his motivations for the elevation in question. 22The entire sentence that describes the soldiers interruption and its motivation merits quotation here because of the extremely compact manner in which Ammianus on the one hand softens the obvious fact that Julians speech has missed its mark, and on the other combines the speech tropes of divine favour and good generalship in a paradoxical elevation of the failed orator: Nec finiri perpessi, quae dicebantur, stridore dentium infrendentes ardoremque pugnandi hastis illidendo scuta monstrantes in hostem se duci iam conspicuum exorabant caelitis dei fauore fiduciaque sui et fortunati rectoris expertis uirtutibus freti atque, ut exitus docuit, salutaris quidam genius praesens ad dimicandum eos, dum addesse potuit, incitabat (XVI, 12, 13). This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. Now, in a narrative that is meant to add consummate weight to his account of Julians military successes in Gaul, Ammianus reveals the Caesar as an active participant in his own destiny. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. It is a particularly interesting specimen, however, insofar as it advances these standards in a narrative context in which both Julians right to rule and his capacity for the job are seriously in question. 22 Cf. Ammianus is scrupulous in reporting the facts of Julians decision in this speech-scene, but he arranges them in such a way that the starkness of the contrast between Julians opinion and that of his advisors is diminished. Read this book online: HTML (as submitted), DG: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Italy, Vatican City, Malta, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587.html.images, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28587/28587-h/28587-h.htm, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587.epub3.images, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587.epub.noimages, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587.kf8.images, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587.kindle.images, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28587/28587-0.txt, The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus. Ed. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian Language. cit., p.104-110. 10 He does so with the aid of an allusion from Vergil: praescia uenturi (Ammianus, XV, 8, 9) = praescia uenturi (Vergil, Aeneid VI, 65). , p. 100, notes that the interpolation of Florentius disquisition and Ammianus subsequent discussion of the Alamannic army before the concluding acclamation has a dramatic effect of delay similar to that in the introduction to the speech. His Res gestae in 31 books runs from Nerva to the death of Valens (96378); extant are books 14 (353) to 31, published between 392 and 397. Yet it is rather straightforward, unadorned, and brief, Julians sole object being to present to the soldiers his plan to put off the fighting until the next day. The whole book is famously heralded by Ammianus elegant disclaimer that though he might be accused of panegyric in relating Julians activity, he actually speaks the truth (XVI, 1, 3). The speech is a persuasive failure, and in this sense conflicts with the overall tenor of the Caesars presentation in the episode. Instead, as a reminder of the emergent military occasion, the marching ranks are introduced according to their order and kind: infantry, cavalry, cataphractarii, and archers. A Roman historian chronicles Rome on the brink of collapseAmmianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. Given the warmer attitude towards Ammianus rhetoric and willingness to view it as an effective tool of mimesis and of persuasion, it is surprising that the historians treatment of deliberative oratory in, arguably the most overt species of rhetoric in Roman historiography of the grand style has received so little focused attention to date. Put another way, we could say that in his effort to represent a different reality than that of traditional Roman historiography, Ammianus had to transform deliberative rhetorics shape and role, yet has at the same time preserved its capacity to invest narrative with an innate intellectual dimension8. The Strasbourg speech captures Julian at a point of military crisis, to be sure, but also at a point in his relationship with Constantius Augustus in which his success is both expected and suspected. Such a concerted strategy presupposes not only the close communication of the two imperial figures, but also a degree of trust on the part of Constantius, whose own fortunes would be endangered by a dubious or untrustworthy colleague in a military campaign. In a life that spanned the reigns of the Flavian emperors and of Trajan, Livy Given this background, it seems that Constantius appointment of Julian shows a calculated degree of confidence and faith in an untried personality, rather than an underhanded cunning. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The view that Ammianus intends Julians speech to stand in the tradition of the reverse psychology exhortation, whereby a general speaks contrary to his own mind in order to test or otherwise deceive the soldiery into doing what he wants, is attractive, but seems only barely possible in the situation, and is not consistent with Ammianus characterization of Julian. This encourages interpretation that moves beyond their episodic roles in the narrative and allows us both to establish the stereotypical patterns of ceremonial they represent, and to register subtle alterations within them. cit., p.66-67 and n. 194, notes that the speech of the signifer is a trope of Roman historiography. WebThe later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) by. 2001 eNotes.com Following the break is the more regular focus on the speaker as he prepares to address the troops, gathered in wedge-formation, as if to emphasise the fact that they are on a battlefield rather than in a camp: indictaque solitis uocibus quiete cuneatim circumsistentes alloquitur genuina placiditate sermonis. The appeal to divine favour, however, a common feature of the speeches, stands in a special position in this one, as we shall soon see. On the one hand, Ammianus focuses on the emperor in the three different varieties of adlocutio ceremony (i. e. battle-field harangue, promotion of junior imperial candidate by senior, accession of single Augustus) as a persona encompassing the multiple political, military, and religious dimensions of the late-antique imperial office. , diss. g. b. pighi, Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum, ed. After these words had been spoken no one was silent, but all the soldiers began to strike their shields on their knees with a horrible clash. Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books. cit., p.98, quotes Ciceros precepts on the quality of consilium in prouidendo (Cicero, Pro lege Manilia 29). These are all available in a course packet or on TED. The rhetorical Prowess of Ammianus Constantius, in D.Ct & P.Fleury (eds), Discours politique et histoire dans lAntiquit, Besanon, ISTA (Supplment des DHA, 8), 2012, p. 211-248. Yet the historian does not allow the contrast between the scene of accession and the. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. See also M.Roberts, The Treatment of Narrative in Late Antique Literature: Ammianus Marcellinus (XVI, 10), Rutilius Namatianus and Paulinus of Pella, Philologus 132 (1988), p.181-195, and J.Fontaine, Le Style dAmmien Marcellin et lesthtique thodosienne, in J.denBoeft & alii (eds), Cognitio Gestorum. As is clear from the formal construction of this speech-scene, which lacks several of the normative features of his other. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. t. klauser [Stuttgart 1941 (1950)] 1:386394. , p.177, notes Virgilian and Livian echoes in this phrase. 7 There are twelve imperial set speeches in the extant narrative: XIV, 10, 11: Constantius on the battlefield; XV, 8, 5: Constantius elevates Julian to Caesarian rank; XVI, 12, 9: Julian on the field at Strasbourg; XVII, 13, 26: Constantius celebrates his Sarmatian victory; XX, 5, 3: Julian accepts unilateral Augustan elevation; XXI, 5, 2: Julian declares open hostilities against Constantius Augustus; XXI, 13, 10: Constantius declares open hostilities against Julian; XXIII, 5, 16 and XXIV, 3, 4: Julian on the Persian campaign; XXVI, 2, 6: Valentinians Augustan accession; XVII, 6, 12: Valentinian elevates Gratian to Augustan rank. Cuius oculos cum uenustate terribiles uultumque excitatius gratum diu multumque contuentes, qui futurus sit, colligebant uelut scrutatis ueteribus libris, quorum lectio per corporum signa pandit animarum interna. Less attention has been paid to a curious instance of oratorical rhetoric within the episode. His knowledge of ancient history and literature is impressive. His writings are an indispensable basis for our knowledge of the late Roman world. Ammianus Marcellinus, Greek by birth but writing in Latin c. AD 390, was the last great Roman historian. | ISBN 9780140444063 On a thumbnail to go to Google Books a style below, and will be the first in! And literature is impressive speech is a trope of Roman historiography on a to! The article and the author can be found by clicking on the name... In this sense conflicts with the overall tenor of the signifer is a persuasive failure and! 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