This volume deals with several figures of spiritual authority in Christianity during late antiquity and the early middle ages, and seeks to illuminate the way in which the struggle for religious influence evolved with changes in church and society.
A number of literary portraits are examined, portraits which, in various literary genres, are themselves designed to establish and propagate the authority of the people whose lives and activities they describe.
The sequence begins with visionary and prophetic figures of the second and third centuries, proceeds through several testimonies from...

This commentary is the fifth volume in a series of commentaries on the fourth-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus, which continues the commentaries by P. de Jonge on Books XIV-IXX. In XXIV the Persian expedition of Julian is described, from its successful start until the failure to take the capital Ctesiphon. The commentary deals both with the philological, literary and linguistic problems in the Latin text and with the historical and geographical details that are necessary for an understanding of the course of events. Special attention is given to the author's highly personal involvement...

This volume deals with the episcopate of Cyril of Jerusalem (350 to 387). Its overall theme is the relationship between the city and its bishop and, in particular, Cyril's efforts to promote Jerusalem as the Christian city par excellence, by employing Jerusalem's religious symbols - the holy sites and the Cross. Apart from chapters on Jerusalem in the fourth century C.E. and on the life and works of Cyril, this study discusses important aspects and events of Cyril's episcopacy, such as his pastoral work as an urban bishop of the Jerusalem Christian community, Jerusalem's liturgy, the...

Book 25 of Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae is the final part of the trilogy (books 23-25) on the emperor Julian's Persian expedition. Covering a period of eight months, from June 17, 363 to February 17, 364, it contains a series of momentous events: the death of Julian on June 26, the surprising appointment of the unexperienced Jovian as his successor, the dramatic and difficult return of the Roman army, the painful surrender of Roman territory around the upper course of the Tigris to the Persian king Sapor, and finally Jovian's sudden death. The contrast between Julian, who for all...

Book 26 of Ammianus' Res Gestae is the first of the hexad which deals with the rule of the emperors Valentinian and Valens (364-378). In the first five chapters Ammianus describes the election of Valentinian, who appointed his brother Valens as his co-ruler, and subsequently divided the empire into an eastern and a western part. The next chapters deal with the revolt of Procopius. They offer the most detailed account of a coup d' etat in Roman historiography. The memory of Julian, whose death was the central theme of the preceding book, is still very much alive. None of the three...

Book 27 deals with events between 365 and 370. Military operations in the western and eastern half of the Empire take up a large part of the available space. Apart from military matters Ammianus deals with internal affairs. He discusses the terms of office of four Roman urban prefects and paints a picture of Petronius Probus, the mightiest civil official of the period. The most striking part of the book contains a portrait of the emperor Valentinian. This passage forms the centre of the book, which therefore has the structure of a triptych: of the two outer parts each contains military...

Ammianus Marcellinus, Greek by birth but writing in Latin c. AD 390, was the last great Roman historian. This book presents a collection of papers analysing his writings from a variety of perspectives.

Book 29 opens with the judicial terror in Antioch following the discovery of a plot against the emperor in the East, Valens, who played an active role in hunting down and executing the culprits. The account of these internal troubles is balanced by two long chapters at the end of the book dealing with warfare in Africa and Central Europe. The general Theodosius mercilessly crushed the revolt of the Moorish prince Firmus, while the emperor in the West, Valentinian, had to deal with violent invasions of the Quadi and the Sarmatians. The two central chapters are devoted to different aspects of...

The first part of Book 30 of Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae is devoted to the military and diplomatic struggle for Armenia between Valens, emperor of the East, and king Sapor II of Persia. The Romans successfully defend their position, until they are forced to deal with the Goths who threaten to cross the Danube border. The second half of Book 30 is dominated by Valentinian I, emperor of the West. Ammianus presents a kaleidoscopic picture of this emperor alternating between admiration for his military qualities and devotion to his duty and bitter criticism of his avarice and cruelty....