Of Ammianus Marcellinus, the writer of the following History, we know very little more than what can be collected from that portion of it which remains to us. From that source we learn that he was a native of Antioch, and a soldier; being one of the prefectores domestici —the body-guard of the emperor, into which none but men of noble birth were admitted. He was on the staff of Ursicinus, whom he attended in several of his expeditions; and he bore a share in the campaigns which Julian made again

ARGUMENT. I. The cruelty of the Cæsar Gallus.—II. The incursions of the Isaurians.—III. The unsuccessful plans of the Persians.—IV. The invasion of the Saracens, and the manners of that people.—V. The punishment of the adherents of Magnentius.—VI. The vices of the senate and people of Rome.—VII. The ferocity and inhumanity of the Cæsar Gallus.—VIII. A description of the provinces of the East.—IX. About the Cæsar Constantius Gallus.—X. The Emperor Constantius grants the Allemanni peace at their r

ARGUMENT. XI. § 1. In former times, when these provinces were little known, as being barbarous, they were considered to be divided into three races: [55] namely, the Celtæ, the same who are also called Galli; the Aquitani, and the Belgæ: all differing from each other in language, manners, and laws. 2. The Galli, who, as I have said, are the same as the Celtæ, are divided from the Aquitani by the river Garonne, which rises in the mountains of the Pyrenees; and after passing through many towns, lo

ARGUMENT. I. A panegyric of Julian the Cæsar.—II. Julian attacks and defeats the Allemanni.—III. He recovers Cologne, which had been taken by the Franks, and concludes a peace with the king of the Franks.—IV. He is besieged in the city of Sens by the Allemanni.—V. His virtues—VI. The prosecution and acquittal of Arbetio.—VII. The Cæsar Julian is defended before the emperor by his chamberlain Eutherius against the accusations of Marcellus.—VIII. Calumnies are rife in the camp of the Emperor Const

ARGUMENT. I. Julian crosses the Rhine and plunders and burns the towns of the Allemanni, repairs the fortress of Trajan, and grants the barbarians a truce for ten months.—II. He hems in six hundred Franks who are devastating the second Germania, and starves them into surrender.—III. He endeavours to relieve the Gauls from some of the tribute which weighs them down.—IV. By order of the Emperor Constantius an obelisk is erected at Rome in the Circus Maximus;—some observations on obelisks and on hi

ARGUMENT. I. The Cæsar Julian consults the welfare of the Gauls, and provides for the general observance of justice.—II. He repairs the walls of the castles on the Rhine which he had recovered; crosses the Rhine, and having conquered those of the Alemanni who remained hostile, he compels their kings to sue for peace, and to restore their prisoners.—III. Why Barbatio, the commander of the infantry, and his wife, were beheaded by command of Constantius.—IV. Sapor, king of Persia, prepares to attac

ARGUMENT. I. Sapor, while exhorting the citizens of Amida to surrender, is assailed with arrows and javelins by the garrison—And when king Grumbates makes a similar attempt, his son is slain.—II. Amida is blockaded, and within two days is twice assaulted by the Persians.—III. Ursicinus makes a vain proposal to sally out by night, and surprise the besiegers, being resisted by Sabinianus, the commander of the forces.—IV. A pestilence, which breaks out in Amida, is checked within ten days by a litt

ARGUMENT. I. Lupicinus is sent as commander-in-chief into Britain with an army to check the incursions of the Picts and Scots.—II. Ursicinus, commander of the infantry, is attacked by calumnies, and dismissed.—III. An eclipse of the sun—A discussion on the two suns, and on the causes of solar and lunar eclipses, and the various changes and shapes of the moon.—IV. The Cæsar Julian, against his will, is saluted as emperor at Paris, where he was wintering, by his Gallican soldiers, whom Constantius

ARGUMENT. I. The Emperor Julian at Vienne learns that Constantius is about to die—How he knew it—An essay on the different arts of learning the future.—II. Julian at Vienne feigns to be a Christian in order to conciliate the multitude, and on a day of festival worships God among the Christians.—III. Vadomarius, king of the Allemanni, breaking his treaty, lays waste our frontier, and slays Count Libino, with a few of his men.—IV. Julian having intercepted letters of Vadomarius to the Emperor Cons

ARGUMENT. I. From fear of Constantius Julian halts in Dacia, and secretly consults the augurs and soothsayers.—II. When he hears of Constantius's death he passes through Thrace, and enters Constantinople, which he finds quiet; and without a battle becomes sole master of the Roman empire.—III. Some of the adherents of Constantius are condemned, some deservedly, some wrongfully.—IV. Julian expels from the palace all the eunuchs, barbers, and cooks—A statement of the vices of the eunuchs about the

ARGUMENT. I. Julian in vain attempts to restore the temple at Jerusalem, which had been destroyed long before.—II. He orders Arsaces, king of Armenia, to prepare for the war with Persia, and with an army and auxiliary troops of the Scythians crosses the Euphrates.—III. As he marches through Mesopotamia, the princes of the Saracenic tribes of their own accord offer him a golden crown and auxiliary troops—A Roman fleet of eleven hundred ships arrives, and bridges over the Euphrates.—IV. A descript

ARGUMENT. I. Julian invades Assyria with his army; receives the surrender of Anatha, a fort on the Euphrates, and burns it.—II. Having made attempts on other fortresses and towns, he burns some which were deserted, and receives the surrender of Pirisabora, and burns it.—III. On account of his successes, he promises his soldiers one hundred denarii a man; and as they disdain so small a donation, he in a modest oration recalls them to a proper feeling.—IV. The town of Maogamalcha is stormed by the

ARGUMENT. I. The Persians attack the Romans on their march, but are gallantly repelled.—II. The army is distressed by want of corn and forage; Julian is alarmed by prodigies.—III. The emperor, while, in order to repulse the Persians, who pressed him on all quarters, he rashly rushes into battle without his breastplate, is wounded by a spear, and is borne back to his tent, where he addresses those around him, and, after drinking some cold water, dies.—IV. His virtues and vices; his personal appea

ARGUMENT. I. Valentinian, the tribune of the second school of the Scutarii, by the unanimous consent of both the civil and military officers, is elected emperor at Nicæa, in his absence—A dissertation on leap-year.—II. Valentinian, being summoned from Ancyra, comes with speed to Nicæa, and is again unanimously elected emperor, and having been clothed in the purple, and saluted as Augustus, harangues the army.—III. Concerning the prefecture of Rome, as administered by Apronianus.—IV. Valentinian

ARGUMENT. I. The Allemanni having defeated the Romans, put the counts Charietto and Severianus to death.—II. Jovinus, the commander of the cavalry in Gaul, surprises and routs two divisions of the Allemanni; defeats a third army in the country of the Catalauni, the enemy losing six thousand killed and four thousand wounded.—III. About the three prefects of the city, Symmachus, Lampadius, and Juventius—The quarrels of Damasus and Ursinus about the bishopric of Rome.—IV. The people and the six pro

ARGUMENT. I. Many persons, even senators and women of senatorial family are accused at Rome of poisonings, adultery, and debauchery, and are punished.—II. The Emperor Valentinian fortifies the whole Gallic bank of the Rhine with forts, castles, and towers; the Allemanni slay the Romans who are constructing a fortification on the other side of the Rhine.—The Maratocupreni, who are ravaging Syria, are, by the command of Valens, destroyed with their children and their town.—III. Theodosius restores

ARGUMENT. I. Theodorus, the secretary, aims at the imperial authority, and being accused of treason before Valens at Antioch, and convicted, is executed, with many of his accomplices.—II. In the East many persons are informed against as guilty of poisoning and other crimes; and being condemned (some rightly, some wrongfully), are executed.—III. In the West many instances occur of the ferocity and insane cruelty of the emperor Valentinian.—IV. Valentinian crosses the Rhine on a bridge of boats, b

ARGUMENT. I. Para, king of Armenia, being summoned by Valens to Tarsus, and being detained there under pretence of doing him honour, escapes with three hundred of his countrymen; and having baffled the sentinels on the roads, he regains his kingdom on horseback; but not long afterwards he is slain by Duke Trajan at an entertainment.—II. The embassies of the Emperor Valens and Sapor, king of Persia, who are at variance about the kingdoms of Armenia and Hiberia.—III. Valentinian, after having rava

ARGUMENT. I. Omens announcing the death of the Emperor Valens, and a disaster to be inflicted by the Gauls.—II. A description of the abodes and customs of the Huns, the Alani, and other tribes, natives of Asiatic Scythia.—III. The Huns, either by arms or by treaties, unite the Alani on the Don to themselves; invade the Goths, and drive them from their country.—IV. The chief division of the Goths, surnamed the Thuringians, having been expelled from their homes, by permission of Valens are conduct