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The Historia Augusta is a biographical work roughly following the
model of the imperial biographer Suetonius (LCL 31, 38) and
covering the lives of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (r. 117-138)
to Carinus (r. 283-285), with a lacuna between the lives of the
Gordians and the Valerians. Although the work comes down to us as a
collection of thirty books written by six different authors, it is
now generally considered to be the creation of a single individual
writing under several pseudonyms no earlier than the late fourth
century. It is a thoroughly enigmatic work whose origins, nature,
and purpose remain obscure; the very beginning of the life of
Hadrian is lost, and with it any general introduction that may have
existed. While the Historia Augusta is our most detailed surviving
source for the second and third centuries, often providing details
beyond the Greek accounts, it is not a trustworthy source for
historical information: too many of the details are anachronistic,
unsupported, or preposterous, or contradicted internally or by
better sources, and many documents, speeches, acclamations, and
inscriptions that it quotes or cites are entirely fictional. The
Historia Augusta nevertheless has its attractions: for the
connoisseur of biography the author provides plenty of wordplay,
puns, allusions, literary games, and mock-scholarly digressions,
and for the casual reader he offers vivid characterizations of
emperors both good and bad. This revision of the original Loeb
edition by David Magie offers text, translation, and annotation
that are fully current with modern scholarship.
The fourth and fifth centuries AD were an era of religious conflict, political change and military conflict. The responses of contemporary historians to these turbulent times reflect their diverse backgrounds - Christian and pagan, writing in both Greek and Latin, documenting church and state. This volume is the first to offer an accessible survey of the lives and works of these varied figures. The first half of the book explores the structure, style, purpose and nature of their writings. The second half compares and contrasts the information the historians provide, and the views they express on some central topics. These range from historiography, government and religion to barbarian invasions, and the controversial emperors Julian 'The Apostate' and Theodosius. eBook available with sample pages: 0203458753
The fourth and fifth centuries AD were an era of religious conflict, political change and military conflict. The responses of contemporary historians to these turbulent times reflect their diverse backgrounds - Christian and pagan, writing in both Greek and Latin, documenting church and state. This volume is the first to offer an accessible survey of the lives and works of these varied figures. The first half of the book explores the structure, style, purpose and nature of their writings. The second half compares and contrasts the information the historians provide, and the views they express on some central topics. These range from historiography, government and religion to barbarian invasions, and the controversial emperors Julian 'The Apostate' and Theodosius.
The Historia Augusta is a biographical work roughly following the
model of the imperial biographer Suetonius (LCL 31, 38) and
covering the lives of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (r. 117-138)
to Carinus (r. 283-285), with a lacuna between the lives of the
Gordians and the Valerians. Although the work comes down to us as a
collection of thirty books written by six different authors, it is
now generally considered to be the creation of a single individual
writing under several pseudonyms no earlier than the late fourth
century. It is a thoroughly enigmatic work whose origins, nature,
and purpose remain obscure; the very beginning of the life of
Hadrian is lost, and with it any general introduction that may have
existed. While the Historia Augusta is our most detailed surviving
source for the second and third centuries, often providing details
beyond the Greek accounts, it is not a trustworthy source for
historical information: too many of the details are anachronistic,
unsupported, or preposterous, or contradicted internally or by
better sources, and many documents, speeches, acclamations, and
inscriptions that it quotes or cites are entirely fictional. The
Historia Augusta nevertheless has its attractions: for the
connoisseur of biography the author provides plenty of wordplay,
puns, allusions, literary games, and mock-scholarly digressions,
and for the casual reader he offers vivid characterizations of
emperors both good and bad. This revision of the original Loeb
edition by David Magie offers text, translation, and annotation
that are fully current with modern scholarship.
The Historia Augusta is a biographical work roughly following the
model of the imperial biographer Suetonius (LCL 31, 38) and
covering the lives of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (r. 117-138)
to Carinus (r. 283-285), with a lacuna between the lives of the
Gordians and the Valerians. Although the work comes down to us as a
collection of thirty books written by six different authors, it is
now generally considered to be the creation of a single individual
writing under several pseudonyms no earlier than the late fourth
century. It is a thoroughly enigmatic work whose origins, nature,
and purpose remain obscure; the very beginning of the life of
Hadrian is lost, and with it any general introduction that may have
existed. While the Historia Augusta is our most detailed surviving
source for the second and third centuries, often providing details
beyond the Greek accounts, it is not a trustworthy source for
historical information: too many of the details are anachronistic,
unsupported, or preposterous, or contradicted internally or by
better sources, and many documents, speeches, acclamations, and
inscriptions that it quotes or cites are entirely fictional. The
Historia Augusta nevertheless has its attractions: for the
connoisseur of biography the author provides plenty of wordplay,
puns, allusions, literary games, and mock-scholarly digressions,
and for the casual reader he offers vivid characterizations of
emperors both good and bad. This revision of the original Loeb
edition by David Magie offers text, translation, and annotation
that are fully current with modern scholarship.
By turns outlandish, humorous, and scatological, the Historia
Augusta is an eccentric compilation of biographies of the Roman
emperors and usurpers of the second and third centuries. Historians
of late antiquity have struggled to explain the fictional date and
authorship of the work and its bizarre content (did the Emperor
Carinus really swim in pools of floating apples and melons? did the
usurper Proculus really deflower a hundred virgins in fifteen
days?). David Rohrbacher offers, instead, a literary analysis of
the work, focusing on its many playful allusions. Marshaling an
array of interdisciplinary research and original analysis, he
contends that the Historia Augusta originated in a circle of
scholarly readers with an interest in biography, and that its
allusions and parodies were meant as puzzles and jokes for a
knowing and appreciative audience.
By turns outlandish, humorous, and scatological, the "Historia
Augusta" is an eccentric compilation of biographies of the Roman
emperors and usurpers of the second and third centuries. Historians
of late antiquity have struggled to explain the fictional date and
authorship of the work and its bizarre content (did the Emperor
Carinus really swim in pools of floating apples and melons? did the
usurper Proculus really deflower a hundred virgins in fifteen
days?). David Rohrbacher offers, instead, a literary analysis of
the work, focusing on its many playful allusions. Marshaling an
array of interdisciplinary research and original analysis, he
contends that the "Historia Augusta" originated in a circle of
scholarly readers with an interest in biography, and that its
allusions and parodies were meant as puzzles and jokes for a
knowing and appreciative audience.
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