Anonymus Valesianus
Encyclopedia
Anonym[o]us Valesianus is the conventional title of a compilation of two fragmentary vulgar Latin
chronicle
s, named for its 17th-century editor, Henri Valois, or Henricus Valesius
(1603–76), who published the text for the first time in 1636, together with his first printed edition of the Res Gestae of Ammianus Marcellinus
. The texts exist only in a single ninth-century manuscript in Berlin. They are sometimes referred to as the Excerpta Valesiani.
Anonymus Valesianus I, sometimes given the separate conventional title Origo Constantini Imperatoris ("The Lineage of the Emperor Constantine") possibly dates from around 390, and is generally regarded as providing a reliable source.
Anonymus Valesianus II, written about 527, bears the heading item ex libris Chronicorum inter cetera. The text, which mostly deals with the reign of the Gothic king in Italy, Theodoric the Great
, "while poorly written is based on a no longer extant chronicle by the bishop of Ravenna
, Maximianus
, a highly erudite and knowledgable scholar".
The work was used by Edward Gibbon
as a major source for the Roman perspective on the Ostrogothic
period in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
.
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s, named for its 17th-century editor, Henri Valois, or Henricus Valesius
Henri Valois
Henri Valois or in classical circles, Henricus Valesius, was a philologist and a student of classical and ecclesiastical historians...
(1603–76), who published the text for the first time in 1636, together with his first printed edition of the Res Gestae of Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
. The texts exist only in a single ninth-century manuscript in Berlin. They are sometimes referred to as the Excerpta Valesiani.
Anonymus Valesianus I, sometimes given the separate conventional title Origo Constantini Imperatoris ("The Lineage of the Emperor Constantine") possibly dates from around 390, and is generally regarded as providing a reliable source.
Anonymus Valesianus II, written about 527, bears the heading item ex libris Chronicorum inter cetera. The text, which mostly deals with the reign of the Gothic king in Italy, Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, "while poorly written is based on a no longer extant chronicle by the bishop of Ravenna
Bishop of Ravenna
This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna, and of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia. The earlier ones were frequently tied to the Exarchate of Ravenna. -Diocese of Ravenna :*St. Apollinare, legendarily to 79, historically in the era of Septimius Severus*St...
, Maximianus
Maximianus of Ravenna
Maximianus of Ravenna, or Maximian was bishop of Ravenna.Born in the Istrian city of Pula , Maximianus was consecrated bishop of Ravenna in 546 by Pope Vigilius in Patras, Greece. Maximianus was a forty-eight year old deacon from Pola when he became the twenty-sixth bishop of Ravenna...
, a highly erudite and knowledgable scholar".
The work was used by Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
as a major source for the Roman perspective on the Ostrogothic
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its...
period in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a non-fiction history book written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes. Volume I was published in 1776, and went through six printings. Volumes II and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, VI in 1788–89...
.
External links
- Origo Constantini Imperatoris (in English).
- The Latin Library. Anonymus Valesianus Pars Posterior: Chronica Theodericiana (in Latin).
- LacusCurtius: Anonymous Valesianus (English and Latin text with notes and commentary).
Further reading
- James Noel Adams, The Text and Language of a Vulgar Latin Chronicle (Anonymous Valesianus II) (University of London), 1976;
- Ingemar König, Aus der Zeit Theodorichs des Großen: Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar einer anonymen Quelle, Darmstadt 1997.
- S.J.B. Barnish, "The Anonymus Valesianus II as a source for the last years of Theoderic", Latomus, 42 (1983:572-596).
- Ingemar König (ed.), Anonymus Valesianus, Origo Constantini. Part I : Text und Kommentar, (Trierer Historische Förschungen) Trier 1987.
- Ingemar König, Aus der Zeit Theodorics der grossen: Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar einer anonymen Quelle, Darmstadt, 1997.
- Isabel Lasala Navarro, Pilar López Hernando, "Chronica Theodericiana, comentario, notas y traduccion", Habis, 40 (2009:251-275).