Eutropius (historian)

For other people with the same name, seeEutropius.

Eutropius(fl. 363–387) was aRomanofficial andhistorian.His bookBreviarium Historiae Romanaesummarizes events from the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC down to the author's lifetime. Appreciated by later generations for its clear presentation and writing style,theBreviariumcan be used as a supplement to more comprehensive Roman historical texts that have survived in fragmentary condition.

Life

The exact background and birthplace of Eutropius is disputed. Some scholars claim he was born in Burdigala (Bordeaux) and was a man of medicine.Others, most notably Harold W. Bird, have dismissed these claims as being highly unlikely. Eutropius has been referred to as 'Italian' in other sources and supposedly held estates inAsia.Aside from that, his name was Greek, making it unlikely he came fromGaul.Confusion about this has arisen due to the fact that Eutropius was a popular name inlate antiquity.He was almost certainly apaganand remained one under the emperorJulian's Christian successors.

He served as the imperial secretary (Latin:magister memoriae) inConstantinople.He accompaniedJulian the Apostate(r.361–363) onhis expeditionagainst the Sassanids in 363.He survived at least as late as the reign of the emperorValens(364–378), to whom he dedicated hisSummary of Roman History.Eutropius may have been the same Eutropius that wasproconsul,orGovernorofAsiafrom 371 to 372.He may have also been the Praetorian Prefect of the Illyrian Provinces from 380 to 381,as well as possibly being aconsulin 387.

Breviarium Historiae Romanae

Eutropius'sSummary of Roman History(Latin:Breviarium Historiae Romanae) orSummary from the Founding of Rome(Breviarium ab Urbe Condita) is a ten-chapter compendium ofRoman historyfromits foundationto the short reign ofJovian.It was compiled with considerable care from the best accessible authorities. It was written in a clear and simple style, and it treats its subjects with general impartiality.The message of the book is simple, that Romans always overcome their problems. This theme became especially important after the Battle of Adrianople.

Eutropius stressed the importance of the Senate in his work.This is probably secret advice to Valens.For theRepublicanperiod, Eutropius depended uponan epitomeofLivy.For theEmpire,he appears to have usedSuetoniusand the now lostEnmannsche Kaisergeschichte,Enmann'sHistory of the Emperors.At the end, he probably made use of his own personal experiences.The fact that the work ends with the reign ofJovianimplies that it was written during the reign of eitherValentinian IorValens.If that was true, than the work would have been written between 364 and 378.

Legacy

The independent value of hisSummaryis small, but it sometimes fills a gap left by the more authoritative records. It is particularly useful to historians for its account of theFirst Punic War,as no copy of Livy's original books for that period have survived.

Its stylistic and methodological virtues caused it to be much used by later Roman chroniclers.In particular, it received expanded editions byPaul the DeaconandLandolf Sagax,which repeated the original text and then continued it into the reigns ofJustinian the GreatandLeo the Armenianrespectively.It was translated intoGreekbyPaeaniusaround 380and by Capito Lycius in the 6th century. The latter translation has survived almost in its entirety.

Although Eutropius's style contains some idiosyncrasies, the work's plain style made it long a favorite elementary Latin schoolbook.A scholarly edition was compiled by H. Droysen in 1879, containing Capito Lycius's Greek edition and the expanded Latin editions of Paul and Landolf.There have been numerous English editions and translations, including Bird's.

References

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Eutropius".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 958.
• Bird, Harold W., ed. (1993),Eutropius: Breviarium,Liverpool: Liverpool University Press,ISBN978-0853232087.
• Bleckmann, Bruno; Groß, Jonathan (2018).Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita.Kleine und fragmentarische Historiker der Spätantike.Vol. B3. Paderborn: Schöningh.ISBN978-3-657-78916-0.
• Den Boer, Willem (1972),Some Minor Roman Historians,Leiden: Brill, pp.114 & seq.,ISBN90-04-03545-1
• Lieu, Samuel N. C. (1998),"Eutropius",Encyclopaedia Iranica,vol. IX, Fasc. 1, p. 77.

External links

• Online version of a 1559/61 Basel edition of theBreviariumwith detailed comments byGlareanusand other humanists (Latin)
• Eutropius,Abridgement of Roman History,John Selby Watson (translator), (1853) (fromForum Romanum;both Latin text and English translation)
• Eutropius,Abridgement of Roman History,John Selby Watson (translator), (1886) (fromThe Tertullian Project;only English translation)
• Eutropius,Abridgement of Roman History,Lamberto Bozzi (translator), (2019) (fromCRT Pesaro;both Latin text and English translation)
• Eutropius,Eutropii Breviarium(fromThe Latin Library;only Latin text)
• Eutropius,Eutropi Breviarium ab urbe condita cum versionibus graecis et Pauli Landolfique additamentis,Ed. Droysen, Hans. (fromMonumenta Germaniae Historica Digital); Image files include the preface, Greek and Latin text, critical apparatus, appendices and indices
• The Chinese translation of Eutropi Breviarium