The ''Chronica'' or ''Cronaca Gallica of 511'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 511'', is a chronicle of

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

preserved today in a single manuscript of the thirteenth century now in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. It resembles in all its traits another late antique Gallic chronicle, the ''

Chronica Gallica of 452 The ''Chronica Gallica of 452'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 452'', is a Latin chronicle of Late Antiquity, presented in the form of annals, which continues that of Jerome. It was edited by Theodor Mommsen in the ''Monumenta Germaniae His ...

'', of which it may be a continuation. Like the chronicle of 452, it was written in the south of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, possibly at

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. The sources of its author include the earlier chronicle, the chronicle of

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Se ...

, that of Hydatius, that of

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

, and the imperial

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

ar records. It was added to a compilation of texts in Spain in 733. The chronicle is considered an extremely complex document, containing an

epitome An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." A ...

—probably an epitome that has been condensed further—instead of Severus' chronicle detailing the history of the world. It was also described as one of the earliest extant works that used Hydatius as a source and was an exiguous revision—and also continuation—of

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

' chronicle translated by Jerome. The chronicle covers the period from 379 to 509/511, from which derives its name. Its entries are short and pointed, but only (approximately) datable by the rare reference to the regnal year of an emperor and by the (assumed) chronological ordering of events. Among the events for which there is no other extant source is the defeat and death of Anthemiolus around 471. Some of its contents including the dates of an emperor's reign and the chronology of events are not accurate.

Notes

Sources

*Burgess, R. "The Gallic Chronicle of 511: A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction." ''Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources''. edd. R. W. Mathisen and D. Shantzer. Aldershot, 2001. pp 85–100. *Jan-Markus Kötter, Carlo Scardino (eds.): ''Gallische Chroniken'' (= '' Kleine und fragmentarische Historiker der Spätantike'' G 7–8). Schöningh, Paderborn 2016, (edition, translation and commentary of the Chronica). {{Authority control 6th-century history books 6th-century books in Latin 511