Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 – c. 390) was a historian and politician of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. Victor was the author of a short history of imperial Rome, entitled ''De Caesaribus'' and covering the period from
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
to
Constantius II
Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...
. The work was published in 361. Under the emperor
Julian (361-363), Victor served as governor of
Pannonia Secunda
Pannonia Secunda was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica). Pannonia Secunda included parts of present-da ...
; in 389 he became
praefectus urbi
The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, a ...
(urban prefect), senior imperial official in Rome.
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
, xxi.10.
Works
Four small historical works have been ascribed to him, although only his authorship of ''De Caesaribus'' is securely established:
#''
Origo Gentis Romanae''
#''
De Viris Illustribus
''De Viris Illustribus'', meaning "concerning illustrious men", represents a genre of literature which evolved during the Italian Renaissance in imitation of the exemplary literature of Ancient Rome. It inspired the widespread commissioning of ...
Romae''
#''De Caesaribus'' (for which Aurelius Victor used the ''
Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte
The ('Enmann's History of the Emperors') is a modern term for a hypothesized Latin historical work, written in the 4th century but now lost.
The German scholar Alexander Enmann made in 1884 a comparison of several late Roman historical works and ...
'')
#''
Epitome de Caesaribus
The ''Epitome de Caesaribus'' is a Latin historical work written at the end of the 4th century.
It is a brief account of the reigns of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Theodosius the Great. It is attributed to Aurelius Victor, but was writte ...
'' (attributed)
The four have generally been published together under the name ''Historia Romana''. The second was first printed at
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
about 1472, in 4to, under the name of
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...
, and the fourth in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
in 1505.
The first edition of all four books was that of
Andreas Schott (8 volumes, Antwerp, 1579). A recent edition of the ''De Caesaribus'' is by Pierre Dufraigne (
Collection Budé
The ''Collection Budé'', or the ''Collection des Universités de France'', is an editorial collection comprising the Greek and Latin classics up to the middle of the 6th century (before Emperor Justinian). It is published by Les Belles Lettres, ...
, 1975).
See also
*
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyria ...
*
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left ban ...
*
Syrmia
Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exc ...
*
Tetrarchy
The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares'' ...
*
Praetorian prefecture
*
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum ( la, praefectura praetorio per Illyricum; el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία ῶν πραιτωρίωντοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four ...
*
Roman provinces
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled ...
*
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
Notes
References
*
*H.W. Bird (1994) ''Aurelius Victor: De Caesaribus''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
*H.W. Bird (1984) ''Sextus Aurelius Victor: A Historiographical Study''. Liverpool: Francis Cairns.
*W. den Boer (1972) ''Some Minor Roman Historians''. Leiden: Brill.
*P. Dufraigne (1975) ''Aurelius Victor: Livre de Cesars''. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
*D. Rohrbacher (2002) ''The Historians of Late Antiquity''. London: Routledge.
External links
*
Works by Aurelius Victor in thelatinlibrary.com(Latin text)
(Latin, English and French texts)
*
Sexti Aurelii Victoris quae vulgo habentur scripta historica', Friedrich Schroeter (ed.), 2 voll., Lipsiae, sumptibus Augusti Lehnholdi, 1829-31 (contains ''Origo'' and ''De viris illustribus'').
*
Sexti Aurelii Victoris de caesaribus liber', Franciscus Pichlmayr (ed.), Monachii, typos curavit F. Straub, 1892.
*
Sexti Aurelii Victoris historia romana', Lipsiae, sumptibus succ. Ottonis Holtze, 1892 (contains the opera omnia).
*''Sexti Aurelii Victoris historia romana'', Th. Chr. Harlesii (ed.), 2 voll., Londini, curante et imprimente A. J. Valpy, 1829
vol. 1vol. 2
(contains the opera omnia).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurelius Victor
4th-century births
4th-century deaths
4th-century historians
4th-century Romans
Ancient Roman governors
Ancient Roman politicians
Victor
Latin historians
Urban prefects of Rome
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain