CONSTANTIUS AND THE SIEGES OF AMIDA AND NISIBIS: AMMIANUS' RELATIONSHIP WITH JULIAN'S "PANEGYRICS"

Although the emperor Julian appears as the dominant character within the extant portion of Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae, Ammianus' relationship with Julian's writings has rarely been investigated. This article argues that Ammianus models aspects of his description of the siege of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta classica 2014-01, Vol.57 (1), p.127-154
Main Author: Ross, Alan J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Although the emperor Julian appears as the dominant character within the extant portion of Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae, Ammianus' relationship with Julian's writings has rarely been investigated. This article argues that Ammianus models aspects of his description of the siege of Amida in 359 upon the narrative of the siege of Nisibis in 350 in Julian's two panegyrics to Constantius. Ammianus' intertextuality with Julian is designed to provide a subtle denigration of Constantius by offering a corrective reading of Constantius' most notable military triumph against the Persian king Sapor.
ISSN:0065-1141
2227-538X
DOI:10.15731/AClass.057.07