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Pollio and Flavius Vopiscus—known as Scriptores Historiae Augustae, writers of Augustan history. It is generally agreed, however, that there is a large number of interpolations in the work, which are referred to the reign of See also:

THEODOSIUS

Theodosius ; and that the documents inserted in the lives are almost all forgeries. The more advanced school of critics holds that the names of the supposed authors are purely fictitious, as those of some of the authorities which they profess to quote certainly are. The lives, which (with few exceptions) are arranged in See also:

CHRONOLOGICAL

chronological See also:

order, are distributed as follows:—To Spartianus: the biographies of Hadrian, Aelius Verus, Didius Julianus, Septimius See also:

Severus, Pescennius See also:

Niger, Caracallus, See also:

GETA, PUBLIUS SEPTIMIUS (189-212)

Geta (?); to Vulcacius Gallicanus : Avidius See also:

Cassius ; to Capitolinus : See also:

ANTONINUS, SAINT ANTONIO PIEROZZI

Antoninus See also:

PIUS

Pius, See also:

MARCUS

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Verus, See also:

PERTINAX, PUBLIUS HELVIUS (A.D. 126-193)

Pertinax, See also:

CLODIUS

Clodius See also:

ALBINUS (originally WEISS), BERNHARD SIEGFRIED (1697—1770)

Albinus, the two Maximins, the three Gordians, See also:

Maximus and Balbinus, Opilius Macrinus (?) ; to Lampridius : See also:

COMMODUS, LUCIUS AELIUS AURELIUS (161-192)

Commodus, Diadumenus, Elagabalus, See also:

Alexander Severus; to Pollio: the two Valerians, the See also:

GALLIENI, JOSEPH SIMON (1849– )

Gallieni, the so-called See also:

THIRTY

Thirty Tyrants or Usurpers, See also:

Claudius (his lives of See also:

Philip, See also:

DECIUS, GAIUS MESSIUS QUINTUS TRAJANUS (2017-251)

Decius, and See also:

Gallus being lost); to Vopiscus: See also:

AURELIAN [Lucius DoMITIus AURELIANUS]

Aurelian, See also:

Tacitus, See also:

Florian, See also:

Probus, the four tyrants (Firmus, See also:

SATURNINUS, LUCIUS APPULEIUS

Saturninus, Proculus, Bonosus), See also:

Carus, Numerian, Carinus. The importance of the Augustan history as a repertory of See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information is very considerable, but its See also:

LITERARY

literary pretensions are of the humblest order. The writers' See also:

standard was confessedly See also:

low. " My purpose," says Vopiscus, " has been to provide materials for persons more eloquent than I." Copsidering the perverted See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste of the See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, it is perhaps fortunate that the task See also:

fell into the hands of no showy declaimer who measured his success by his skill in making See also:

SURFACE

surface do See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty for substance, but of homely, See also:

MATTER

matter-of-fact See also:

SCRIBES

scribes, whose See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole concern was to See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record what they knew. Their narrative is unmethodical and inartificial ; their See also:

style is tame and plebeian ; their conception of See also:

BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography is that of a collection of anecdotes ; they have no notion of arrangement, no measure of proportion, and no criterion of discrimination between the important and the trivial; they are equally destitute of See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical and of See also:

HISTORICAL

historical insight, unable to sift the authorities on which they rely, and unsuspicious of the stupendous social revolution comprised within the See also:

period which they undertake to describe. Their value, consequently, depends very much on that of the See also:

SOURCES

sources to which they happen to have recourse for any given period of history, and on the fidelity of their adherence to these when valuable. See also:

MARIUS, GAIUS (r55–86 B.c.)

Marius Maximus and Aelius See also:

Junius See also:

CORDUS, AULUS CREMUTIUS

Cordus, to whose qualifications they themselves See also:

bear no favourable testimony, were their See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief authorities for the earlier lives of the See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series.

Marius Maximus, who lived about 165–230, wrote biographies of the emperors, in continuation of those of Suetonius, from See also:

NERVA, MARCUS COCCEIUS

Nerva to Elagabalus; Junius Cordus dealt with the less-known emperors, perhaps down to Maximus and Balbinus. The earlier lives, however, contain a substratum of See also:

AUTHENTIC (from Gr. aOO 'rns, one who does a thing himself)

authentic historical fact, which See also:

RECENT

recent critics have supposed to be derived from a lost work by a contemporary writer, described by one of these scholars as " the last See also:

GREAT

great Roman historian." For the later lives the Scriptores were obliged to resort more largely to public records, and thus preserved matter of the highest importance, rescuing from oblivion many imperial rescripts and sen%tonal decrees, reports of See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official proceedings and speeches on public occasions, and a number of interesting and characteristic letters from various emperors. Their incidental allusions sometimes See also:

CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast vivid though undesigned See also:

LIGHT

light on the circumstances of the age, and they have made large contributions to our knowledge of imperial See also:

jurisprudence in particular. Even their trivialities have their use; their endless anecdotes respecting the See also:

PERSONAL

personal habits of the subjects of their biographies, if valueless to the historian, are most acceptable to the archaeologist, and not unimportant to the economist and moralist. Their errors and deficiencies may in See also:

PART

part be ascribed to the contemporary neglect of history as a See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of instruction. See also:

EDUCATION

Education was in the hands of rhetoricians and grammarians; historians were read for their style, not for their matter, and since the days of Tacitus, none had arisen See also:

worth a schoolmaster's See also:

NOTICE

notice. We thus find Vopiscus acknowledging that when he began to write the See also:

LIFE

life of Aurelian, he was entirely misinformed respecting the latter's competitor Firmus, and implying that he would not have ventured on Aurelian himself if he had not had See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access to the MS. of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor's own See also:

DIARY

diary in the See also:

ULPIAN (DoMrrIus ULPIANUS)

Ulpian library. The writers' historical estimates are superficial and conventional, but See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report the See also:

VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict of public See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion with substantial accuracy. The only imputation on the integrity of any of them lies against Trebellius Pollio, who, addressing his work to a descendant of Claudius, the successor and probably the See also:

ASSASSIN (properly Hashish n, from Hashish, the opiate made from the juice of hemp leaves)

assassin of See also:

GALLIENUS, PUBLIUS LICINIUS EGNATIUS

Gallienus, has dwelt upon the latter versatile See also:

SOVEREIGN

sovereign's carelessness and extravagance without See also:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT (from the old acknow, a compound of on- and know, to know by the senses, which passed through the forms oknow, aknow and acknow; acknowledge is formed on analogy of " knowledge ")

acknowledgment of the elastic though fitful See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy he so frequently displayed in See also:

defence of the See also:

EMPIRE

empire. The caution of Vopiscus's references to Diocletian cannot be made a reproach to him. No See also:

BIOGRAPHICAL

biographical particulars are recorded respecting any of these writers. From their acquaintance with Latin and See also:

Greek literature they must have been men of letters by profession, and very probably secretaries or librarians to persons of distinction.

There seems no See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason to accept See also:

Gibbon's contemptuous estimate of their social position. They appear particularly versed in See also:

law. Spartianus's reference to himself as " Diocletian's own " seems to indicate that he was a domestic in the imperial See also:

HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household. They address their patrons with deference, acknowledging their own deficiencies, and seem painfully conscious of the profession of literature having fallen upon evil days. Editio princeps (See also:

Milan, 1495); See also:

Casaubon (1603) showed great critical ability in his notes, but for want of a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good MS. See also:

LEFT

left the restoration of the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text to See also:

SALMASIUS, CLAUDIUS

Salmasius (162o), whose notes are a most remark-able See also:

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

monument of erudition, combined with acuteness in verbal See also:

criticism and See also:

general vigour of See also:

INTELLECT (Lat. intellectus, from intelligere, to understand)

intellect. Of recent years considerable See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention has been devoted by See also:

German scholars .to the History, especially by See also:

Peter, whose edition of the text in the Teubner series (2nd ed., 1884) contains (praef. See also:

XXXV

xxxv.-See also:

XXXVII

xxxvii.) a bibliography of See also:

WORKS

works on the subject preceding the publication of his own See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

TREATISE

treatise. The edition by See also:

Jordan-Eyssenhardt (1863) should also be mentioned. Amongst the most recent See also:

TREATISES

treatises on the subject are: A. Gemoll, See also:

Die Scriptores Historiae Augustae (1886); H. Peter, Die Scriptores Historiae Augustae (1892); G. Tropea, Studi sugli Scriptores Historiae Augustae (1899–1903) ; J. M.

Heer, Der historische Wert der Vita Commodi in der Sammlung der Scriptores Historiae Augustae (1901); C. Lecrivain, Etudes sur l'histoire Auguste (1904); E. Kornemann, Kaiser Hadrian and der letzte See also:

GROSSE, JULIUS WALDEMAR (1828—1902)

grosse Historiker von Rom (1905), according to whom " the last great historian of See also:

Rome " is See also:

LOLLIUS, MARCUS

Lollius Urbicus; O. Schulz, Das Kaiserhaus der Antonin and der letzte Historiker Roms (1907). On their style, see C. Paucker, De Latinitate Scriptorum Historiae Augustae (1870); special See also:

LEXICON

lexicon by C. See also:

LESSING, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM (1729–1781)

Lessing (19o1-1906). An En lish See also:

TRANSLATION

translation is included in The Lives of the Roman Emperors, by See also:

John See also:

Bernard (?698). See further See also:

ROMA

Roma: History (anc. ad fin.), See also:

section " Authorities "; M. Schanz, Geschichte der romischen Litteratur, iii. p. 69 (for Marius Maximus and Junius Cordus), iv. p. 47; See also:

TEUFFEL, WILHELM SIEGMUND (1820–1878)

Teuffel-See also:

SCHWABE, SAMUEL HEINRICH (1789–1875)

Schwabe, Hist. of Roman Literature (Eng. tr.), § 392; H.

Peter, bibliography from 1893 to 1905 in See also:

BURSIAN, CONRAD (1830–1883)

Bursian's Jahresbericht, cxxix. (1907).

End of Article: AUGUSTAN HISTORY

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