Sidonius was born at Lyons about 431 A.D. He became the son-in-law of the emperor Avitus, and afterwards a favourite of Anthemius, who raised him to senatorial rank, made him prefect of Rome, and placed his statue in the library of Trajan. In 472, though not a priest, he was made bishop of Clermont in Auvergne. His writings afford considerable historical information.
Solinus (Grammaticus), C. Julius Polyhistor, Venice, 1473; Salmasius, Utrecht, 1689; English translation. The excellent and pleasant works of Julius Solinus Polyhistor, containing the noble actions of humaine creatures, the Secretes and Providence of Nature, the description of Countries, the manners of the People etc. etc. (translated out of Latin by Arthur Golding, Gent.), London, 1587. (The work consists mainly of selections from the Natural History of Pliny, the additions of the author being practically worthless.)
Sozomenos, Ecclesiastical History, edited by Valesius, Paris, 1659.
The history of Sozomenos extends from 323 to 439.
Spartianus, Ælius, see Augustan History.—Suetonius, Caius Tranquillus, Vitæ duodecim Cæsarum, Rome, 1470; English translation by Philemon Holland, London, 1606; English translation by A. Thompson, The Lives of the Twelve Cæsars, London, 1796; 1855.—Suidas, Lexicon, edited by Kuster, Cambridge, 1705; by Gainsford, Oxford, 1834.
Nothing is known of Suidas’ life, but he probably lived in the tenth or eleventh century. His Lexicon is a sort of encyclopædia of biography, literature, geography, etc. Under the head of “Adam,” he gives a chronology which extends to the tenth century.
Symmachus, Epistolarum Libri IX, edited by Seeck, Berlin, 1883.
A. Aurelius Symmachus was a distinguished scholar and orator of the fourth century, and a strong adherent of the ancient pagan religion of Rome. His letters furnish much minor detail of the life of the period.
Tacitus, C., Cornelius, Annales, Agricola, Germania, Historiæ, Venice, 1470; Zurich and Berlin, 1859-1884, 5 vols.; Agricola and Germania, edited by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, with English notes, London, 1882; Annales, edited by H. Furneaux, with English notes, London, 1883; English translation by Greenway (Annals and Germany), London, 1598; English translation by Saville (Histories and Agricola), London, 1598.
C. Cornelius Tacitus was born about 61 A.D., died probably after 117 A.D. Nothing is known of Tacitus’ ancestry. He tells us in the first chapter of his history that “his advancement was begun by Vespasian, forwarded by Titus, and carried to a far greater height by Domitian.” His first employment is said to have been as procurator in Gaul. Upon his return to Rome, Titus advanced him to a quæstorship, and we have Tacitus’ own testimony that he was made prætor by Domitian. He became consul under Nerva. Little further is known of his life, except his marriage to Julia, daughter of Agricola, whose life he wrote. We learn from the Epistles of Pliny the Younger, the great respect and veneration paid to Tacitus by his contemporaries, and above all by Pliny himself.
Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon, edited by Lappenberg, in the Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, vol. III, Hanover, 1819 in progress; German translation by Laurent, 1849.
Thietmar of Merseburg was born July 25th, 976, died December 1, 1018. Became bishop of Merseburg in 1009. The last four books of his chronicle comprising the reign of Henry II (1002-1018) are especially important.
Trebellius Pollio, see Augustan History.
Valerius, Maximus, De factis dictisque memorabilibus Libri IX, Strasburg, 1470; edited by Terrenius, Leyden, 1726; by C. Kempf, Leipsic, 1889; English translation by W. Speed, The History of the Acts and Sayings of the Ancient Romans, London, 1678.—Valesian Fragment (Anonymus Valesii). This title is derived from Henricus Valesius (Henri de Valois, 1603-1767) who was the first to publish the fragmentary writings which bear this name. They generally form an appendix to editions of Ammianus Marcelinus and have for subject the history of Constantine the Great and that of Italy between the years 474 and 526.—Valesius (Valois, Adrien de), Gesta Francorum, seu de rebus Fransicis, Paris, 1646-1658, 3 vols.
Valesius’ history begins with the year 254 and ends with 752. It is written with care and in elegant Latin, but is more of a commentary upon ancient writers than a history.
Victor, Sextus Aurelius, De Cæsaribus, Amsterdam, 1733; edited by Schröter, Leipsic, 1831.
Sextus Aurelius Victor, a Latin writer of the fourth century, who rose to distinction by his literary ability. He was made governor of Pannonia by Julian, prefect of Constantinople by Theodosius, and is perhaps the Sextus Aurelius Victor who was consul in 373.
Victor Tunnunensis, Chronicon; edited by Scaliger, in Thesaurus Tempori Eusebii, vol. II, Amsterdam, 1658.—Victor Vitensis, Historia persecutionis Africanæ sub Genserico et Hunnerico, in Ruinart’s Historia Persecutionis Vandalicæ, Paris, 1694; edited by Petschenig, Vienna, 1881.—Virgilius, P., or Vergilius Maro, Opera, Rome, 1469; Venice, 1501.
Walafried Strabus, De exordiis et incrementis rerum ecclesiasticarum, in Hittorp’s Scriptores de officiis divinis, Cologne, 1568.
Walafried Strabus was of German birth, and in 842 A.D. became abbot of Reichenau. He died July 17, 849. A very prolific writer on both ecclesiastical and historical subjects.
Wipo, Gesta Chuonradi II, imperatoris, in Pistorius’ Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum, Basel, 1582-1607, 3 vols.—Wittekind, Res gestæ Saxonicæ. B. The Byzantine or Later Greek Histories
Agathias, Ἱστορία Ε, edited by B. Vulcanius, Leyden, 1594.
Agathias, of Myrina, in Ætolia, was born about 536 A.D., and died about 580 A.D. He was an epigrammatist, edited a poetical anthology, and extended and repeated the history of Procopius for the years 553 to 558, a brief but remarkable period, comprising the exploits of Narses and Belisarius, the beginning of the wars with the Franks and with the Persians, the rebuilding of St. Sophia, the earthquakes of 554 and 557, and the great plague of 558, all related in a pleasant, diffuse, and impartial manner, but without much display of general knowledge. It is the work of a man practically acquainted with the affairs of his age, presented with poetical reminiscences, but never going below the surface. This work was continued by Menander Protector.
Acropolita, Georgius, Χρονικὸν, edited by Theodorus Douza, with a Latin translation, Leyden, 1614; edited by Leo Allatius, Paris, 1651 (included in the Venice reprint, 1729).
Georgius Acropolita was born at Constantinople in 1220. He studied at Nicæa under distinguished scholars, and was employed as a diplomat under the emperor, John Vatatzes Ducas. His history begins with the taking of Constantinople in 1204, to its delivery in 1261, the sequence of events being afterwards taken up by Pachymeres. Acropolita appears to have prepared his history for educational purposes.
Anagnostes, Joannes, Διήγησις περί τῆς τελευταίας ἁλώσεως τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης συντεθεῖσα πρός τινα τῶν ἀξιολόγων πολλάκις αἰτλήσαντα περὶ ταύτης, εν ἐπιτόμῳ, edited by Leo Allatius, in his Σύμμικτα, with a Latin translation, Rome, 1653.