Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was born around 330, probably in Antioch in Syria, into a Greek-speaking family. As a young man he served as an officer in the Roman army on the staff of the general Ursicinus, and he took part in campaigns in the eastern and western parts of the empire. He was at the siege of Amida by the Persians in 359 and escaped when the city fell. He later served under the emperor Julian in the east, during Julian's war against Persia. After leaving the army he traveled and eventually settled in Rome, where he wrote a history of the Roman Empire in Latin, continuing the work of Tacitus from the year 96. Only the later books survive, covering the years 353 to 378 and ending with the Roman defeat by the Goths at Adrianople. His history is valued for its eyewitness accounts, its portraits of emperors such as Julian, and its descriptions of the peoples and places of the empire. He probably died in the 390s.

Ammianus Marcellinus is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: A pagan who nonetheless criticized the emperor Julian's religious policies. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica