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The transition from ancient to medieval times can be viewed over six centuries of historians, from Ammianus to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
Ammianus Marcellinus (AD 330-395)
Gibbon
considered Ammianus to be the most notable Latin historian after
Tacitus, and the best contemporary source on the late 4th century
Empire. Though he was a Syrian Greek, Ammianus wrote in Latin. His
major work, written in AD 390, is Commentaries on the Remaining Conducted Affairs (Rerum gestari libri qui supersunt),
of which books 14-31 survive. Born into a wealthy family at
Antioch in about AD 330, Ammianus became a Roman officer at an early
age, and traveled through much of the Empire. Describing himself as miles quondam et Graecus
("a soldier and a Greek"), Ammianus brings to his writings both
military experience and the comprehensive perspective of the Greek
historical tradition which began with Herodotus. In the
well-established canons of Roman historical writing, the historian
epitomizes periods by selectively relating the major events. As
Ammianus believed this method recorded only "incomplete knowledge," his
writings stand out among the contemporary writers Eutropius, Festus,
and Aurelius Victor. Telling his readers that his quest is to write the
whole story, to record ad scientiam proficiet plenam ("with a view
toward complete knowledge"), Ammianus describes wars, happenings at
court, heroic acts, and the current state of the Roman empire,
including growing turbulence along the frontiers.
The principle focus of his main written work, the Rerum gestarium,
is the Persian campaign led by Julian the Apostate in AD 363, of which
Ammianus provides an eyewitness account. In his capacity as miles (soldier), Ammianus first served in Persia as an officer under Constantinus II's
general Urinus, where he witnessed the brutal events of the Persian
capture of Amida in 359. He later served under Julian in the campaign
that saw the Emperor killed and the army defeated near Nisibis in the
summer of 363. Ammianus provides a lengthy, often emotional account of
the events in Persia. This includes in-depth sketches of Julian
himself, who commanded Britain and Gaul after being named Caesar in AD
355.
As attested by writings of both Ammianus and Julian
(himself a prolific writer and competent historian), Britain was an
important source of grain for Gaul. One large grain-producing area may
have been Salisbury plain. Ammianus directly mentions ships arriving in
war-weary Gaul: "He even constructed granaries in place of those
burned, in which could be stored the supply of grain usually brought
over from Britain" (Book 18, 2,3; AD 359).
Julian, in his
AD 361 Letter to the Athenians, also mentions the arrival of ships from
Britain after his campaiging of AD 358-9 effectively reopened the
supply routes between Britain and Gaul:
"Then followed the
second and third years of that campaign, and by that time all the
barbarians had been driven out of Gaul, most of the towns had been
recovered, and a whole fleet of many ships had arrived from Britain. "
Ammianus
spent the years 355-357 in Gaul. Between military accounts, he relates
the history, geography, and culture of the Gallic provinces, based on
his experiences and the writings of the Greek historian Timagenes. In
retelling the story of Gaul, Ammianus includes mythological origins and
the early history of the region. In his descriptions of Britain under
the rule of Julian, Ammianus writes that unrest in Gaul distracted
Julian from taking an active role as commander of Britain. During the
winter of AD 360, he briefly sent the commander of the armed forces,
Lupicinus, to the island:
"In Britain during the tenth
consulship of Constantius and the third of Julian, invasions by the
fierce tribes of the Scots and the Picts, who had broken the peace they
had agreed upon, were causing destruction in those areas along the
frontiers, and the provinces, worn out by numerous disasters in the
past, were caught in the grip of fear. The Caesar Julian, who was
wintering at Paris and was preoccupied by various problems, was afraid
to go to the assistance of those across the sea, as I have related
Constans did, in case he left the Gallic provinces without a ruler at a
time when the Alamanni were roused to savagery and war. "(Book XX, 1)
In
AD 367 barbarian tribes mounted a concerted invasion by land and sea,
and breached Hadrian's Wall. As Ammianus states, "The Picts and Saxons
and Scots [Irish] and Atecotti harassed the Britons with continual
afflictions." Theodosius, sent to quell the revolt, rebuilt Hadrian's
Wall, and restored peace to Britannia for the next 40 years.
Eutropius (fl. AD 350-370)
Flavius
Eutropius, a contemporary of Ammianus Marcellinus, and fellow soldier
under Julian in the Persian campaign, became the court historian for
the emperor Valens (364-378). Little else is known about his life. He
should not be confused with his more notorious contemporary, Eutropius
the Eunuch, who was a powerful advisor to the Emperor Arcadius and
Consul in 399 (prior to being beheaded for high treason).
While working for Valens, Flavius Eutropius wrote a ten-book compendium of Roman history entitled Historię romanę breviarium (A Concise History of Rome),
which provides details of the British campaigns of Caesar, Claudius,
Nero, Vespasian and Trajan, as well as later happenings in Gaul. His
description of Claudius' conquest of Britain in AD 43 is based partly
on Tacitus:
"He made war upon Britain, which none of the
Romans after Julius Caesar had meddled with; and conquering it by
Cnaeus Centius and Aulus Plautius, illustrious and noble gentlemen, he
had a famous triumph. He added likewise some islands, lying in the
ocean beyond Britain, to the Roman Empire, which are called Orcades;
and gave the name of Britannicus to his son." (VII, 13)
In discussing Nero's reign, Eutropius refers to Boudicca's rebellion:
"He
[Nero] attempted no conquest in the military way, and very nearly lost
Britain. Under him two very famous towns were there taken and
destroyed" [ie., London and St. Albans, or Colchester] (VII, 14)
Eutropius also provides details on the successful campaign of Vespasian in Britain:
"[Vespasian]
having been sent by Claudius into Germany, and from there into Britain,
engaged thirty-two times with the enemy, and added two very potent
nations [gentes], twenty towns, and the Isle of Wight [Insulam Vectam],
near Britain, to the Roman Empire." (VII, 19)
Eutropius
somewhat mistakenly attributes the construction of the Antonine Wall to
Septimius Severus (who did in fact repair the wall):
"Septimius
had his final campaign in Britain, and in order to secure the lines, he
had built a palisade stretching 32 miles from sea to sea. "(VIII, 18)
This inaccuracy was picked up by Orosius in his History, from which it was later copied by Bede in his 8th century Ecclesiastical History
(see below). Eutropius was translated into Greek in AD 380 by Paeanius
as well as by a certain Capito (whose writings are now lost). Besides
Orosius and Bede, Eutropius was used by both St. Jerome and Hincmar of
Reims (ca. AD 806-882). More recently, he has been referenced by 18th
and 19th century historians including Gibbon and Mommsen.
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Claudian (fl. AD 395-410)
Claudius
Claudianus, a Greek born in Alexandria, is often considered the last
great poet of the pagan world. He lived in Rome at the end of the 4th
century AD, and is best known for verse written in praise of Honorius
and his general Stilicho. One of his poems, On the Consulship of Stilicho,
provides our only source for an expedition to Britain mounted by
Stilicho in AD 396-8. Frere (1987) believes this is evidence of naval
activity against the Irish, Picts, and Saxons. Claudian's colorful
style in this poem and another, The Gothic War, also provides rare
detail on the appearance of the Picts and Caledonians:
"There
also came the legion set to guard the furthest Britons, the legion that
curbs the savage Scot and scans the lifeless patterns tatooed on the
dying Picts." (Gothic War, 416-418)
"Next
spoke Britannia, dressed in the skin of some Caledonian beast, her
cheeks tatooed, her sea-blue mantle sweeping over her footsteps like
the surge of ocean." (On the Consulship of Stilicho, II)
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Olympiodorus (fl. AD 407-425)
A
Greek historian from Thebes, Olympiodorus had an interest in geography
which led him to travel widely. One result is that his History
of 22 books is frequently based on personal observations. Very careful
about technical terms, he is noted for his "bare-bones" reports
stressing facts and chronological accuracy. He was frequently
referenced by Zosimus, especially for the period between AD 400-425. On
Stilicho, he says:
"There was no doubt discontent [in
Britain], with the rule of the Vandal Stilicho, and with lack of
attention his government paid to the defence of Britain against the
Picts." (Fragment 12)
From the same source, on the usurper Constantine III:
"Constantine
had been proclaimed in the provinces of Britain and brought to power by
a revolt of the soldiers. Indeed, in the provinces of Britain before
the seventh consulship of Honorius in 407, they had stirred the army
there to revolt, and proclaimed a certain Marcus as supreme ruler. (Fragment 12)
After the short-lived rule of Gratian, killed by his own troops in AD 407, Constantine assumed command:
"Constantine
was then raised to the position of supreme commander. He appointed
Justinus and Neovigastes as generals, and leaving ...Britain, crossed
with his forces to Bononia [Bologna]... He waited there and, having won
over all Gaul and the Aquitanian soldiery, he became master of Gaul as
far as the Alps..." (Fragment 12)
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The Notitia Dignitatum (ca. AD 395-430)
This
late Imperial administrative document, known only from an 11th century
copy, the Codex Spirensis, is the unique historical source for
the Saxon Shore Forts, a network of coastal defenses built around
southeast Britain in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. It is also an
invaluable mapping source for roads and town locations in the
late Roman Empire.
Paulus Orosius (fl. AD 414-417)
Orosius,
who worked closely with St. Augustine of Hippo at the beginning of the
5th century, is the author of the first world history by a Christian.
He was a native of Spain, probably the town of Braga, from which he was
forced to flee by the Vandal invasion of 414. Having gone to Africa he
was befriended by Augustine, who prompted his major work, Histrorium adversus paganos libra VII (Seven Books of History Against the Pagans). This work was used extensively by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People
(ca. 735 AD). In the late 9th century (ca. 890-891) Alfred the Great
had both Orosius and Bede translated into Old English. Nearly 200
manuscripts of the Old English version are extant.
Orosius
wrote in the wake of the sack of Rome by Alaric the Goth in 410. He
attempts to counter the view, adopted by many pagans, that Rome's
troubles had multiplied since the Empire became Christian. Using
material taken from Livy, Tacitus, Justin, and Eutropius (all of whom
were pagan), Orosius' History
gives examples of calamities and set-backs that befell the Empire
before the rejection of paganism. That the work is polemical does not
negate its value; it served as a prelude to Augustine's City of God,
and is important as an independent historical source. Although the work
contains many errors, it is a useful record of the years 378-417.
In
about AD 414, Augustine sent Orosius to Bethlehem. There Orosius argued
against the theologian Pelagius, whose heretical doctrines had become
popular in Britain Orosius tried to have the teaching condemned, but
was unsuccessful. Returning to Africa, he began his Histories. Orosius' other works (both ca. AD 414) include Reminder to Augustine Concerning the Error of the Priscillianists and the Origenists, and Apology Against the Pelagians.
Constantius (5th century AD)
The life of this 5th century historian remains obscure, but his work De Vita Germani (The Life of Germanus)
is an invaluable history of St. Germanus, the bishop of Auxerre who
made two notable journeys into Britain (AD 429 and 446) to combat
Pelagianism. During the Saint's first journey, Constantius describes
the "Hallelujah Victory," an ambush led by St. Germanus against the
Picts and Saxons, who threw down their weapons and fled when Germanus
instructed the men to yell "Hallelujah!" three times. Constantius also
records a public debate between Germanus and the supporters of
Pelagius, describing the latter as "The authors of the evil doctrine. .
. gleaming with their riches, brilliantly clothed, and surrounded by
much flattery" (Life of Germanus, 12-27). The work also mentions that St. Patrick was a student of Germanus in Gaul ca. 418-428.
Zosimus (early 6th century AD)
The
Greek historian Zosimus served as a senior official of the eastern
Empire, rising to the rank of comes (count). Early in the sixth century
he wrote a History in Greek
of the Roman emperors from the time of Augustus until the early 5th
century. Books I-V and part of Book VI are extant, and contain Zosimus'
description of the the troubled times between Julian the Apostate and
Honorius, mainly constructed from contemporary sources. Like Ammianus
before him, Zosimus mentions that Julian brought grain levies from
Britain to Gaul:
"Julian had timber gathered from the forests
around the river and 800 boats larger than galleys built. These he sent
to Britain and had them convey grain." (III,5,2)
Zosimus also describes a Saxon incursion and a subsequent British revolt in AD 408-9:
"The
barbarians beyond the Rhine, attacking in force, reduced the
inhabitants of Britain and some of the Celtic tribes to the point where
they were obliged to throw off Roman rule and live independently, no
longer subject to Roman laws. The Britons therefore took up arms and,
braving the danger on their own behalf, freed their cities from the
barbarians threatening them. And all Amorica [Brittany] and the other
Gallic provinces followed their example, freed themselves in the same
way, expelled the Roman rulers, and set up their own governments as far
as lay within their own power." (VI, 5, 2-3)
Zosimus
later mentions a letter from Honorius to the Britons, apparently a
response to a petition for military aid: "Honorius wrote letters to the
cities in Britain, bidding them to take precautions on their own
behalf." (VI,10,2) The seeming disparity of the province revolting in
AD 409 and then appealing to Rome for military aid in AD 410 is
explained by Frere (1987) as the result of a change in emperors. The
pretender Constantine III was declared emperor by the legions in
Britain in AD 407; the rebellion seems to have been against his
officials, while the appeal to Rome was sent to the legitimate emperor,
Honorius (AD 393-423).
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Gildas (ca. AD 497-570)
Gildas,
a monk, was eventually sainted. He founded a monastery in Brittany, St.
Gildas de Rhuys, and is considered to be a founding father of English
monasticism. His history, De excidio et conquestu Britanniae (The Ruin and Conquest of Britain),
written in about AD 550, spurred the development of the monastic system
in Britain, which had little following before 500 AD. It is also
important as the only extant narrative account of Britain in the 6th
century. Gildas had first-hand experience of Britain in transition from
late Roman to Saxon times, and reports on events close to him:
".
. . the siege of Bath-Hill, when took place also the last almost,
though not the least slaughter of our cruel foes, which was (as I am
sure) forty-four years and one month after the landing of the Saxons,
and also the time of my own nativity ." (II,26)
Gildas's
history is in part an attempt to demonstrate that the invasions of
Britain by the Scots, Picts, and Saxons were punishment from God for
faithlessness, disobedience, moral failings, and (not least) for the
Britons being short-sighted enough to hire Saxon mercenaries. Gildas,
like the later historian Nennius, attributes the fall of Britain to the
"proud tyrant" (probably a reference to the Welsh king Vortigern) who
invited the Saxons to Britain as mercenaries after an appeal to Rome
for military help in AD 383 went unanswered. In return for helping to
guard the borders, these Saxons were given lands in the east. Some
modern historians have suggested that Gildas may have villainized
Vortigern because the king was a Pelagian. Gildas also narrates the
efforts of the British king Ambrosius Aurelianus (later identified with
King Arthur) to repel the Saxons, who ultimately defeated him at Mons
Badonicus.
Gildas' sources are a combination of biblical
scriptures and oral accounts cited from memory by those who had been
told in their childhood of the events that shaped 5th-6th century
Britain. Gildas sums up his difficulties as a historian (and those of
the modern student of Dark Age history) as follows:
"I
shall not follow the writings and records of my own country, which (if
there were ever any of them) have been consumed in the fires of the
enemy, or have accompanied my exiled countrymen into distant lands, but
be guided by the relations of foreign writers, which, being broken and
interrupted in many places, are therefore by no means clear. "(II,4)
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Gregory of Tours (AD 538-595)
Also known as Georgius Florentius, Gregory was the bishop of Tours from AD 573 until his death. His Historia Francorum (History of the Franks)
is a basic source on the 6th century Franco-Roman kingdom and on the
life of Clovis (ca. AD 466-511), who conquered northern Gaul in 494 and
became a Christian in 498. While not directly about Britain, Gregory's
writings help place the early Dark Ages in historical context.
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Procopius (6th century AD)
Procopius,
born in Caesarea, was the private secretary to Belisarius, Justinian's
chief general. He is considered the leading authority on Justinian's
reign (AD 527-565), and wrote histories of the Goths, Persians, and the
Vandals. In The Gothic Histories
(IV, 20), he divides the invaders of Britain into two groups, the
Angles and the Frisians, and may well have gained this information from
a group of Angles sent to Constantinople as part of a Frankish
diplomatic mission.
Cuthbert (ca. AD 635-687)
Cuthbert,
who began as a shepherd before becoming a monk, eventually rose to be
named Bishop of the Benedictine Abbey at Lindisfarne. He was noted for
aiding plague victims, and was posthumously made a saint. He left a
journal of his visit to Carlisle (Luguvalium) in AD 685, where he
mentions a working fountain and surviving portions of the Roman town
wall.
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TheVenerable Bede (AD 673-735)
One of the most significant historical sources for 8th century England is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia ecclesiastica gentis anglicorum).
King Alfred the Great (849-899) had the work translated into Old
English during his reign. In modern times, an edition of Bede's Ecclesiastical History still widely followed is that of Charles Plummer, first published in 1896.
At
the age of seven Bede was placed at the Wearmouth Abbey in Northumbria
under the tutelage of Bishop Benedict Biscop. Benedict, of noble birth,
taught in the areas of theology, astronomy, art and music. His frequent
travels to the Continent and Rome and his broad humanistic interests no
doubt influenced Bede at this period in his development. In 682 Bede
was transferred to Saint Paul's Monastery in Jarrow, where he remained
for the rest of his life. Bede served under its first Abbot, Ceolfrin
Cabbot.
Considered "The Father of English History," the
Venerable Bede's approach to his historical sources differed from that
of his post-Roman predecessors such as Gildas. In the preface to his Ecclesiastical History, Bede cites his sources, (ie., the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,
Constantius, and Orosius), whether written or oral, and how they were
obtained. Though his work was primarily a history of the Church, during
Bede's time the Church was tied inextricably to events in the secular
world, playing a major role in uniting warring tribes of Saxons,
Angles, Jutes, and Celts into a people that could be called the English.
In contrast to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,
Bede's history is an attempt to unify distinct chronological events
into a continuous narrative—a remarkable achievement considering the
breadth of the work, which begins with in the 1st century BC with
Julius Caesar and ends in AD 731. To aid in dating events Bede made use
of and popularized the now familiar Anno Domini (AD) dating convention,
originally devised by a Syrian monk named Dionysius Exiguus to
accurately schedule Easter from 532 to 626.
Bede is
notably fair in his treatment of traditions different from his own. He
expresses admiration for Celtic Saints, and treats both Celtic and
Roman leaders with equanimity. His treatment of the Romano-British
period (Bk.1, ch. 3-5), drawn from Eutropius and Orosius, accepts their
partially inaccurate view that the turf-built Antonine Wall was erected
by Septimius Severus, but contains a useful description of the wall
itself:
"Following his [Severus's] victory in the grievous
civil wars which assailed him, he was forced to go to Britain by the
revolt of almost all the allies. There, after a large number of
difficult engagements, he decided to separate off that part of the
island he had recovered from the unconquered tribes, not by means of a
wall, as some think, but by a rampart. For a wall is made of stone, but
a rampart, with which a camp is fortified to repel the might of
enemies, is made of turf, cut from the earth and raised high above the
ground like a wall. In front of it as a result is a ditch, from which
the turfs had been taken, and on top of it are fixed stakes made from
the hardest wood. In this way Severus built a great ditch and very
strong rampart, fortified with numerous towers on it from sea to sea."
(Book 1,Chap.5)
Bede also wrote biblical commentaries and a treatise on the feast days.
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Alfred the Great (AD 849-899)
Alfred
was born the son of king Aethelwulf in 849 at Wantage in Berkshire.
Ascending the throne as king of Wessex in 871, Alfred drove out the
Viking invaders in 878. He then set out to encourage learning in
Britain and to prepare both intellectual and military defenses against
further barbarian incursions. He commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,
which kept a record of important events for centuries after his death.
Alfred's interest in learning led to the translation into English of
"certain books which are most necessary for all men to know." Among
these were works by Boethius, Orosius, Gregory, and Bede. Some were
translated by Alfred himself, including The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius, who died ca. AD 524 after being imprisoned by Theodoric.
Some of Alfred's own literary works survive, as does a biography by his
contemporary, Asser, Bishop of Sherborne.
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The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (ca. AD 891-1154)
These
are the first historical works written in Old English or Anglo-Saxon,
the Germanic language of the 5th century invaders of Britain. The
Chronicles, commissioned by
Alfred the Great, are a series of overlapping lists of dates and events
composed at different monasteries over a period of several hundred
years, stretching from the reign of Alfred the Great to the 12th
century. The material provided by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles is usually even more abridged than outlines of Roman history such as that of Eutropius:
"409.
In this year the Goths took the city of Rome by storm, and never
afterwards did the Romans rule in Britain...In all they had reigned in
Britain 470 years since Julius Caesar first came to the country. "
"418.
In this year the Romans collected all the treasures which were in
Britain, and hid some of them in the earth so that no one afterwards
could find them, and some they took with them into Gaul."
"423. In this year Theodosius the younger succeeded to the kingdom." (Parker Chronicle, manuscript A')
The Chronicles
begin with the arrival in Wales of the Saxon invaders Cerdic and Cynric
in AD 494, then reverts to Julius Caesar's arrival in Britain (55 and
54 BC). The work then proceeds in chronological fashion through the
date of the last entry (AD 1154).
Surviving manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
are unique, as scribes independently added new events between those
previously recorded, or following the last entry. The Parker
manuscript, for example (also known as A'), shows the hands of no fewer
than ten scribes.
The most reliable authority on the
various manuscripts is Charles Plummer (also an editor of Bede's
works), whose late Victorian study of 1892-9 delineated seven separate
manuscripts, labelled A', A, B, C, D, E, F. These all derive from a
single Ę manuscript, now lost, based on still earlier monastic sources
such as Easter tables, some used by Bede for the brief chronology at
the end of his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Composed in a time of bards and storytelling, the brevity of the Chronicles
suggest they were both a mnemonic device and a historical record,
helping to recall an oral tradition of the event, or the event itself.
The detailed list of dates, names, and events that comprise the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
are of inestimable valuable to historians. The account is accurate,
varying little from the currently accepted dates. This long-term,
composite work is justifiably considered the most important English
history written before the Norman Conquest.
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Nennius (ca. 9th Century AD)
Nennius
was a Welsh writer whose collection of documents called Historia
Brittonum represents a mixed assortment of styles falling somewhere
between chronicle, fabulous romance, and narrative history. The work
begins with the history of the Britons, listing 33 ancient cities (see
box).
The ninth century names of British cities (from Historia Brittonum, by Nennius):
"These
are the names of the ancient cities of the island of Briton. It has
also a vast many promentories, and castles innumerable, built of brick
and stone. Its inhabitants consist of four different people; the Scots,
the Picts, the Saxons, and the ancient Britons." .
"Cair
ebrauc (York); Cair ceint (Canterbury); Cair gurcoc;
Cair guorthegern; Cair gusteint (Carnarvon); Cair
guoranegon (Worcester); Cair segeint (Silchester);
Cair guin truis; Cair merdin; Cair peris
(Portchester); Cair lion (Caerleon); Cair mencipt (St
Albans); Cair caratauc; Cair ceri (Cirencester); Cair gloui
(Gloucester); Cair luilid (Carlisle); Cair graut
(Granchester); Cair daun (Doncaster); Cair britoc
(Bristol); Cair meguaid (Meivod); Cair mauiguid; Cair
ligion (Chester); Cair guent (Caerwent); Cair
collon; Cair londein (London); Cair
guorcon; Cair lerion (Leicester); Cair draithou
(Draiton); Cair pensavelcoin (Ilchester); Cair
teim; Cair urnahc (Wroxeter); Cair celernion;
Cair loit coit." (Nennius, Hist.Brittonum)
The
Britons are traced to Aeneas, whom Virgil identifies as the founder of
Rome, and to his descendant Brutus, who is claimed to have founded
Britain. This notion is perpetuated in later historians including
Geoffrey of Monmouth. A substantial portion of the work is devoted to
the affairs of the Welsh king Vortigern, who is blamed for inviting the
Saxons to Britain. Nennius also covers the legends of St. Germanus and
St. Patrick's work in Ireland.
The narrative is colorful
and contains the earliest specific reference to King Arthur. The work
records twelve battles fought in defence of Wales against the
encroaching Saxons, in the last of which Arthur singlehandedly killed
940 Saxons. Nennius, however, makes no mention of Camelot or the
Knights of the Round Table, which are later additions.
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