Sabaiarius: Beer, wine and Ammianus Marcellinus

2017 ◽  
pp. 57-68
Keyword(s):  
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus XXXI, 3, 8

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-144
Author(s):  
David F. Bright
Keyword(s):  
Ammianus Marcellinus

Christianity and Tradition in the Historiography of the Late Empire

1964 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Averil ◽  
Alan Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Ammianus Marcellinus ◽  
New Religion ◽  
As If

That Ammianus Marcellinus was a pagan is agreed on all sides. He was no Eunapius to vilify and slander the Christians, and no Macrobius to pretend that they did not exist; nevertheless, while not (at any rate overtly) hostile to the new religion, he still adhered to the old. It is, however, customary to quote as an illustration of his attitude to Christianity the numerous passages where he refers to things Christian in a curiously roundabout fashion, as if unfamiliar with the words he was using. Instances such as ‘Christiani ritus presbyter (utipsi appellant)’ (31. 12. 8), ‘coetus in unum quaesitus eiusdem legis cultorum (synodus ut appellant)’ (15. 7. 7), ‘inductus est (ut appellant Christiani) diaconus’ (14. 9. 7), would seem at first sight to justify the conclusion of P. de Jonge that ‘Ammianus speaks of Christianity as an alien religion which is not professed by him’.

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