Festus (), whose name also appears in the manuscripts of his work as Rufus Festus, Ruffus Festus, Sextus Festus, Sextus Rufus, and Sextus, was a Late Roman historian and

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

whose epitome ''Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani'' ("Summary of the history of Rome") was commissioned by the emperor

Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

in preparation for his war against Persia. It was completed about AD 370. The ''Breviarium'' covers the entire history of the Roman state from the foundation of the City until AD 364. The book consists of 30 chapters treating events in

Roman history The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced ma ...

in terse overview, mainly focused on military and political conflicts. It is estimated as a work of very low quality. Festus of Tridentum, magister memoriae (secretary) to Valens and notoriously severe proconsul of the province of Asia, where he was sent to punish those implicated in the conspiracy of Theodorus. The work itself (Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani) is divided into two parts, one geographical, the other historical. J. W. Eadie has shown that Festus used the following sources:Eadie, J. W., ed. (1967) ''The Breviarium of Festus''. London: Athlone Press; pp. 70-98 ("The Sources of the ''Breviarium''"). *The ''Breviarium historiae Romanae'' of Eutropius, newly compiled by order of the same emperor *The ''

Epitome rerum Romanarum An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...

'' (until the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

) by Florus *The epitome of Livy, a lost work based on ''

Ab Urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

'' * A history of the Roman emperors, perhaps the one that is called the

Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte The ('Enmann's History of the Emperors') is a modern term for a hypothesized Latin historical work, written in the 4th century but now lost. The German scholar Alexander Enmann made in 1884 a comparison of several late Roman historical works and ...

References

Sources

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

, ''Res Gestae'' 29.2.22. *

Eunapius Eunapius ( el, Εὐνάπιος; fl. 4th–5th century AD) was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century AD. His principal surviving work is the ''Lives of Philosophers and Sophists'' ( grc-gre, Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σο� ...

, ''Vitae sophistarum'' 7.6.6-13. * ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'' s.v. . *

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchem ...

, ''Historia Nova'' 4.15.2-3.

External links

Sextus Rufus
in Smith's ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' * * Roman governors of Asia Ancient Roman proconsuls 4th-century Latin writers Latin historians 4th-century historians {{AncientRome-bio-stub