Justin ( la, Marcus Junianus Justinus Frontinus; century) was a Latin writer who lived under the
Roman Empire.
Life
Almost nothing is known of Justin's personal history, his name appearing only in the title of his work. He must have lived after
Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus, whose work he excerpted, and his references to the
Romans and
Parthians Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
' having divided the world between themselves would have been anachronistic after the rise of the
Sassanians
The Sasanian dynasty was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD in Persia (modern-day Iran). It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty as ''Sasanian'' in honour of his grandfather (or father), Sa ...
in the third century. His
Latin appears to be consistent with the style of the second century.
Ronald Syme, however, argues for a date around AD 390, immediately before the compilation of the
Augustan History
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
, and dismisses anachronisms and the archaic style as unimportant, as he asserts readers would have understood Justin's phrasing to represent Trogus' time, and not his own.
Works
Justin was the author of an
epitome
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 ...
of Trogus' expansive ''Liber Historiarum Philippicarum'', or ''Philippic Histories'', a history of the kings of
Macedonia
Macedonia most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
, compiled in the time of
Augustus. Due to its numerous digressions, this work was retitled by one of its editors, ''
Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs'', or ''Philippic History and Origins of the Entire World and All of its Lands''. Justin's
preface explains that he aimed to collect the most important and interesting passages of that work, which has since been lost. Some of Trogus' original arguments (') are preserved in various other authors, such as
Pliny the Elder. Trogus' main theme was the rise and history of the
Macedonian Empire
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
, and like him, Justin permitted himself considerable freedom of digression, producing an idiosyncratic anthology rather than a strict epitome.
Legacy
Justin's history was much used in the
Middle Ages, when its author was sometimes mistakenly conflated with
Justin Martyr.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
* .
* .
External links
An early edition(Milan, 1476) of the ''Epitome'' from the Bavarian State Library
* Justin's ''Epitome'' a
* Watson
Watson may refer to:
Companies
* Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals
* A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa
* Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center
* Watson Systems, make ...
's 1853 translation a
CSL
* Arnaud-Lindet's 2003 translation a
CSL
* Correa
Correa may refer to:
* Correa (surname)
* Correa (insect), ''Correa'' (insect), a genus of beetles in the family Staphylinidae
* Correa (plant), ''Correa'' (plant), a genus of Australian plants named after Portuguese botanist José Correia da Serr ...
's 2003 partial translation a
CSL
at the Tertullian Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Justin
2nd-century Romans
2nd-century historians
2nd-century Latin writers
Latin historians
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
Place of birth unknown