The ''Chronica'' or ''Cronaca Gallica of 511'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 511'', is a chronicle of

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

preserved today in a single manuscript of the thirteenth century now in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. It resembles in all its traits another late antique Gallic chronicle, the ''

Chronica Gallica of 452 The ''Chronica Gallica of 452'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 452'', is a Latin chronicle of Late Antiquity, presented in the form of annals, which continues that of Jerome. It was edited by Theodor Mommsen in the ''Monumenta Germaniae Hi ...

'', of which it may be a continuation. Like the chronicle of 452, it was written in the south of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

, possibly at

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. The sources of its author include the earlier chronicle, the chronicle of

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Sev ...

, that of

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius (c. 400 – c. 469) was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), he ...

, that of

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...

, and the imperial

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

ar records. It was added to a compilation of texts in Spain in 733. The chronicle is considered an extremely complex document, containing 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 " ...

—probably an epitome that has been condensed further—instead of Severus' chronicle detailing the history of the world. It was also described as one of the earliest extant works that used Hydatius as a source and was an exiguous revision—and also continuation—of

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

' chronicle translated by Jerome. The chronicle covers the period from 379 to 509/511, from which derives its name. Its entries are short and pointed, but only (approximately) datable by the rare reference to the regnal year of an emperor and by the (assumed) chronological ordering of events. Among the events for which there is no other extant source is the defeat and death of Anthemiolus around 471. Some of its contents including the dates of an emperor's reign and the chronology of events are not accurate.

Notes

Sources

*Burgess, R. "The Gallic Chronicle of 511: A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction." ''Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources''. edd. R. W. Mathisen and D. Shantzer. Aldershot, 2001. pp 85–100. *Jan-Markus Kötter, Carlo Scardino (Hrsg.): ''Gallische Chroniken'' (= '' Kleine und fragmentarische Historiker der Spätantike'' G 7–8). Schöningh, Paderborn 2016, . {{Authority control 6th-century history books 6th-century Latin books French chronicles 511