Justin ( la, Marcus Junianus Justinus Frontinus; century) was a Latin writer who lived under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

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 Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus also anglicized as was a Gallo-Roman historian from the Celtic Vocontii tribe in Narbonese Gaul who lived during the reign of the emperor Augustus. He was nearly contemporary with Livy. Life Pompeius Trogus's grandfathe ...

, whose work he excerpted, and his references to the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

appears to be consistent with the style of the second century.

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

, however, argues for a date around AD 390, immediately before the compilation of the Augustan History, 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 of Trogus' expansive ''Liber Historiarum Philippicarum'', or ''Philippic Histories'', a history of the kings of Macedonia, compiled in the time 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 Pr ...

. Due to its numerous digressions, this work was retitled by one of its editors, ''

Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs The ''Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs'', or ''Philippic History and Origins of the Entire World and All of its Lands'', by the second-century Roman writer Justin is an epitome of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogu ...

'', or ''Philippic History and Origins of the Entire World and All of its Lands''. Justin's

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...

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 Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

. 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 ...

, 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, when its author was sometimes mistakenly conflated with

Justin Martyr Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * . * .

External links

An early edition
(Milan, 1476) of the ''Epitome'' from the Bavarian State Library * Justin's ''Epitome'' a

* Watson's 1853 translation a
CSL

* Arnaud-Lindet's 2003 translation a
CSL
* Correa'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