While there are good translations of Ammianus Marcellinus' writings online, none of them are really easy to navigate. Fascinating stuff, however. Here are a couple of selections you might look at:
Read any of the above passages you like, and add your comment to this post. What did you find particularly interesting here? How does reading Ammianus Marcellinus' account give you a clearer picture of either Constantius or Julian?
I was reading about the strengths and weaknesses of Julian. What really surprised me was his love for his wife. The passage claims that after her death Julian did not seek love again. Towards the end of the Roman Empire it seemed a rarity that an emperor actually was loyal to his wife. It also was very surprising how merciful Julian was to his enemies. Those who were plotting against him did not receive the severe punishment previous rulers would have given. This passage certainly paints Julian as a very courageous and moral man, one that the Romans could resemble their lives after. All would have been much easier in Rome if he had been a Christian though.
I read about how Julian tried to rebuild the temple. I found that this story is a perfect example of just how some things are not meant to be. As they were trying to reconstruct the temple many workers were burned to death at the base of the temple. It was said that the temple was basically spewing up fireballs. Mysterious deaths were happening for no reason. A priest on the steps of a temple suddenly and for no reason fell of the edge and died. People back then would take this as a sign from the gods and that it should not be built. I even think in today's society many of us would see this as a bad omen.
Julian seems to me to be the kind of ruler other roman men should strive to be. After reading the strengths and weaknesses of Julian it is easy to see that he was a very good ruler. He had good morals and that was shown by his love for his wife. Even after death he did not seek out another woman for marriage which was not common amongst Roman emperors. Most of them had multiple partners. He also was somewhat kind to the people he conquered unlike other leaders who would treat them poorly. Julian did not rule for that long compared to a Augustus or other leaders but he showed that he could rule just as well as them in the time that he had.
I chose the strengths and weaknesses of Julian. For what I find interesting is " Finally, to be brief, it is well known that he was so merciful towards some open enemies who plotted against him, that he corrected the severity of their punishment by his inborn mildness." Not many people that do this. But give me a clear picture of him is " Then there were very many proofs of his wisdom, of which it will suffice to mention a few. He was thoroughly skilled in the arts of war and peace, greatly inclined to courtesy, and claiming for [p. 507] himself only so much deference as he thought preserved him from contempt and insolence. He was older in virtue than in years. He gave great attention to the administration of justice, and was sometimes an unbending judge; also a very strict censor in regulating conduct, with a calm contempt for riches, scorning everything mortal; in short, he often used to declare that it was shameful for a wise man, since he possessed a soul, to seek honour from bodily gifts." This tells a lot about the kind of person he was. Chistina Grimme
In reading about Julian's strengths and weaknesses it surprised me how well he treated his enemies. He did not hand out punishments as harsh as those that would have been given by previous emperors when people would plot against him. I was also surprised by what it said about his love for his wife. The surprising part being that after she died he never sought another wife. Many other emperors would have tried to find another wife after one died if for no other reason than the fact that marrying a particular person might be politically expedient to them, but Julian never did this. This makes it seem as though he actually cared about her in a way that may not have been expected. The reading made it seem as though Julian was a good emperor, he was moral and seemed to have not treated people as horribly as he could have.
There wasn't anything that really surprised me when reading about the weaknesses and strengths of Constantius. One thing that I found interesting, however, was that it said that he never appointed anyone to a position that they were untrained for. Before he gave anyone a high office they would have been working for years in a lower office. No one was put in charge of the military without first having fought in the military. It also seemed that he wasn't a very good emperor as the listing of his strengths took only one paragraph while the listing of his weaknesses took up the rest of the passage.
I was reading about the strengths and weaknesses of Julian. What really surprised me was his love for his wife. The passage claims that after her death Julian did not seek love again. Towards the end of the Roman Empire it seemed a rarity that an emperor actually was loyal to his wife. It also was very surprising how merciful Julian was to his enemies. Those who were plotting against him did not receive the severe punishment previous rulers would have given. This passage certainly paints Julian as a very courageous and moral man, one that the Romans could resemble their lives after. All would have been much easier in Rome if he had been a Christian though.
ReplyDeleteI read about how Julian tried to rebuild the temple. I found that this story is a perfect example of just how some things are not meant to be. As they were trying to reconstruct the temple many workers were burned to death at the base of the temple. It was said that the temple was basically spewing up fireballs. Mysterious deaths were happening for no reason. A priest on the steps of a temple suddenly and for no reason fell of the edge and died. People back then would take this as a sign from the gods and that it should not be built. I even think in today's society many of us would see this as a bad omen.
ReplyDeleteJulian seems to me to be the kind of ruler other roman men should strive to be. After reading the strengths and weaknesses of Julian it is easy to see that he was a very good ruler. He had good morals and that was shown by his love for his wife. Even after death he did not seek out another woman for marriage which was not common amongst Roman emperors. Most of them had multiple partners. He also was somewhat kind to the people he conquered unlike other leaders who would treat them poorly. Julian did not rule for that long compared to a Augustus or other leaders but he showed that he could rule just as well as them in the time that he had.
ReplyDeleteI chose the strengths and weaknesses of Julian. For what I find interesting is " Finally, to be brief, it is well known that he was so merciful towards some open enemies who plotted against him, that he corrected the severity of their punishment by his inborn mildness." Not many people that do this. But give me a clear picture of him is " Then there were very many proofs of his wisdom, of which it will suffice to mention a few. He was thoroughly skilled in the arts of war and peace, greatly inclined to courtesy, and claiming for [p. 507] himself only so much deference as he thought preserved him from contempt and insolence. He was older in virtue than in years. He gave great attention to the administration of justice, and was sometimes an unbending judge; also a very strict censor in regulating conduct, with a calm contempt for riches, scorning everything mortal; in short, he often used to declare that it was shameful for a wise man, since he possessed a soul, to seek honour from bodily gifts." This tells a lot about the kind of person he was.
ReplyDeleteChistina Grimme
In reading about Julian's strengths and weaknesses it surprised me how well he treated his enemies. He did not hand out punishments as harsh as those that would have been given by previous emperors when people would plot against him. I was also surprised by what it said about his love for his wife. The surprising part being that after she died he never sought another wife. Many other emperors would have tried to find another wife after one died if for no other reason than the fact that marrying a particular person might be politically expedient to them, but Julian never did this. This makes it seem as though he actually cared about her in a way that may not have been expected. The reading made it seem as though Julian was a good emperor, he was moral and seemed to have not treated people as horribly as he could have.
ReplyDeleteMallory Schlechter
There wasn't anything that really surprised me when reading about the weaknesses and strengths of Constantius. One thing that I found interesting, however, was that it said that he never appointed anyone to a position that they were untrained for. Before he gave anyone a high office they would have been working for years in a lower office. No one was put in charge of the military without first having fought in the military. It also seemed that he wasn't a very good emperor as the listing of his strengths took only one paragraph while the listing of his weaknesses took up the rest of the passage.
ReplyDeleteMallory Schlechter