Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/50
Context
Ammianus Marcellinus grew up in the Greek East, probably Syria or
Phoenicia, during the second quarter of the 4th century, and as an adult served in the
military under Constantius II and Julian. He wrote a record of events or “achievements”
(res gestae) of the Roman state, though only the chapters covering
the years 353-378 C.E. survive. In his survey of the eastern provinces (14.8), Ammianus
here describes the topography and environment of Roman Palestine, including its chief
city Caesarea Maritima.
Text
(11) Ultima Syriarum est Palaestina, per intervalla magna protenta,
cultis abundans terris et nitidis, et civitates habens quasdam egregias, nullam nulli
cedentem, sed sibi vicissim velut ad perpendiculum aemulas:
Caesaream, quam ad honorem Octaviani principis exaedificavit
Herodes, et Eleutheropolim et Neapolim, itidemque Ascalonem Gazam, aevo superiore
exstructas. (12) In his tractibus navigerum nusquam visitur flumen, et in locis plurimis
aquae suapte natura calentes emergunt, ad usus aptae multiplicem medellarum. Verum has
quoque regiones pari sorte Pompeius Iudeis domitis et Hierosolymis captis, in provinciae
speciem delata iuris dictione formavit.1
Textual Note
Ed. Seyfarth 1978Translation
(11) The last region of the Syrias is Palestine, extending over a
great extent of territory and abounding in cultivated and well-kept lands; it also has
some splendid cities, none of which yields to any of the others, but they rival one
another, as it were, by the plumb-line. These are Caesarea, which
Herod built in honor of the emperor Octavian, Eleutheropolis, and Neapolis, along with
Ascalon and Gaza, built in a former age. (12) In these districts no navigable river is
anywhere to be seen, but in numerous places natural warm springs gush forth, adapted to
many medicinal uses. But these regions also met with a similar fate, being formed into a
province by Pompey after he had defeated the Jews and taken Jerusalem [in 63 B.C.E.],
but left to the jurisdiction of a goverrnor.2
Translation Note
Trans. Rolfe 1930Works Cited
- 1 Ammianus Marcellinus, Ammiani Marcellini rerum gestarum libri qui supersunt, ed. Wolfgang Seyfarth, Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1978), bk: 14, ch: 8.11-12.
- 2 Ammianus Marcellinus, Ammianus Marcellinus I, trans. John Carew Rolfe, vol. 1, 3 vols., Loeb Classical Library (London: W. Heinemann, 1935), vol: 1, p: 70-71.
How to Cite This Entry
Bianca Gardner et al., “Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/50.
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Bibliography:
Bianca Gardner et al., “Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/50.About this Entry
Entry Title: Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12”
- Bianca Gardner and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Ammianus Marcellinus, History 14.8.11-14.8.12”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Bianca Gardner
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife