FASTI ROMANI.

12231266 1864-1709

IT is proposed in this volume briefly to exhibit in the order of time the civil and military events, together with the literary chronology both secular and ecclesiastical, of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus to the death of Heraclius. To speak with greater precision, we may observe that the Tables of this volume, embracing a period of 627 years, commence at Jan. 1 A. D. 15, in the fifth month after the death of Augustus, and terminate Dec. 31 A. D. 641, in the eleventh month after the death of Heraclius.

I transcribe some passages from the introduction to the Tables of the larger work. "For the civil and military transactions valuable testimonies have been derived from the Roman coins contained in the accurate work of Eckhel. Where the assistance of the medals begins to fail us, the Theodosian Code supplies materials. It records the day and the month and the consuls, with the place from whence the emperor issued his edict, and the name and office of the person to whom it was addressed; and affords most valuable assistance. But unfortunately from many causes, from the similarity of names, sometimes from the identity (when the same persons were consuls in different years), and from the easy alteration of numbers, the Code has undergone corruptions; as Tillemont Eckhel and others who have used this monument have found. It is used therefore with caution. Only those inscriptions of laws are quoted, which appear without suspicion. We cannot always rely upon the subscriptions of laws in the Theodosian Code when they are not

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supported by other testimony. When they corroborate the evidence of historians, their uses are important; thus coming in aid as independent witnesses, they establish the certainty of the fact. The Code and the History confirm each other."

"The Theodosian Code begins with Constantine and ends with the year 438. The Code of Justinian extends over a larger space. It ascends to the reign of Hadrian and proceeds through the intermediate emperors to Constantine inclusive; then embracing the whole period of the Theodosian Code it descends beyond that Code 96 years to A. D. 534. In the early period few notices of laws appear. One in the reign of Hadrian without a date; nine laws in the space between Hadrian and Severus. From Severus A. D. 193 the The dates are not always

laws preserved are numerous. added; most of the laws of Diocletian are without the year. But yet in the interval from Severus to Constantine the subscriptions of laws supply some valuable information. Within the period of the Theodosian Code the diligence of Godefroy has collected from the Code of Justinian about 320 laws which are not found in the former Codea. For the rest, the Code of Justinian is less full than its predecessor: some laws are omitted, others are abridged. In the last period of 96 years it contains useful evidence. In addition to the two Codes the Novella supply testimonies which are inserted in the proper years.

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"It is the object of this work to collect the original testimonies; to make each author speak for himself and deliver his own evidence in his own language. In executing this task I have been constrained to occupy in some parts of the subject a considerable space. When the epitomators and chronographers are our chief authorities a large space is sometimes required. None of these writers None of these writers is so exact as to be wholly free from error; and yet few passages are so deficient as not to contain some valuable relic, some particle of truth. It was necessary then, where the passages were not too long, to give the whole of what each author has said, that they may be compared and examined, and that it may be

a Some of these have been now dis- from Cod. Taurin. and Cod. Ambros. covered in the five books of the Theo- by Wenck, 8vo. Lips. 1825. dosian Code, which have been given

seen at a glance wherein they confirm one another and wherein they differ. Some of them transcribe from their predecessors; as Cassiodorus from Hieronymus and from Prosper; Paulus Diaconus from the epitome of Victor, from Orosius, from Prosper; Isidorus from Idatius. But even here it was sometimes requisite to insert both passages, because he who transcribes from a preceding author may be a better evidence of the original reading than any extant manuscript. It will be further observed that in the decline of the empire the succession of events is rapid, the revolutions are various and complicated, and a mere recital of the facts requires a long narrative."

"The distribution of ecclesiastical authors into centuries is rejected in this work. That arrangement, although adopted by the Centuriators, and after them by Mosheim and others, is recommended by no advantage. The beginning and the end of each century, computed from the vulgar era, are not especially marked as epochs at which great changes occurred either for good or evil. Such a distribution is insufficient, and incomplete; for it may not fix an author's time within 50 years; and why should we be satisfied with an imperfect account, when a more exact description may be had? It is sometimes inaccurate, for an author may belong to two centuries. Hieronymus wrote and taught for 30 years of the fourth century, but he also composed many valuable works during 20 years of the fifth. It is sometimes delusive, and conceals the value of testimony. Thus Quadratus is called a writer of the second century. But this conveys an inadequate idea of the evidence of Quadratus, who was a disciple of the apostles, and who wrote only 60 years after the deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, and little more than twenty after the death of St. John. The method adopted by Hieronymus himself, by Eusebius, Gennadius, and others, of marking an author's time by naming the reigning emperor, is far more judicious. In the present work then no mention is made of centuries, but each author is placed as nearly as may be at the year in which he flourished."

"The General Councils are important parts of the public history, and will be found in the Tables at the proper years. But it did not come within the scope and object of this

Chronology, nor was it possible within the intended limits, to introduce all the synods of which memorials remain. If any especial reason offered for describing some particular councils, if they supplied a date which verified other transactions, if they illustrated the lives or influenced the fortunes of eminent men recorded here, these have been inserted. The rest must be sought in other works."

"The bishops of the five great Churches, Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople, are frequently mentioned in the Tables. All could not be inserted; for sometimes the want of space and the pressure of other subjects excluded them; sometimes the uncertainty of the testimonies required a long examination. The rest are therefore reserved for the Appendix, which will contain the series of those who flourished within the time included in this work."

In the Tables of this Epitome the coins, the inscriptions, the laws of the two Codes, and the testimonies collected from historians or chronographers are necessarily omitted. But the narrative of facts is founded upon those authorities, and may be verified by reference to the original passages.