History

Little is known about the history of Nicomachus Flavianus, except that it most likely focused on Rome. Quellenforschung has identified him as the pagan, senatorial source that is supposed to shape three groups of texts: a fourth-century Greek tradition, in particular Eunapius and, via him, Zosimus; a fourth-century Latin tradition, in particular Ammianus Marcellinus, the Historia Augusta and the Epitome de Caesaribus; and the so-called Leoquelle, the source behind Byzantine narratives about the fourth century. For a sceptical dissection of the arguments, see Al. Cameron (2011). Van Hoof and Van Nuffelen (2020) urge to separate the two issues: the reconstruction of Flavianus' work based on extant fragments and the possible existence of a shared source used by Latin and Byzantine historians. There is no proof that Flavianus can be identified with any of the supposed shared sources, nor is it certain that all these traditions can be reduced to a single source.