Late Antique Historiography

On the chronology of Rome

Title(s):
  • On the chronology of Rome
  • De annis populi Romani
    (De annis populi Romani, On the years of Roman people)
Author:
Period covered:
At least 2185/2184-190 B.C.
Language:
Latin
State of Preservation:
Fragmentary
Genre:
  • Secular history (classicizing history)
  • Secular history (general)
Remarks:
Nothing is known of Sura's life. Mommsen (1861: 282-284) suggests that he belongs to the time of Sulla. Swain (1940: 2-3) dates Sura between 189 and 171 B.C., because he considered Zama, Cynoscephalae and Magnesia as the last historical stages in Rome's conquest of power. Alonso-Núñez (1989: 110-119) and Momigliano (1982: 533-560) agree with this contextualization. Peter (1906: 161) and Schanz-Hosius (1935: 588) reject the second-century date: in their opinion, it is very difficult to date the work. The same uncertainties are expressed by Mendels (1981: 331-332) and Cornell (2013a: 617): the former considers Sura's list of Empires (translatio imperii) to be typical of imperial historiography (from the end of first century onwards).    
Edition - Translation:
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • J.M. Alonso-Núñez (1989) 'Aemilius Sura'. Latomus 48: 110-119.
  • H. Bardon (1952) La littérature latine inconnue. Volume One: L'époque républicaine. Paris: 195.
  • M. Büdinger (1895) Die Universalhistorie im Altertum. Vienna: 74-75.
  • T.J. Cornell (2013) (ed.) The fragments of Roman historians. Volume One: Introduction. Oxford: 617-618.
  • T.J. Cornell (2013) (ed.) The fragments of Roman historians. Volume Three: Commentary. Oxford: 656.
  • D. Mendels (1981) 'The five empires: A note on a propagandistic topos'. American Journal of Philology 102: 330-337.
  • A. Momigliano (1982) 'The origins of universal history'. Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa 12.2: 533-560.
  • T. Mommsen (1861) 'Mamilius Sura, Aemilius Sura, L. Manlius'. Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 16: 282-287.
  • M. Schanz, C. Hosius (1935) Geschichte der römischen Literatur bis zum Gesetzgebungswerk des Kaisers Justinian. Volume Two: Die römische Literatur in der Zeit der Monarchie bis auf Hadrian (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 8.2). Fourth edition. Munich: 587-588, 833.