Late Antique Historiography

Hypomnema

Title(s):
  • Hypomnema
  • Ὑπόμνημα
    (Hupomnēma, Account)
Author:
Period covered:
Julian's Persian campaign (363) or his entire reign
Language:
Greek
State of Preservation:
Fragmentary
Genre:
  • Report
  • Secular history (classicizing history)
  • Secular history (general)
Remarks:
The nature of Oribasius' work is not clear: Eunapius defined it as an ὑπόμνημα of Julian's deeds (F 1). According to Jacoby, Oribasius' text had the form of loose notes: it was a diary, meant only for Eunapius' personal use (Janiszewski 2006: 383, 287). Other scholars consider it to be a memoir (Baldwin 1975: 89, 94; Matthews 1989: 164 and Seeck 1906: 530), but it could also be a larger and more systematic work (Janiszewski 2006: 387).
Edition - Translation:
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • B. Baldwin (1975) 'The career of Oribasius'. Acta classica 18: 85-97.
  • W.R. Chalmers (1960) 'Eunapius, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Zosimus on Julian's Persian Expedition'. The Classical Quarterly 54, n.s. 10: 152-160.
  • C. Fornara (1991) 'Julian's Persian expedition in Ammianus and Zosimus'. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 3: 1-15.
  • P. Janiszewski (2006) The missing link: Greek pagan historiography in the second half of the third century and in the fourth century A.D. Warsaw.
  • J.F. Matthews (1989) The Roman Empire of Ammianus. London.
  • O. Seeck (1906) 'Zur Chronologie und Quellenkritik des Ammianus Marcellinus'. Hermes 41: 481-539.