Origin of Constantine

The Origo represents the first part of the Excerpta Valesiana, with the so-called Anonymus Valesianus II as the second part. These two texts do not have a shared origin. The only element shared by these texts is their provenance from the Cod. Berol. Phill. 1885, whilst their name comes from the scholar who published them for the first time, Henri de Valois. The structure of the work suggests that it is the epitome of a more extended text. König (1987: 19-28) links it to a lost biography of Constantine supposedly used by Zosimus and the Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte.

The date has been long debated. König (1987: 19-28) dates the Origo to the end of fourth century (reign of Theodosius) and argues that some elements of the text come from the Chronicle of Jerome. Since the latter work arrived in Italy in the winter of 380/1, the redaction of the Origo should postdate that point, according to König. Barnes (1989: 159-161) argues that the original text was written in the middle decades of the fourth century, soon after Constantine's death. A first version was rewritten after 417. Barnes' interpretation is now the prevailing one.

Even if den Boer (1972: 102) takes the author to be a Christian, the majority of scholars consider him to be a pagan. It is usually assumed that paragraphs 20, 29, 33-35 contain Christian interpolations taken from Orosius. Aussénac (2001) proposes by contrast that Orosius used the Origo. She also argues that the work was used by Jerome, which would provide a firm fourth-century date.