A BYZANTINE CHRONICLE IN LATIN

The Illyrian Marcellinus moved to Constantinople early in the sixth century as a veteran or refugee; there he wrote his Latin chronicle for AD 379-534. Marcellinus is distinctive in combining Latin language with eastern focus and reflects the interests of the Illyrian community in Constantinople. B. Croke's canvas in "Count Marcellinus and his Chronicle" is frequently broad, and on larger matters he has space only to summarise major recent scholarship. Croke rightly makes high claims for chronicles as "the central mode of interpreting the past in late antiquity", yet Marcellinus's personal focus on events of the last 150-odd years also allies him with traditional historians. (Quotes from original text)