Understanding Ammianus Marcellinus, Book by Book

Abstract

This article examines the now complete Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus, begun in the 1930s by Pieter de Jonge and completed in 2018 by J. den Boeft, J.W. Drijvers, D. den Hengst and H.C. Teitler. It starts with a detailed consideration of the final volume, the commentary on Book 31, and addresses aspects of it that reflect both the strengths and the weaknesses of the whole commentary series. From there, it concludes by surveying the most significant historical insights and the most essential historiographical discussions in the volumes produced by the final team of four editors, the so-called quadriga Batavorum.