A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

AMMIANUS.
fUrsicinus, one of the most able among the generals
)f Constantius, and accompanied him to the East
in 350. He returned with his commander to Italy
Four years afterwards, from thence passed over into
Gaul, and assisted in the enterprise against Sylvaaus, again followed Ursicinus when despatched for
i second time to the East, and appears to have
aever quitted him until the period of his final disgrace in 360. Ammianus subsequently attended;he emperor Julian in his campaign against the
Persians, was present at Antioch in 371, when the
>lot of Theodorus was detected in the reign of
Valens, and witnessed the tortures inflicted upon
lhe conspirators. (xxix. i. ~ 24.) Eventually
ie established himself at Rome, where he composed his history, and during the progress of the
ask read several portions publicly, which were
eceived with great applause. (Liban. Epist.
)CCCCLXXXIII. p. 60, ed. Wolf.) The precise date
>f his death is not recorded, but it must have hap)ened later than 390, since a reference occurs to
he consulship of Neoterius, which belongs to that,ear.
The work of Ammianus extended from the ac-,ession of Nerva, A. D. 96, the point at which the
iistories of Tacitus and the biographies of Suetoius terminated, to the death of Valens, A. D. 378,
omprising a period of 282 years. It was divided
nto thirty-one books, of which the first thirteen.re lost. The remaining eighteen embrace the acts
f Constantius from A.D. 353, the seventeenth year
f his reign, together with the whole career of
jallus, Julianus, Jovianus, Valentinianus, and
Talens. The portion preserved includes the transctions of twenty-five years only, which proves
hat the earlier books must have presented a very
ondensed abridgment of the events contained in
he long space over which they stretched; and
ence we may feel satisfied, that what has been
aved is much more valuable than what has peished.
Gibbon (cap. xxvi.) pays a well deserved triute to the accuracy, fidelity, and 'impartiality of
Lmmianus. We are indebted to him for a knowsdge of many important facts not elsewhere reorded, and for much valuable insight into the
lodes of thought and the general tone of public
seling prevalent in his day. His history must not,
owever, be regarded as a complete chronicle of that
ra; those proceedings only are brought forward
rominently in which he himself was engaged, and
early all the statements admitted appear to be
)unded upon his own observations, or upon the in)nnation derived from trustworthy eye-witnesses,
L considerable number of dissertations and digresons are introduced, many of them highly interestig and valuable. Such are his notices of the
istitutions and manners of the Saracens (xiv. 4),
4 the Scythians and Sarmatians (xvii. 12), of the
[uns and Alani (xxxi. 2), of the Egyptians and
ieir country (xxii. 6, 14-16), and his geogratical discussions upon Gaul (xv. 9), the Pontus
cxii. 8), and Thrace (xxvii. 4), although the:curacy of many of his details has been called in
jestion by D'Anville. Less legitimate and less
idicious are his geological speculations upon earthlakes (xvii. 7), his astronomical inquiries into;lipses (xx. 3), comets (xxv. 10), and the regution of the calendar (xxvi. 1), his medical rearches into the origin of epidemics (xix. 4), his
ological theory on the destruction of lions by

AMMIANUS. 143
mosquitoes (xviii. 7), and his horticultural essay
on the impregnation of palms (xxiv. 3). But in
addition to industry in research and honesty of
purpose, he was gifted with a large measure of
strong common sense which enabled him in many
points to rise superior to the prejudice of his day,
and with a clear-sighted independence of spirit
which prevented him from being dazzled or overawed by the brilliancy and the terrors which enveloped the imperial throne. The wretched
vanity, weakness, and debauchery of Constantius,
rendering him an easy prey to the designs of the
profligate minions by whom he was surrounded,
the female intrigues which ruled the court of
Gallus, and the conflicting elements of vice and
virtue which were so strongly combined in the character of Valentinian, are all sketched with boldness, vigour, and truth. But although sufficiently
acute in detecting and exposing the follies of others,
and especially in ridiculing the absurdities of popular superstition, Ammianus did not entirely
escape the contagion. The general and deepseated belief in magic spells, omens, prodigies, and
oracles, which appears to have gained additional
strength upon the first introduction of Christianity,
evidently exercised no small influence over his
mind. The old legends and doctrines of the Pagan
creed and the subtle mysticism which philosophers
pretended to discover lurking below, when mixed
up with the pure and simple but startling tenets of
the new faith, formed a confused mass which few
intellects, except those of the very highest class,
could reduce to order and harmony.
A keen controversy has been maintained with
regard to the religious creed of our author. (See
Bayle.) There is nothing in his writings which
can entitle us to decide the question positively. In
several passages he speaks with marked respect of
Christianity and its professors (xxi. sub fin., xxii.
11, xxvii. 3; compare xxii. 12, xxv. 4); but even
his strongest expressions, which are all attributed
by Gibbon " to the incomparable pliancy of a
polytheist," afford no conclusive evidence that he
was himself a disciple of the cross. On the other
hand he does not scruple to stigmatize with the
utmost severity the savage fury of the contending
sects (xxii. 5), nor fail to reprobate the bloody violence of Damasus and Ursinus in the contest for
the see of Rome (xxvii. 3): the absence of all
censure on the apostacy of Julian, and the terms
which he employs with regard to Nemesis (xiv.
11, xxii. 3), the Genius (xxi. 14), Mercurius (xvi.
5, xxv. 4), and other deities, are by many considered as decisive proofs that he was a pagan.
Indeed, as Heyne justly remarks, many of the
writers of this epoch seem purposely to avoid
committing themselves. Being probably devoid of
strong religious principles, they felt unwilling to
hazard any declaration which might one day expose them to persecution and prevent them from
adopting the various forms which the faith of the
court might from time to time assume.
Little can be said in praise of the style of Ammianus. The melodious flow and simple dignity
of the purer models of composition had long
ceased to be relished, and we too often detect the
harsh diction and involved periods of an imperfectly
educated foreign soldier, relieved occasionally by the
pompous inflation and flashy glitter of the rhetorical schools. His phraseology as it regards the signification, grammatical inflexions, and syntactical