Ammianus in context: A repertory of parallel late Greek sources.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Bruno Bleckmann
• Subject Area: Ancient History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 565557447

There is extensive parallel material on the historian Ammianus Marcellinus in the late Greek-Byzantine tradition, which is indispensable for the contextualization of the by no means “lone” historian - in the proposed project, the parallels are to be collected and examined not only selectively, but as completely as possible. The aim is to take a closer look at four groups of sources: 1. contemporary panegyric, especially where it contains narrative elements (e.g. the 18th speech of Libanius; Themistius); 2. remnants of fourth-century historiography (Eunapius-Zosimus; Magnus of Carrhae); 3. Ecclesiastical historiography of the fifth century (Philostorgius, Socrates, Sozomenus, Theodoretus); 4. Byzantine chronicle tradition (John of Antioch, Theophanes, John Zonaras etc.): The aim is to compile an index, based on the preliminary work that has already been done, in which parallels for each individual book of Ammian that are found in the late Greek tradition are listed and briefly discussed in terms of source criticism. In this way, future Ammian research should be provided with a useful working tool.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants