Constructing the Chronicle

Abstract The chronicle of Marcellinus, like any similar work, represents its author’s attempt to constitute a picture of the past which is meaningful for his contemporaries. In producing his chronicle Marcellinus read earlier historiographical texts such as Orosius’ History from his present perspective and purpose. Out of the documents which he chose to use, and guided by both the dictates of the genre and the expectations of the audience at which he was aiming, Marcellinus configured and formatted his story. For the most part, he does not so much engage directly with the past as indirectly through the records to which he had access. The chronicle is a textually mediated outline account of events from 379 to 534, as they were commonly understood at the time of writing, and his picture of the previous 140 years is captured in the language of his day. Consequently, to view, utilize or judge the chronicle as merely a mine of facts for modern researchers is to misconstrue it seriously. The chronicle is essentially a literary text, constructed for a particular purpose and for a particular audience so it lends itself to all the different ways a text can be analysed; that is to say, one can investigate its language and style as well as its method of construction and its sources of information. This chapter addresses the formal textual aspects of the chronicle as another means of illuminating the nature of the document, its author and its audience. The discussion proceeds from identifying the sources of information used by Marcellinus in the chronicle to analysing how the chronicle was assembled from those sources. In addition, it attempts to clarify the nature and development of the putative (and controversial) ‘City Chronicle’ of Constantinople, long acknowledged as one of the chronicle’s main sources of information.