The Chronicle
(or Chronicon
or Temporum liber
) was a universal chronicle, one of JeromeSaint Jerome was a Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's earliest attempts in the department of history. It was composed circa 380-Roman Empire:* January/February – Emperor Theodosius I is baptized.* February 27 – Theodosius I, with co-emperors Gratianus and Valentinian II, declare their wish that all their peoples convert to trinitarian Christianity, in accordance with the patriarchs of Rome and Alexandria, implicitly...
in ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the ChroniconThe Chronicon or Chronicle was a work in two books by Eusebius of Caesarea. It seems to have been compiled in the early 4th century. It contained a world chronicle from Abraham until the vicennalia of Constantine I in 325 AD...
of Eusebius, with a supplement covering the period from
325-Roman Empire:* Gladiatorial combat is outlawed in the Roman Empire.* Constantine I personally assures the security of the Danube border by defeating the Goths, Vandals and Sarmatians.-Art:...
to
379-Roman Empire:* January 19—Theodosius I is elevated as Roman Emperor at Sirmium.* Gratianus refuses the title of Eastern Emperor.* Gratian renounces the title pontifex maximus.-Asia:* Ardeshir II becomes King of Persia....
. In spite of numerous errors taken over from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work of
universal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
, if only for the impulse which it gave to such later chroniclers as
ProsperSaint Prosper of Aquitaine , a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.- Life :...
,
CassiodorusFlavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname not his rank....
, and
Victor of TunnunaVictor of Tunnuna was bishop of the North African town of Tunnuna and a chronicler from Late Antiquity.What little information we have on his life is derived from entries in his own chronicle. Victor was a staunch supporter of the Three Chapters which had been condemned by Justinian's edict of...
to continue his annals.
The Chronicle contains a chronology of the events of
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, based on the work of Hellenistic scholars such as Apollodorus,
Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus , was a Greek historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doing than is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca historica...
, and Eusebius. While the earlier parts are clearly unhistorical, there may be scattered remnants of historical events of late Mycenean Greece from entires of the
12th century BC-Overview:The 12th century BC is the period from 1200 to 1101 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, most individual persons mentioned in this article ought to be considered legendary rather than historical...
(see
Historicity of the IliadThe extent of the historical basis of the Iliad has been debated for some time. Educated Greeks of the fifth century continued to accept the truth of human events depicted in the Iliad, even as philosophical scepticism was undermining faith in divine intervention in human affairs...
; notably, Jerome's date for the capture of
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
of 1183 BC corresponds remarkably well with the destruction layer of
Troy VIITroy VII, in the mound at Hisarlik, is an archaeological layer of Troy representing late Hittite Empire to Neo-Hittite times . It was a walled city with towers reaching a height of nine meters; the foundations of one of its bastions measure 18 meters by 18 meters...
a, the main candidate for the historical inspiration of legendary Troy, dated to ca. 1190 BC).
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
himself is dated to 940 BC, while modern scholarship usually places him after 800 BC.
Timeline
From Adam until the 14th year of Valens, 5,579 years
- From Abraham to the Fall of Troy (26 kings of the Assyrians), 835 years
- Ninus
Ninus, according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was accepted as the eponymous founder of Nineveh , although he does not seem to represent any one personage known to modern history, and is more likely a conflation of several real and/or fictional figures of...
, son of Belus-People and deities:* Ba‘al: a title in northwest Semitic languages, often applied to particular gods.* Bel: a title in Akkadian, especially applied to the Babylonian god Marduk but also used of other gods....
reigned 52 years, AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
, ZoroasterZoroaster or Zarathushtra , also referred to as Zartosht , was an ancient Iranian prophet and religious poet. The hymns attributed to him, the Gathas, are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
- Semiramis
Semiramis was a legendary Assyrian queen, also known as Semiramide, Semiramida, or Shamiram.Many legends have accumulated around her personality. Various efforts have been made to identify her with real persons...
, 42 years
- Zameis, 38 years; covenant of Abraham with God (1942 BC)
- Arius reigned for 30 years; birth of Isaac
Isaac or Ishak ) was the only child of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau, described in the Hebrew Bible. He is regarded as one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people...
(1912 BC)
- Aralius, 40 years
- Xerxes Balaneus , 30 years; Inachus
In Greek mythology, Inachus personified the Inachus River, the modern Panitsa that drains the western margin of the Argive plain. He was king of Argos .
reigned for 50 years (1856 BC)
- Armamitres, 38 years
- Belocus, 35 years; birth of Joseph
Joseph or Yosef , was the eleventh son of Jacob and first son of Rachel according to the Hebrew Bible...
(1765 BC); Ogygian Flood (1757 BC)
- Balaeus, 52 years; famine in Egypt (1727 BC)
- Altadas, 32 years; Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
- Mamynthus, 30 years
- Magchaleus, 30 years
- Sphaerus
Sphaerus of Borysthenes or the Bosphorus, was a Stoic philosopher.He studied first under Zeno of Citium, and afterwards under Cleanthes. He taught in Sparta, where he acted as advisor to Cleomenes III. He moved to Alexandria at some point, where he lived in the court of Ptolemy IV Philopator...
, 20 years; birth of MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
(1592 BC)
- Mamylus, 30 years
- Sparetus, 40 years; Deucalian flood (1526 BC)
- Ascatades, 40 years; Moses on Mount Sinai (1515 BC)
- Amynthes, 45 years; birth of Minos
In Greek mythology, Minos was a mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of pre-Hellene Crete has been named after him...
, RhadamanthusIn Greek myths, Rhadamanthus was a wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa. Later accounts even make him out to be one of judges of the dead. His brothers were Sarpedon and Minos . Rhadamanthus was raised by Asterion...
, and SarpedonIn Greek mythology, Sarpedon referred to at least three different people.-Son of Zeus and Europa:The first Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother to Minos and Rhadamanthys. He was raised by King Asterion and then banished by Minos, and sought refuge with his uncle, King Cilix...
(1445 BC)
- Belochus, 25 years
- Bellepares, 30 years; Perseus
Perseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians...
- Lamprides, 32 years; Tros
In Greek mythology, Tros was a ruler of Troy and the son of Erichthonius or Ilus I, from whom he inherited the throne. Tros was the father of three sons: Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymedes. He is the eponym of Troy, also named Ilion for his son Ilus...
(1365 BC)
- Sosares, 20 years; Pegasus
In Greek mythology, Pegasus was a winged horse sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa...
- Lampares, 30 years; Europa
Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage in Greek mythology, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a white bull was a Cretan story, as Kerényi points out; "most of the love-stories concerning Zeus originated...
, temple at Eleusis
- Pannias, 45 years; Miletus
Miletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
; ArgonautsIn Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
; OedipusOedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
; Gideon- Religion :* Gideon , an Israelite judge, appearing in the Book of Judges* Gideon , a figure in the Book of Mormon* Gideons International, distributor of copies of the Bible- Media :...
- Sosarmus, 19 years; Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
, PriamIn Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
, TheseusFor other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the legendary founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with both of whom Aethra lay in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were identified with...
, Seven against ThebesThe Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the City Dionysia...
(1234 BC)
- Mithraeus, 27 years; Olympic games
The Olympic Games are a major international event of summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes compete in a wide variety of events. The Games are currently held every two years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in...
(1212 BC)
- Tautanes, 32 years; Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
(1191-1182 BC)
- From the Fall of Troy, until the first Olympiad, 405 years.
- from Ninus to Sardanapalus
Sardanapalus was, according to the Greek writer Ctesias of Cnidus, the last king of Assyria. Ctesias' Persica is lost, but we know of its contents by later compilations and from the work of Diodorus...
: 36 Assyrian kings (1240 years)
- from the first Olympiad, to the 14th year of Valens, 1,155 years
- 1st Olympiad
An Olympiad is a period of four years, associated with the Olympic Games of Classical Greece. In the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, Olympiads were used as calendar epoch....
(776 BC)
- 65th Olympiad; Darius the Great (520 BC)
- 181st Olympiad; Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
(44 BC)
- 202nd Olympiad; preaching of Jesus Christ
- 289th Olympiad; Goths defeated by Huns (AD 377)
Literature
- Richard W. Burgess, Studies in Eusebian and post-Eusebian Chronography, Stuttgart (1999).
- Malcolm Drew Donalson, A Translation of Jerome's Chronicon With Historical Commentary, Mellen University Press (1996). ISBN 0-7734-2258-7.
- J. K. Fotheringham, The Bodleian Manuscript of Jerome's Version of the Chronicle of Eusebius Reproduced in Collotype. Oxford: Clarendon (1905)
- J. K. Fotheringham, Eusebii Pamphili Chronici canones. London: Humphrey Milford (1923). (Photocopy)
- R. Helm, Eusebius Werke 7: Die Chronik des Hieronymus, Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der Ersten Jahrhunderte 47 (1956).
- Benoît Jeanjean & Bertrand Lançon, Saint-Jérôme, Chronique : Continuation de la Chronique d'Eusèbe, années 326-378, Brest, (2004), ISBN : 2753500185.
- Josef KARST, Eusebius Werke, 5. Band : Die Chronik aus dem Armenischen übersetzt. Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der Ersten Jahrhunderte 20 (1911).
- Alden A. Mosshammer, The Chronicle of Eusebius and the Greek Chronographic Tradition, Lewisburg/London (1979), ISBN 0-8387-1939-2.
- Alfred Schoene, Eusebi Chronicorum Libri. 2 vols. Berlin: Weidmann (1875).
- Robert Graves
Graves considered himself a poet first and foremost. His poems, together with his translations and innovative interpretations of the Greek Myths, his memoir of the First World war, Good-bye to All That, and his historical study of poetic inspiration, The White Goddess, have never been out of...
; The Greek Myths (1955) ISBN 0-14-017199-1
- Alden A. Mosshammer; The Chronicle of Eusebius and Greek Chronographic Tradition, Bucknell University Press (1979) ISBN 0-8387-1939-2
- J. C. Stobart
John Clarke Stobart , commonly known as J.C. Stobart, wrote two famous and influential books, The Glory that was Greece and The Grandeur that was Rome...
; The Glory that was Greece (1911) ISBN 0-283-48455-1
- Michael Wood; In Search of the Trojan War (1998) ISBN 0-520-21599-0
External links
- 2005 online edition (tertullian.org)
- introduction
- prefaces
- part 1 Abraham
Abraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
to Babylonian captivityAlthough the term Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile typically refers to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC, in fact the exile started with the first deportation in 597 BC...
- part 2 Xerxes
-People:*Xerxes I of Persia, reigned 485–465 BC, aka Xerxes the Great*Xerxes II of Persia, reigned 424 BC*Xerxes of Armenia, Armenian king, assassinated around 212 BC...
to AD 379-Roman Empire:* January 19—Theodosius I is elevated as Roman Emperor at Sirmium.* Gratianus refuses the title of Eastern Emperor.* Gratian renounces the title pontifex maximus.-Asia:* Ardeshir II becomes King of Persia....
- Merton manuscript facsimile of Merton College ms.
- Chronological tables
- Genealogy of Greek Mythology compiled by Carlos Parada