Zosimus, New History 3

Zosimus (Greek Ζώσιμος): Early Byzantine, pagan author of a history of the Roman Empire, published in the first quarter of the sixth century CE.

Book 3

Zosimus devotes an entire book, the third one, to the reign of Julian the Apostate: how he became caesar, how he went to Gaul and defeated the Germans, how he fell out with Constantius, how he was proclaimed emperor ("in Paris, a small town in Germany"^note[Zosimus, New History 3.9.1.]), how civil war broke out. After the death of Constantius, Julian is sole ruler. After a brief stay in Constantinople and a visit to Antioch, he attacks Sasanian Persia. Zosimus offers many details, but is a lesser historian the Ammianus Marcellinus, whose account of this campaign is to be preferred.

Disaster strikes, for which Zosimus (or his source, the Universal History by Eunapius, which is based on the account of Julian’s physician Oreibasius) blames Julian’s successor Jovian. He concludes a peace treaty with the Persians, brings back the army, and dies, "without having been able to render the public any essential service".^note[Zosimus, New History 3.35.3.] The new ruler, and the hero of Book 4, is Valentinian I.

Except for Eunapius’ Universal History, Zosimus has used Julian’s own writings as his source.

Book 3

Contents