4th Century

Folio 1r of the manuscript Vaticanus Latinus 1873, a 9th-century Carolingian codex of the Res Gestae by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Known as the Codex Fuldensis (named for the Abbey of Fulda where it was rediscovered by humanist Poggio Bracciolini in 1417), it is the primary surviving source for the final 18 books of Ammianus’s history. This page marks the beginning of Book XIV, which chronicles the downfall of the Caesar Constantius Gallus. The large red initial P begins the word 'Post,' introducing the text: 'Post emensos insuperabiles expeditionum eventus...' ('After the outcome of insurmountable expeditions...'). The text is written in Carolingian minuscule, a clear and uniform script developed during the reign of Charlemagne to standardize European Latin texts. Because the first 13 books of Ammianus’s work are lost to history, this specific page represents the modern 'start' of one of the most important historical accounts of the late Roman Empire (covering 353–378 AD). You can see various marginal and interlinear notes (glosses) added by later scholars, including famous Renaissance humanists like Niccolò Niccoli and Giulio Pomponio Leto, who studied this exact volume to recover classical knowledge. Source: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vat. lat. 1873)

Res Gestae (Ammianus Marcellinus, Rolfe Translation)

Full text of Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae in the Loeb Classical Library edition (vols. 300, 315, 331), translated by John C. Rolfe — the standard 20th-century English rendering of the last great Latin historian of Rome.

Gold Solidus of Julian (361–363), Byzantine, 361–363, Gold, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — Gallery 301. Struck during the brief but consequential reign of Julian the Apostate, this gold solidus reflects the enduring power of Roman imperial coinage at a pivotal moment of transition. The emperor's portrait — rendered with classical precision on the obverse — evokes Julian's deliberate effort to revive pre-Christian Roman traditions, positioning himself as a philosopher-emperor in the mold of Marcus Aurelius. The solidus, introduced by Constantine I, had by this period become the backbone of Mediterranean commerce, its consistent gold purity a guarantee of imperial authority across vast distances. This coin stands as both a monetary instrument and a miniature monument — a gilded testament to a reign that lasted little more than two years, yet left an indelible mark on the history of the late Roman world.

Against the Galileans

Reading companion and full text of Contra Galilaeos — Emperor Julian's philosophical polemic against Christianity, preserved in fragments through Cyril of Alexandria's rebuttal.