Chronicon (Jerome)
Encyclopedia
The Chronicle was a universal chronicle, one of Jerome
's earliest attempts in the department of history. It was composed circa 380 in Constantinople
; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the Chronicon
of Eusebius, with a supplement covering the period from 325 to 379. In spite of numerous errors taken over from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work of universal history
, if only for the impulse which it gave to such later chroniclers as Prosper
, Cassiodorus
, and Victor of Tunnuna
to continue his annals. Following the Chronicon of Eusebius (early 4th century), Jerome dated Creation to 5199 BC.
The Chronicle contains a chronology of the events of Greek mythology
, based on the work of Hellenistic scholars such as Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus
, and Eusebius. While the earlier parts are clearly unhistorical, there may be scattered remnants of historical events of late Mycenean Greece from entries of the 12th century BC
. (See the historicity of the Iliad
. Notably, Jerome's date for the capture of Troy
of 1183 BC corresponds remarkably well with the destruction layer of Troy VII
a, the main candidate for the historical inspiration of legendary Troy, dated to ca. 1190 BC.) Homer
himself is dated to 940 BC, while modern scholarship usually places him after 800 BC.
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's earliest attempts in the department of history. It was composed circa 380 in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the Chronicon
Chronicon (Eusebius)
The 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 to 379. In spite of numerous errors taken over from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work of universal history
Universal history
Universal 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 humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
, if only for the impulse which it gave to such later chroniclers as Prosper
Prosper of Aquitaine
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine , a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.- Life :...
, Cassiodorus
Cassiodorus
Flavius 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.- Life :Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in...
, and Victor of Tunnuna
Victor of Tunnuna
Victor of Tunnuna was bishop of the North African town of Tunnuna and a chronicler from Late Antiquity....
to continue his annals. Following the Chronicon of Eusebius (early 4th century), Jerome dated Creation to 5199 BC.
The Chronicle contains a chronology of the events of Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek 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 Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 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 doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
, and Eusebius. While the earlier parts are clearly unhistorical, there may be scattered remnants of historical events of late Mycenean Greece from entries of the 12th century BC
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 the historicity of the Iliad
Historicity of the Iliad
The extent of the historical basis of the Iliad has been a topic of scholarly debate in classical studies since the 19th century.While the Age of Enlightenment had rejected the story of the Trojan War as fable, the discoveries made by Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik reopened the question in modern...
. Notably, Jerome's date for the capture of Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
of 1183 BC corresponds remarkably well with the destruction layer of Troy VII
Troy VII
Troy 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.) Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
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
- NinusNinusNinus , according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was accepted as the eponymous founder of Nineveh , Ancient capital of Assyria, 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...
, son of BelusBelus (Assyrian)Belus or Belos in classical Greek or classical Latin texts in an Assyrian context refers to one or another purportedly ancient and historically nonexistent Assyrian king, such king in part at least a euhemerization of the Babylonian god Bel Marduk.Belus most commonly appears as the father of...
reigned 52 years, AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, ZoroasterZoroasterZoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism... - SemiramisSemiramisThe real and historical Shammuramat , was the Assyrian queen of Shamshi-Adad V , King of Assyria and ruler of the Neo Assyrian Empire, and its regent for four years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age....
, 42 years - Zameis, 38 years; covenant of Abraham with God (1942 BC)
- Arius reigned for 30 years; birth of IsaacIsaacIsaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
(1912 BC) - Aralius, 40 years
- Xerxes Balaneus , 30 years; InachusInachusIn Greek mythology, Inachus was a king of Argos after whom a river was called Inachus River, the modern Panitsa that drains the western margin of the Argive plain...
reigned for 50 years (1856 BC) - Armamitres, 38 years
- Belocus, 35 years; birth of JosephJoseph (Hebrew Bible)Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
(1765 BC); Ogygian Flood (1757 BC) - Balaeus, 52 years; famine in Egypt (1727 BC)
- Altadas, 32 years; PrometheusPrometheusIn Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
- Mamynthus, 30 years
- Magchaleus, 30 years
- SphaerusSphaerusSphaerus 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 MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
(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 MinosMinosIn Greek mythology, Minos was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every year he made King Aegeus pick seven men and seven women to go to Daedalus' creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by The Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of Crete...
, RhadamanthusRhadamanthusIn Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus was a wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa. Later accounts even make him out to be one of the judges of the dead. His brothers were Sarpedon and Minos . Rhadamanthus was raised by Asterion. He had two sons, Gortys and Erythrus. Other sources In Greek mythology,...
, and SarpedonSarpedonIn 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 the king Asterion and then, banished by Minos, his rival in love for the young Miletus, he...
(1445 BC) - Belochus, 25 years
- Bellepares, 30 years; PerseusPerseusPerseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...
- Lamprides, 32 years; Tros (1365 BC)
- Sosares, 20 years; PegasusPegasusPegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
- Lampares, 30 years; EuropaEuropa (mythology)In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The name Europa occurs in Hesiod's long list of daughters of primordial Oceanus and Tethys...
, temple at Eleusis - Pannias, 45 years; MiletusMiletusMiletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
; ArgonautsArgonautsThe Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology 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...
; OedipusOedipusOedipus 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 - Sosarmus, 19 years; HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, PriamPriamPriam 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".- Marriage and issue :...
, TheseusTheseusFor other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
, Seven against ThebesSeven Against ThebesThe Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. 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...
(1234 BC) - Mithraeus, 27 years; Olympic gamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
(1212 BC) - Tautanes, 32 years; Trojan WarTrojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took 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)
- Ninus
- From the Fall of Troy, until the first Olympiad, 405 years.
- from Ninus to SardanapalusSardanapalusSardanapalus 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 Ninus to Sardanapalus
- from the first Olympiad, to the 14th year of Valens, 1,155 years
- 1st OlympiadOlympiadAn 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 CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual 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)
- 1st Olympiad
See also
- Ages of ManAges of ManThe Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Greek mythology. Two classical authors in particular offer accounts of the successive ages of mankind, which tend to progress from an original, long-gone age in which humans enjoyed a nearly divine existence to the current...
- Mesopotamia in Classical literature
- Timeline of Ancient GreeceTimeline of Ancient GreeceThis is a timeline of Ancient Greece from 800 BC to 146 BC.For earlier times, see Greek Dark Ages, Aegean civilizations and Mycenaean Greece. For later times see Roman Greece, Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Greece....
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 GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
; 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. StobartJ. C. StobartJohn 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
- Wood, Michael (2005) In Search of Myths and Heroes http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/jason_01.shtml
External links
- 2005 online edition (tertullian.org)
- introduction
- prefaces
- part 1 AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
to Babylonian captivityBabylonian captivityThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE.... - part 2 XerxesXerxes I of PersiaXerxes I of Persia , Ḫšayāršā, ), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire.-Youth and rise to power:...
to AD 379379Year 379 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ausonius and Hermogenianus... - Merton manuscript facsimile of Merton College ms.
- Chronological tables
- Genealogy of Greek Mythology compiled by Carlos Parada