Page "Ammianus Marcellinus" Paragraph 12

Scholars have often believed that Ammianus ' work was intended for public recitation for two reasons: the overwhelming presence of accentual clausulae, which implies that it was intended to be read aloud ; and epistle 1063 of Libanius to a Marcellinus of Rome which refers to public recitations.

However, virtually all major works of Greek and Latin prose possessed such clausulae ; and some scholars have rejected the identification of Libanius ' Marcellinus with Ammianus, since Marcellinus was a very common name and the tone suggests Libanius was addressing a man much younger than himself ( Ammianus was his contemporary ).

It is a striking fact that Ammianus, though a professional soldier, gives excellent pictures of social and economic problems, and in his attitude to the non-Roman peoples of the empire he is far more broad-minded than writers like Livy and Tacitus ; his digressions on the various countries he had visited are particularly interesting.