The chief authorities on the career of Alaric are: the historian Orosius and the poet Claudian, both contemporary, neither disinterested ; Zosimus, a historian who lived probably about half a century after Alaric's death ; and Jordanes, a Goth who wrote the history of his nation in 551, basing his work on The Trojan War.

* Paulus Orosius, historian and theologian ( approximate date )

* Orosius, Christian historian and theologian ( approximate date )

It was used systematically for the first time only about the year 400, by the Iberian historian Orosius.

Paulus Orosius ( born c. 375, died not before 418 ), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a priest, Christian historian, theologian and student of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Support for these dates comes from the fact that the Liber Apologeticus does not mention Orosius ’ s work as a historian, and the prologue refers to Book XI of the City of God by Saint Augustine, which was not published until 416.

Orosius never seems lacking in sources of information, he even affirms that an historian should be selective with those he has, it rather seems that this difference in level of detail reflects the emphasis that he wants to place on reinforcing his ideas.

Another important aspect of Orosius ’ s work is the importance he placed on geography in his work as a historian.

Yet another historian, Orosius says 30, 000 infantry, 1, 500 cavalry, and 30 elephants.

The 4th century Christian historian Paulus Orosius records that the violence so depopulated the province of Cyrenaica that new colonies had to be established by Hadrian:

The main sources for the career of Ataulf are Paulus Orosius, the chronicles of the Gallaecian bishop Hydatius, and those of Augustine's disciple, Prosper of Aquitaine.

These manuscripts include the Cathach of St. Columba, the Ambrosiana Orosius, fragmentary Gospel in the Durham Dean and Chapter Library ( all from the early 7th century ), and the Book of Durrow ( from the second half of the 7th century ).

Paulus Orosius, a Gallaecian priest from northwest Hispania, wrote to St Augustine ( 415 ) to enlist his aid in combating the heresy.

Examples include the Book of Kells, the Cathach of St. Columba, the Ambrosiana Orosius, the Durham Cathedral Library A. II.

Chapter 3. 6 quotes Tacitus, Varro, Valerius Maximus, Orosius, Frontinus, Strabo, Caesar, Columella, Plutarch, Josephus, Diodorus Siculus, Photius, Xiphilinus, Zonaras, Seneca, Petronius, Juvenal, Philo, Celsus, the authors of the Acts of the Apostles and of the pseudo-gospels of Nicodemus and St. James, and Claudius himself in his surviving letters and speeches.

* 414-Paulus Orosius, clergyman of Braga, visits St. Augustine in Hippo Regius.

His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of Orosius.

King Alfred's ( Alfred the Great ) translation of Orosius ' history of the world uses Angelcynn (- kin ) to describe England and the English people ; Bede used Angelfolc (- folk ); there are also such forms as Engel, Englan ( the people ), Englaland, and Englisc, all showing i-mutation.

Caesar himself mentions few place-names ; and although the battle is called after Pharsalos, four ancient writers – the author of the Bellum Alexandrinum ( 48. 1 ), Frontinus ( Strategemata 2. 3. 22 ), Eutropius ( 20 ), and Orosius ( 6. 15. 27 ) – place it specifically at Palaepharsalos.

Bede's monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.

His introduction imitates the work of Orosius, and his title is an echo of Eusebius's Historia Ecclesiastica.

Orosius < u > Histories 1.

Orosius < u > Histories 1.

His travel accounts, as well as those of another trader, Ohthere, were included in Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius ' Histories.

According to Orosius, he is a native Briton of urban aristocracy.

He relied heavily on Orosius ' Historiarum Adversum Paganos ( 5th century AD ) and Eusebius of Caesarea's Chronicon ( early 5th century AD ) as did Orosius.

* Orosius Historium adversum paganos VII. 34

Gregory's education was the standard Latin one of Late Antiquity, focusing on Vergil's Aeneid and Martianus Capella's Liber de Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae, but also other key texts such as Orosius ' Chronicles, which his Historia is a continuation of, and Sallust, all of which works he refers to in his own.

46 – 120 AD ) mentions the practice, as do Tertullian, Orosius and Diodorus Siculus.

* Orosius, Historiae adversus paganos vi. 16. 1 – 2, 19. 4 – 18.

Orosius did not just discuss theological matters with Saint Augustine, in fact he also collaborated with him on the book The City of God.

In addition, Orosius is mentioned in letters written by Saint Augustine.

This idea is supported by Orosius ’ s own works and two letters written by Saint Augustine, the 166th and the 169th.

It is known for certain that in 415 Saint Augustine referred to Paulus Orosius as " a young priest ", which means that at that time he could not have been older that 40, as he was young, and he had to be older than 30, as he was a priest.

This assumes that when Orosius met Saint Augustine he was 32 years old, that is, he had been an ordained priest for two years.

Contemporary histories indicate that from an early age Orosius was loquacious and erudite, alluding to statements to this effect made by both Saint Augustine and Pope Gelasius I.

This date means that Orosius had a window of 5 years for his collaboration with Saint Augustine before he travelled to Palestine.

In his book Commonitorium, which was published in 414, Orosius talks of his arrival, his meeting with Saint Augustine etc.

What is certain is that once Orosius had left the Iberian Peninsula he was certain that his destination was Hippo ( now Annaba in Algeria ), and a meeting with Saint Augustine, who was the greatest thinker of his time.

From his arrival Orosius formed part of a team that worked alongside Saint Augustine.

In 415 Saint Augustine entrusted Orosius with the task of travelling to Palestine to meet with the thinker Saint Jerome who at that time was living in Bethlehem.

This indicates that Saint Augustine had a great deal of faith in Orosius as relations between Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome had not always been good.

The visit to Palestine had a double purpose: Orosius wanted to discuss a number of theological topics with Saint Jerome, particularly those relating to the soul ’ s origins, and Saint Augustine wanted closer ties with the thinker and to gather information regarding the Priscillianists, Origenists and the Pelagian heresy.

Orosius met with Pelagius on Saint Augustine ’ s behalf and he represented the orthodox party against the Pelagians at the Synod of Jerusalem that was held in June 415.

Orosius ’ s first act on meeting Saint Jerome was to hand him the correspondence that he had brought from Saint Augustine.

This implies that the journey was always conceived of as a return journey as Orosius would have to deliver the letters from Saint Jerome back to Saint Augustine.

The idea for Orosius ’ s great work, Historiae Adversus Paganos, was born during this reencounter with Saint Augustine.

This lack of information regarding Orosius could be due to cooling of relations with Saint Augustine, who never makes any clear unambiguous references to Orosius ’ s " Histories " once they have been published.

The Commonitorium and the Histories are a response, at least in their origins, to the direct influence that Saint Augustine exercised over Orosius. Although Paulus Orosius ’ s most important book was the Historiae Adversus Paganos, his other two surviving books must also be taken into account: Commonitorium and Liber Apologeticus.