Marcellinus Comes

Marcellinus Comes (died c. 534) was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.

Works

Only one work of his survives, a chronicle (Annales), which was a continuation of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History. It covers the period from 379 to 534, although an unknown writer added a continuation down to 566. Although his work is in Latin, it primarily describes the affairs of the East; indeed the writer says that he has "followed only the Eastern Empire." Some information about Western Europe, drawn from Orosius's Historia adversus paganos and Gennadius' De viris illustribus, is introduced insofar as it relates to Constantinople. The chronicle is filled with details and anecdotes about the city and the court. Marcellinus was uncompromisingly Orthodox and has little good to say about heretics in his work.

List of selected editions

• The Chronicle of Marcellinus : a translation and commentary : (with a reproduction of Mommsen's edition of the text) by Comes Marcellinus; Brian Croke; Theodor Mommsen. Sydney : Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1995.