VR: Lesson - Authentic Latin - Eutropius

Eutropius

Very little is known about Flavius Eutropius. For instance, we do not know his birth and death dates. His historical work, The Breviarium Historiae, is dated to around 370 CE. Eutropius set out to write a complete history of Rome, from its founding. Since he planned to cover over 1000 years, the history tends to be fairly concise, lighter on details than other historians who covered shorter amounts of time or specific individuals.

His account of the death of Augustus is distinctly different in its approach from the account told by Suetonius. While Suetonius gives the reader a peek into the personal events surrounding his death, Eutropius talks about the bigger picture: what did Augustus' death really mean to Rome at the time?

The image on the coin is a portrait of Emperor Julian (361-363 CE), under whose rule Eutropius would have been writing. Images of the author himself are exceedingly rare, to the point of being absent from the historical record.

Translation Handout

Translation Guide - Authentic Latin Links to an external site.

This document contains the Latin text for Suetonius and Eutropius. Please download and work on the translation assignment, including answering the analysis questions for each passage. Contact your instructor with questions.

Practice Activity