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A Metaliterary Approach to Ursicinus’ Outburst (Amm. Marc. 20.2.4)

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Published/Copyright: January 22, 2018
Philologus
From the journal Philologus Volume 162 Issue 1

Abstract

In 359 CE Constantius II appointed investigators into the fall of Amida, who confronted Ursicinus, a commander in the East, about the disaster. He refused to play along, answering them instead with a stirring outburst that predicted the imminent failure of the emperor unless he freed himself from his meddling eunuchs and his obsession with Amida. This assessment may be read as a metaliterary comment that reflects both forwards and backwards; up until that point, Constantius has been pulled along by the judgments of others, including his eunuchs, again and again. In contrast, Julian is presented as a bold and independent judge of people and events who actively carries out his responsibilities. As the narrative unfolds, Ursicinus’ prediction is borne out: Constantius never gets over the fall of Amida nor the influence of his eunuchs and eventually fails. The eclipse excursus that follows enhances the prophetic force of Ursicinus’ words as Julian is proclaimed Augustus and Constantius nervously dithers over what he should do. Ursicinus’ outburst is crucial to his narrative role and the important intratextual links that are drawn between the main individuals in Ammianus’ narrative of Constantius’ fall and Julian’s rise, including Gallus, Silvanus, Julian, Constantius, Eusebius, and Ammianus himself.

Keywords: Ammianus Marcellinus; Constantius II; Ursicinus; intertextuality; intratextuality; late antiquity

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Catherine Ware for inviting me to give an earlier version of this paper in the ‘Literature and the Classical Tradition’ seminar series at University College Cork. I am grateful to David Woods, Alan Ross, and the two anonymous Philologus reviewers for their comments, and to the Irish Research Council for their financial support.

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Published Online: 2018-1-22
Published in Print: 2018-6-1

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  1. Titelseiten
  2. Editorial
  3. Aufsätze
  4. Der medizinische Unterricht der Iatrosophisten in der ‚Schule von Alexandria‘ (5.‒7. Jh. n. Chr.): Überlegungen zu seiner Organisation, seinen Inhalten und seinen Ursprüngen (erster Teil)
  5. Melanthios von Rhodos in Apollodors Chronik (P.Herc. 10 21, col. XXXI)
  6. Oὐ γὰρ ἴσον Κύκλωπι μελίσδεο: Intertextuality, Metalepsis, and Eulogistic Strategies in EB 58–63
  7. Wie man eine Platonstelle deutet: Exegetische Strukturen im Mittelplatonismus
  8. Schiffbruch im Totenreich
  9. A Metaliterary Approach to Ursicinus’ Outburst (Amm. Marc. 20.2.4)
  10. “Libre à de plus audacieux de pousser plus loin la fidélité”: Traduire les passages obscènes dans la “Collection des Universités de France” entre 1920 et 1945
  11. Miszellen
  12. ‘Τείχισμα Πελαργικόν’: Notes on Callimachus frr. 97–97a Harder
  13. La metafora dei cavalli in Cercida 6(a) Lom.
  14. Un ignorato adespotum poetico in Esichio (σ 1926 Hansen)
  15. La declinazione ἐλᾶ, ἐλᾶς in Diph. fr. 14,4–5 K.-A. e Alex. fr. 263,3 K.-A.
  16. An Unnoticed Fragment of Laevius?
  17. Ciris 301: An Emendation
  18. The Phases of Venus in Germanicus: A Note on German. fr. 4.73–76
https://doi.org/10.1515/phil-2017-0027
Keywords for this article
Ammianus Marcellinus; Constantius II; Ursicinus; intertextuality; intratextuality; late antiquity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelseiten
  2. Editorial
  3. Aufsätze
  4. Der medizinische Unterricht der Iatrosophisten in der ‚Schule von Alexandria‘ (5.‒7. Jh. n. Chr.): Überlegungen zu seiner Organisation, seinen Inhalten und seinen Ursprüngen (erster Teil)
  5. Melanthios von Rhodos in Apollodors Chronik (P.Herc. 10 21, col. XXXI)
  6. Oὐ γὰρ ἴσον Κύκλωπι μελίσδεο: Intertextuality, Metalepsis, and Eulogistic Strategies in EB 58–63
  7. Wie man eine Platonstelle deutet: Exegetische Strukturen im Mittelplatonismus
  8. Schiffbruch im Totenreich
  9. A Metaliterary Approach to Ursicinus’ Outburst (Amm. Marc. 20.2.4)
  10. “Libre à de plus audacieux de pousser plus loin la fidélité”: Traduire les passages obscènes dans la “Collection des Universités de France” entre 1920 et 1945
  11. Miszellen
  12. ‘Τείχισμα Πελαργικόν’: Notes on Callimachus frr. 97–97a Harder
  13. La metafora dei cavalli in Cercida 6(a) Lom.
  14. Un ignorato adespotum poetico in Esichio (σ 1926 Hansen)
  15. La declinazione ἐλᾶ, ἐλᾶς in Diph. fr. 14,4–5 K.-A. e Alex. fr. 263,3 K.-A.
  16. An Unnoticed Fragment of Laevius?
  17. Ciris 301: An Emendation
  18. The Phases of Venus in Germanicus: A Note on German. fr. 4.73–76
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