Ablabius (historian)
Ablabius was a late antique author and writer of a history of the Goths .
It is not known who Ablabius was and when exactly he lived. However, since it was used by Jordanes , he must have written his work by the beginning of the 6th century at the latest, perhaps as early as the 5th century. John Liebeschuetz assumes that the Goth story of Ablabius was the first of its kind, but was later superseded by the more detailed account of Cassiodorus (on which Jordanes is said to have largely based). It is possible that Ablabius did not write an extensive historical work at all, but only a smaller ethnographic script that was then used by Jordanes. It is likely that Jordanes used the work of Ablabius directly, although an intermediate source cannot be excluded. Only quotations from Jordanes' Getica have survived . Ablabius is said to have relied on folk songs and legends of the Goths, but these are problematic sources with regard to historically accurate descriptions.
The fragments of Ablabius (including an English translation, commentary and brief general remarks) are collected in Brill's New Jacoby (No. 708). A much more skeptical attitude towards the role and influence of Ablabius is expressed in the current edition by Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen.
literature
Entry in Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris (CHAP) .
- Peter J. Heather : Goths and Romans 332-489 . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820535-X , p. 361 (index).
- John HWG Liebeschuetz : Making a Gothic History: Does the Getica of Jordanes preserve genuinely Gothic Traditions? . In: Journal of Late Antiquity 4, 2011, pp. 185-216.
- Otto Seeck : Ablabius 3) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 103 f.
Remarks
- ^ John HWG Liebeschuetz: Making a Gothic History: Does the Getica of Jordanes preserve genuinely Gothic Traditions? . In: Journal of Late Antiquity 4, 2011, here p. 189.
- ↑ Jordanes, Getica 4:28 ; 14, 82; 23, 117.
- ↑ See on source criticism John HWG Liebeschuetz: Making a Gothic History: Does the Getica of Jordanes preserve genuinely Gothic Traditions? . In: Journal of Late Antiquity 4, 2011, here pp. 190–194.
- ↑ Lieve Van Hoof, Peter Van Nuffelen ( eds / translators) : The Fragmentary Latin Histories of Late Antiquity (AD 300–620). Edition, Translation and Commentary. Cambridge 2020, p. 137ff.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ablabius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Roman historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 5th century or 6th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th century or 6th century |