Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Volume IJustinLabel: Harvard University PressDescription: A condensed Roman history of non-Roman civilizations.To Justin (Marcus Junian(i)us Justinus) otherwise unknown is attributed our abbreviated version of the lost Philippic History by (Gnaeus?) Pompeius Trogus a massive account in forty-four books of the non-Roman world and its civilizations from mythic beginnings through Alexander the Great the Hellenistic kingdoms and Parthia. Trogus’ work thus complemented the monumental history of Rome by his Augustan contemporary Livy and in high style traced similar moral themes: rulers and states that lack such virtues as moderation justice and piety bring harm or ruin on themselves and often on their realms as well.Justin working at some time in the late second to the late fourth century AD did not produce a strict epitome or summary but what he calls “a brief anthology: not unlike Florus (LCL 231) who used Livy’s history as the primary source for a brief but original military history of Rome Justin freely selected what suited his own purposes favoring “what makes pleasurable reading or serves to provide a moral with an eye to the kind of emotive anecdotes that might be useful to orators. He also blends Trogus’ language with borrowings from literature of subsequent generations. Justin’s anthology became one of the most widely read and influential books in the Middle Ages and Renaissance indeed the main authority on world history other than Roman surviving in more than 200 manuscripts.Also included in this edition are the “Prologues summaries of Trogus by some other compiler which preserve many details that Justin omits or reports differently.
