Monaxius and Plinta Quake

Marcellinus Comes (died ~534 AD) spent most of his life in Constantinople and only wrote one text which survives - Annales, a continuation of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History. Marcellinus Comes' Annales spans from 379 to 534 CE with additions to 566 CE by an unknown author (wikipedia). Croke (1995:xxiv) notes that Marcellinus' sources for Portents (earthquakes, eclipses etc.) was a previous chronicle which contained predominantly Constantinopolitan events which was likely based on the so-called 'City Chronicle' of Constantinople. For the Monaxius and Plinta Quake, the ultimate source was probably a letter written by Praulius who was the Bishop of Jerusalem in 419 CE.

• from Croke (1995:12)

(1 Sept. 418 — 31 Aug. 419)

2nd indiction, consulship of Monaxius and Plinta

1. Valentinian the Younger was born at Ravenna on 3 July. Constantius was his father and Placidia his mother.
2. Many cities and villages of Palestine collapsed in an earthquake.
3. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is always and everywhere present, appeared from a cloud above the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. At that time both male and female of many tribes of the neighbouring races were awe-struck, not so much by what they saw as what they heard, and believed. They were cleansed in the sacred fountain of Christ and there shone out the Saviour's cross which, through divine command, was immediately impressed on the tunics of all those baptized.

Ind. II. Monaxii et Plintae coss.

1. Valentinianus iunior apud Rauennam patre Constantio et Placidia matre V nonas Iulias natus est.
2. Multae Palaestinae ciuitates uillaeque terrae motu conlapsae.
3. Dominus noster Iesus Christus semper ubique praesens et super montem oliueti Hierosolymae uicinum sese de nube manifestauit.
4. Multae tunc utriusque sexus uicinarum gentium nationes tam uisu quam auditu perterritae atque credulae sacro Christi fonte ablutae sunt omniumque baptizatorum in tunicis crux saluatoris diuinitatis nutu extemplo inpressa refulsit.

• not bookmarked
• from archive.org

Croke (1995:xxii-xxiv) describes Marcellinus Comes' sources of information as follows:

In writing his chronicle Marcellinus was consciously continuing the chronicle of Jerome, who had previously translated the chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea and continued it to 378. There was an established style and format for chronicles to follow, on the model of Jerome, as well as a tradition in the type of sources utilised and how they might be employed. The basic framework of the chronicle was the list of successive indiction numbers. The indictional year ran from 1 September to 30 August and each such year was given a number in the fifteen-year cycle of indictions. Alongside the indictions Marcellinus used a consular list, recording in annual succession the names of the two chief magistrates for the year which ran from 1 January to 31 December. Marcellinus' very reliable consular list reflects the viewpoint of the eastern court in that it records the eastern consul first and normally ignores western consuls not recognised in the east.⁷ Many apparent dating errors in the chronicle are to be explained by the problems caused by these two overlapping dating systems used by the chronicler, that is, Marcellinus' date is the correct indiction but the wrong consulship (e.g. 429.2,430.3, 454.1,465.1, 469). For detailed information Marcellinus, like most chroniclers, relied on a strictly limited number of sources, using them to supplement information here and there:

1. Orosius
2. Gennadius
3. Papal List
4. Constantinopolitan chronicle source

   Perhaps the source most frequently used by Marcellinus (and by the Chronicon Paschale which Mommsen reproduced for the years 395—469 in his edition of Marcellinus to illustrate their close textual similarities) was a previous chronicle which contained predominantly Constantinopolitan events. Moreover, it is likely that this chronicle was itself based on the so-called 'City Chronicle' of Constantinople (CP), or else Marcellinus used similar material himself.¹⁰ Reflecting this source, Marcellinus devotes considerable space to eastern events of a public ceremonial nature:
   
   

   • Adventus (imperial and relic arrivals)¹¹
   • Victories¹³
   • Imperial Accessions¹³
   • Deaths¹⁴
   • Births¹⁵
   • Imperial Marriages¹⁶
   • Anniversaries¹⁷
   • Portents (earthquakes, eclipses etc)¹⁸
   • Building¹⁹
   • Ecclesiastical matters (popes, councils, theological writers etc)²⁰
   • Civil strife (faction and other riots)²¹
   • Deaths of usurpers and high officials²²
   • Wars in the east (Isauria and Persia)²³
   • Raids in the Balkans²⁴
   • Miscellaneous²⁵

   
   Most importantly, his local CP

Footnotes

1 In general: Mommsen, 1894. 42; Holder-Egger. 1877, 49—56; SchanzjHosiuslKruger, 1920. 112; Moricca, 1943, 1363; PLRE 2: 711 s.v. Marcellinus 9'.

2 lnst. I. 17. 2. as interpreted in Croke, 1982c.

3 Croke, 1984, 77—88.

10 Holder-Egger, 1877, 73—88; Mommsen, 1894, 44—46; Croke, 1990, passiin; and thecritical treatment by Burgess, 1993, 182—6.

11 381.2, 382.1, 384.1, 386.2, 387.2, 389.1, 391.1, 394.1, 395.2. 401.1, 414.1, 428.2, 431.3, 436, 438.2, 438.3, 439.2, 443.2, 448.1, 448.3, 485, 496.2. 507.2, 520, 525.

12 379.2, 382.2, 385, 386.1, 388.1, 388.2, 394.2. 394.4, 394.5, 398.4, 400, 405, 412.2, 413. 418.1, 421.4, 422.2, 422.3, 422.4, 425.1, 438.1, 4393, 440.2, 441.1, 441.3, 445.1, 452, 469, 477, 488.1, 498.2, 530, 533, 534.

13 379.1, 383.2, 391.3, 393, 395.3, 402.2, 411.2, 424.1, 424.2, 450.2, 455.2, 457.2, 457.1, 461.2, 467.1, 472.2, 474.1, 475.1, 475.2, 491.1, 519.1, 527.

14 391.2, 395.1, 404.2, 408.1, 408.3, 411.3, 412.1, 424.3, 429.2, 431.1, 444.2, 444.4, 449.1, 450.1, 457.1, 461.2, 465.2, 472.2, 474.2, 474.1, 474.2, 476.1, 476.2, 480.2, 491.1, 515.6, 5183, 527.

15 384.2, 397, 399.2, 4013, 403.1, 419.1, 422.1. 16 421.1, 424.2, 437.

17 387.1, 406.1, 411.1, 422.2, 430, 439.1, 444.1.

18 389.2, 389.3, 390.1, 394.3, 396.3, 401.2, 402.3, 404, 408.2, 417.2, 418.2, 418.3, 419.2, 433, 442.2, 443.1, 444.3, 446.1, 447.1, 452.2, 456.1, 465.1, 460, 467, 472.1, 4723, 480.1, 494.2, 497.1, 499, 512.1, 512.10, 518.1, 526.

19 390.3, 394.4, 403.2, 415.1, 421.2, 421.3, 427.2, 435.1, 443.2, 447.3, 448.2, 453.5, 506, 509.2, 510.11, 528.

20 3801 381.1, 382.3, 383.1, 392.2, 398.1, 398.2, 398.3, 402.1, 403.3, 415.2, 416.1, 416.2, 417.3, 419.3, 420.1, 420.3, 423.1, 426, 428.1, 430, 432.1, 440.2, 449.2, 451, 453.1—4, 456.2, 459, 461.1, 463, 466, 470, 476.2, 478, 482, 494.1, 494.3, 495, 498.1, 500.1, 5103, 511, 512.8, 512.9, 513, 515.1, 516.2, 516.3.

21 3993, 409, 431.2, 445.2, 473.2, 491.2, 493.1, 501.1—3, 507.1, 509.1, 512.2—7, 523, 524, 532.

22 396.2, 399.1, 420.2, 430.2, 432.2—3, 440.1, 449.3, 450.3, 454.2, 481.2, 490, 493.2, 497.3, 520.

23 475.1, 484.1, 492, 497.2, 502.2, 503, 504, 515.5, 529.

24 427.1, 434, 454.1, 464, 468, 479.1, 479.2, 481.1, 482.2, 483, 488.2, 489.1, 499.1, 502.1, 505, 512.11, 517, 530.

25 389.4 (Temple destroyed), 390.2 (empress expelled), 392 (usurpation), 396 (exiles), 410 (sack of Rome), 414.2 (Placidia restored), 455 (Geiseric at Rome), 462 (Jacob the Doctor), 484.2 (Vandal refugees), 496.1 (donative), 498.3 (coinage reform), 500.2 (donative), 508(Tarentum attacked), 510.2 (exile), 514 (rebellion), 515.2 (rebel defeated), 516 (Vitalianreplaced), 519.2 (conspiracy), 531 (Code of Justinian).

Marcellinus comes, Chronicon, ed. Th.Mommsen, AIGH. AA 11, in Chronica minora, vol.2, Berlin 1894, pp.37-104.

Marc. Com.: Marcellinus Comes, Marcellini Comitis chronicon, PL, 1846.

Croke, B. (1995). The Chronicle of Marcellinus: A translation with commentary (with a reproduction of Mommsen's edition of the text), Brill.

Croke, B. (2001). Count Marcellinus and His Chronicle, Oxford University Press.

La Cronaca dei Due Imperi, Il Chronicon di Marcellino Comes (A.D. 379-534 & Auctarium). Introduzione, traduzione e note a cura di A. Palo. Testo latino a fronte. Il Saggio Editore 2021.

Panium, P., Given, J.P. (2015). The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430–476, Evolution Publishing.

Croke (1995:xix-xx) describes Marcellinus Comes' life as follows:

Count Marcellinus, or Marcellinus comes as he is usually designated, is one of the lesser literary figures of late antiquity. He is known almost exclusively as the author of anannalistic chronicle continuing that of Jerome from AD 379 to 518, which Marcellinus himself later updated to 534¹. He composed his chronicle in Constantinople and it was while the Roman senator Cassiodorus was there in 550/1, as a refugee from Justinian's war against the Ostrogoths, that he acquired a copy of it. If Cassiodorus did not actually meet Marcellinus then he certainly knew something about him, for in his Institutiones, a handbook for monks, he tells us that Marcellinus was an Illyrian:

[Jerome] has been followed in turn by the aforesaid Marcellinus the Illyrian who is said to have acted first as cancellarius of the patrician Justinian, but who later, with the Lord's help upon the improvement of his employer's civil status, faithfully guided his work from the time of the emperor (Justin) to the beginning of the thumphant rule of the emperor Justinian.²

By 'illyrian' Cassiodorus meant from the late Roman prefecture of Illyricum, more precisely from one of its Latin-speaking Balkan provinces. At some point (c.500) he must have migrated to the eastern imperial capital, Constantinople, as did so many of his ambitious contemporaries. At Constantinople Marcellinus was eventually able to secure a prestigious position as cancellarius to a fellow-illyrian, the patrician Justinian, in the early 520s. As a cancellarius Marcellinus was comes and of senatorial status (virclarissimus) — the titles he records in the preface to his chronicle. Marcellinus apparently left his court post before Justian became emperor in 527.

In this subsequent period he probably devoted himself to literary pursuits. Marcellinus, who is generally reticent about his own life and views (not that a chronicle gave him much scope to display his individuality), tells us in the preface that his chronicle originally covered the period 379 to 518. Since it was common practice for chroniclers to update their works it is reasonable to assume that the first edition appeared in or soon after 518, that is to say, a few years before Marcellinus entered the service of Justinian. The second edition of the chronicle, the version which survives, continued the work to 534. It was arguably written as a tribute to his former employer Justinian on the occasion of the triumph over the Vandals in Africa which was celebrated at Constantinople in 534. As with other similar chronicles, that of Prosper for example, the purpose of the second edition was merely to up-date the record. Except for minor necessary changes it is unlikely that there were any substantial additions or modifications to what had been already written, for the period 379—518.

Apart from the chronicle, Marcellinus wrote several other works which have not survived, despite the fact that Cassiodorus also recommended these in his handbook:

Marcellinus too has traversed his journey's path in laudable fashion, completing four books on the nature of events and the locations of places with most decorous propriety; I have likewise left this work for you (Inst. 1.17.1).

Marcellinus too, concerning whom I have already spoken, should be read with equal care; he has described the city of Constantinople and the city of Jerusalemin four short books in considerable detail (Inst. 1.25.1)

It is deduced from this statement that there were two other works of Marcellinus (not one work described in two different ways, as sometimes suggested), both in four books, which were known to Cassiodorus: (1) a detailed work on the nature of temporal events and the location of places (de temporum qualitatibus et positionibus locorum) and (2) another on the topography of Constantinople and Jerusalem. The chronicle itself displays the author's interest in both Constantinople (passim) and the 'Holy Land' (s.a. 415,419, 439, 443, 453, 516) and it would not be surprising if his books on Jerusalem, as well as those in the other work on the locations of places, were firmly rooted in first-hand observation — as Cassiodorus seems to imply. Moreover, it is quite possible that Marcellinus traveled as far afield as Dara on the Persian frontier on his sojourn. In any case the only surviving fragment of these works is a detailed description of Dara which appears to derive from the books 'on the locations of places'.³

Except for the facts that Marcellinus was Illyrian, wrote a chronicle in about 518/9, was a cancellarius to Justinian before 527, then retired from imperial service, updated his chronicle to 534 and was responsible for two other works now lost except for all this, we know nothing else about the man. We have no idea when he was born or died, when he came to Constantinople, what sort of education he had and where he stood in the society of his day. Nonetheless the evidence of the chronicle itself permits a sketchy outline of his background and culture.

Footnotes

1 In general: Mommsen, 1894. 42; Holder-Egger. 1877, 49—56; SchanzjHosiuslKruger, 1920. 112; Moricca, 1943, 1363; PLRE 2: 711 s.v. Marcellinus 9'.

2 lnst. I. 17. 2. as interpreted in Croke, 1982c.

3 Croke, 1984, 77—88.

Chadwick (2001) wrote the following about the life, works, and influence of Augustine of Hippo

Aurelius Augustinus was born in AD 354 and died in 430. He lived all but five years of his life in Roman North Africa, and for the last thirty-four years was bishop of a busy seaport, Hippo, now Annaba in Algeria. At Hippo, only bishop Augustine had books, and his own family background was not one of high culture. That culture he acquired through education. Through his writings, the surviving bulk of which exceeds that of any other ancient author, he came to exercise pervasive influence not only on contemporaries but also in subsequent years on the West.

• from Guidoboni et al (1994)

Great earthquakes are reported from the East. Some great cities suddenly collapsed in ruins. Jews, pagans and catechumens in Jerusalem were terrified, and all were baptised.

• from Ambraseys (2009)

‘Great earthquakes are reported in the East – some great cities suddenly collapsed. Jews, pagans and catachumens were terrified in Jerusalem, and were baptised. The sign of Christ appeared on the clothes of the baptized Jews.’ (Aug. Serm. xix. 6/136).

• from Guidoboni et al (1994)

Terrae motus magni de orientalibus nuntiantur. Nonnullae magnae repentinis conlapsae sunt civitates. Territi apud Hierosolvmam qui inerant iudaei, pagani, catechumini, omnes sunt baptizati. Dicuntur fortasse baptizati septem millia hominum. Signum Christi in vestibus iudaeorum baptizatorum apparuit. Relatu fratrum fidelium constantissimo ista nuntiantur.

Sermons on the New Testament by Augustine of Hippo from R.G. MacMullen (1888) From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight

Brown, P. (1969). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, University of California Press.

Chadwick, H. (2001). Augustine: A Very Short Introduction, OUP Oxford.

Idatius (~400 - ~469 CE) was a Bishop in Aquae Flaviae in Gallaecia (now Portugal). He wrote Chronicon towards the end of his life which follows in the tradition of Jerome's continuation of Eusebius' Chronicle. Idatius' Chronicle starts in 379 CE. Burgess (1993) notes that Idatius used five major chronological systems (Jubilees, Spanish, Years of Abraham, Olympiads, and Regnal Years), there are variations between manuscripts, there are scribal errors, and there are chronological errors made by Idatius himself (e.g. with Olympiads).

• from Burgess (1993)

OLYMPIAD 299

The author of this work did not know who presided over the church in Alexandria after Theophilus.
Constantius took Placidia as his wife.

23 (Margin Note - 417 AD)

In the name of Rome Vallia, the king of the Goths, inflicted a vast slaughter upon the barbarians within Spain.
There was an eclipse of the sun on 19 July, which was a Thursday. [Note: Actually it was on a Friday (Schove, D., Fletcher, A. (1987)]
The thirty-ninth bishop to preside over the church in Rome was Eulalius.
While the aforementioned bishop was still in office, the holy places in Jerusalem and other areas were shaken by a terrible earthquake. This information was revealed in the writings of this same bishop.

24 (Margin Note - 418 AD)

All of the Siling Vandals in Baetica were wiped out by King Vallia.
The Alans, who were ruling over the Vandals and Sueves, suffered such heary losses at the hands of the Goths that after the death of their king, Addax, the few survivors, with no thought for their own kingdom, placed themselves under the protection of Gunderic, the king of the Vandals, who had settled in Gallaecia.
The Goths broke off the campaign which they were waging and were recalled by Constantius to Gaul where they were given settlements in Aquitania from Tolosa all the way to the Ocean.
Vallia, the king of the Goths, died and was succeeded as king by Theoderic.

25 (Margin Note - 419 AD)

After a quarrel broke out between Gunderic, the king of the Vandals, and Hermeric, the king of the Sueves, the Sueves were blockaded in the Erbasian Mountains by the Vandals.
Valentinian, the son of Constantius and Placidia, was born.
Many terrifying signs which appeared in the city of Biterrae in Gallic territory are described in a widely-circulated letter of Paulinus, bishop of that same city.

Durante episcopo quo supra grauissimo terremotu sancta Hierosolimis loca quassantur et cetera, de quibus ita gestis eiusdem episcopi scripta declarant.

• see p. 67 starting with XXV,      1 Durante episcopo quo supra
• from archive.org

Burgess, R. W. (1993). The "Chronicle" of Hydatius and the "Consularia Constantinopolitana.". Oxford [u.a.], Clarendon Press.

Burgess (1993:175-177) describes the Consularia Constantinopolitana as follows:

The Consularia Constantinopolitana, to use Mommsen's inappropriate title, is a complex document of differing dates and hands, but is essentially a consular list from 509 BC to AD 468 annotated with numerous historical entries.
...
The text of the Consularia readily breaks down into six sections, based primarily on the material added to the consular list itself.
...
The fifth section, from 390 to 455, is a hodgepodge with only a very few entries relating a variety of events in Gaul, Africa, Spain, and Italy within a fairly complete but obviously Western consular list. This is followed by the sixth and final section, a highly defective Western list of consuls to 464 with a few imperial notices at the very end to fill in the years to 468.

• from Burgess (1993:244)

CCCCL
...

Consuls	Year	Additional Text (Latin)	Additional Text (trans. to English)
Theodosio VII et Palladio	(416)	n/a	n/a
Honorio XI et Constantio II	(417)	n/a	n/a
Honorio XII et Theodosio VIII	(418)	n/a	n/a
Monaxio et Pienta	(419)	HIS CONSS. sanctus Iohannes Hierosolimorum episcopus qui supra epistolam dirigit per ecclesias orbis terrarum, quae habetur de signis terroribusque diuinitus perpetratis	HIS CONSS. Saint John, bishop of Jerusalem, whose letter was sent to all churches, described signs and terrors from God.
Theodosio VIIII et Constantio III	(420)	n/a	n/a

Burgess, R. W. (1993). The "Chronicle" of Hydatius and the "Consularia Constantinopolitana.". Oxford [u.a.], Clarendon Press.

Migowski et al (2004) report the 419 CE seismite at a depth of 2.3716 m with a thickness of 0.5 cm. They report the ~175 CE seismite at a depth of 2.5562 m. A simple calculation reveals that in this part of the core, 1 cm. of sediment represents ~13 years of time. As 363 CE is 56 years earlier than 419 CE, it should be ~4 cm deeper and thus ~3.5 cm. below the bottom of the 0.5 cm. thick 419 CE seismite. It should not have been masked or overprinted.