Sexti Aurelii Victoris / Petrus Nannius / Carolus Sigonius - Historia Romana or The Roman History - 1733

BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATED EDITION by Aurelius Victor Sextus (320-390 CE) "Historia Romana" or The Roman History. The volume contains six different books on the Roman emperors, the history of Rome since its birth, the wars, the coins, the mythology, the events and the direct experience of Aurelius Victor Sextus in Eastern Europe and the Balkan Regions. Sextus before becoming the prefect of the city of Rome in 389, was for about 20 years consular governor in Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) a town about 76 km from today's Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and at the time capital in the prefecture of Illyricum and more precisely of the province of Pannonia Inferior (Lower Pannonia) which included parts of today's Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains. In the third century, Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire and one of the four capitals, the other three being Augusta Treverorum (Trier in Germany), Mediolanum (Milano in Italy), and Nicomedia (Izmit in Turkey). Notably, ten Roman emperors were born in or near this city, highlighting its significance in the empire's history: Herennius Etruscus (220-251), Hostilian (230-251), Decius (249–251), Claudius II (268–270), Quintillus (220-270), Aurelian (270–275), Probus (276–282), Maximian (285–310), Constantius II (337–361), and Gratian (367–383). The book is illustrated with great quality and detail with full page illustrations and hundreds of roman coins. Precious and intact Dutch binding from the 1700s, in excellent condition and with multiple gold decorations and the coat of arms of the city of Haarlem as shown in the photo.

Victor Sextus was appointed consular governor of Pannonia Inferior in the autumn of 361 by Emperor Julian the Apostate (331-363). Julian was engaged in the war campaign and was passing through Pannonia to then cross the Danube with boats and clash with the Thracians in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and finally in Turkey with the capture of Constantinople, 11 December 361. Pannonia was one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire, a continuous crossroads of Emperors, messengers, officials and legions of soldiers who were heading east to expand the empire or to protect it from the continuous invasions of the populations beyond the Danube and the Carpathian Mountains or coming from Turkey and Persia, about 25% of the Roman legions were deployed on the front along the Danube River and which crossed Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova up to the Black Sea. Victor Sextus was highly appreciated by the major historian of the 4th century Ammianus Marcellinus (330-401) who mentions him in his writings, Sextus was in the right place since he was an expert official and mastered well both Latin and Greek, the sophisticated product of years of teaching, the synthesis of two worlds (East and West), and witness to many military operations that were prepared in this city Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia which had become the headquarters of the Roman Danube armies. In this city there was an imperial palace, a hippodrome, an amphitheater, thermal baths, a granary, commercial and industrial areas, luxurious urban residences, as well as multi-story apartment buildings where the majority of the population lived (about 100,000 inhabitants in the 4th century), as well as an imposing city wall and a 14 km long aqueduct that brought fresh water from nearby springs. A mint with two workshops was also established at least from 320-326 during the reign of Constantine I (whose coins bore the inscriptions SIRM, SIROB, SM).

The book Historia Romana (Roman History) by Sexti Aurelii Victoris and with the commentary of various authors such as Petrus Nannius (1496-1557), Carlo Sigonio (1520-1584), Johannes Arntzenius (1702-1759), contains the following 6 titles in this chronological order:

1)De Origine Gentis Romanae (Origin of the Roman People) is a literary compilation in Latin of a historiographical nature narrating the most remote origins, between history and mythology, of the Roman people, starting from divinity like Janus & Saturn and ending with Romulus, the first king of Rome.

2)De Viris Illustribus Urbis Romae (Famous Men of Rome); is the only work in Latin literature to offer an outline of Roman history in the form of 86 short biographies from the founding of the city to the Principate of Augustus. Not only famous commanders and politicians are included, but also illustrious female figures (Cloelia, Claudia, Cleopatra) and outstanding enemies of Rome (Hannibal, Antiochos III, Mithridates VI).

3)De Caesaribus Historiae Abbreviatae Pars Altera (The Caesars, Abridged History, Part Two), describes imperial history from Augustus to the tenth consulate of Constantius II (360).

4)De vita et moribus imperatorum Romanorum, à Caesare Augusto usque ad Theodosium imperatorem by Sexti Aurelii Victoris and Andreas Schottus (1552-1629), the work covers the years between the Battle of Actium (September 31 BC) and the death of Theodosius I (January 395). It describes the succession of kings from Augustus to Carus, then continues with Diocletian up to Theodosius. It examines Roman history, through the analysis of the heroic deeds of predecessors, with praise for the emperor-generals, in particular Trajan (53-117).

5-6)De Claris Corneliis by Petrus Nannius (1496-1557) and De vita Scipionis by Carolus Sigonius (1520-1584) also known as Carlo Sigonio. The first is a monograph by the Dutch poet and humanist Petrus Nannius on the origin and dynasty of the Cornelia (Cornelii) family, was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome from which it was born Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236-183 BC), a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. The second title is an extended biography by Carolus Sigonius an Italian humanist on the life and deeds of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185-129 BC), known as Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and during the Numantine War in Spain.

Description: in 4to size height 262 x width 215 mm or 10.3 by 8.5 inches. [22], 668, [67] pages. Old and beautiful Dutch leather binding, in excellent condition and decorated in "Du Seuil" style, formed by a double frame of fine roulettes and gilded fleurons, central coat of arms, spine with 5 decorated nerves. The two black dots that can be seen on the boards are not defects but the attachment of the laces that closed the binding. A fine example of 1700s Dutch binding with the arms of the city of Haarlem. Published by Janssonio-Waesbergios in Amsterdam (Amstelodami) and Jacobum à Poolsum in Utrecht (Traiecti Batavorum), date MDCCXXXIII - 1733. Beautiful frontispiece, a plate and reproduction of hundreds of coins and medals in the text. Text printed well, pages are clean with original and wide margins, light foxing, around 50-60 pages slightly browned. Old gift with a dedication written in Latin from 1742 on the blank page before the title of four teachers to a young student from Haarlem. The engraving work, of great finesse, shows great detail in the illustrations and excellent contrast.

References: Dekesel, C.E. Bibliography of 18th century numismatic books; A 167 (Cat. 9), vol. 1, p. 235; Lipsius, J.G. Bibliotheca numaria, p. 423; Origo gentis Romanae, in De viris illustribus. Concordantiae et Indices, by Luca Cardinali, Hildesheim, Georg Olms, 1997; Aurelius Victor: De viris illustribus urbis Romae. The famous men of the city of Rome. Latin and German. Edited, translated and annotated by Joachim Fugmann. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2016; Mirković, Miroslava B. (2017). Sirmium: Its History from the First Century AD to 582 AD. Novi Sad: Center for Historical Research; Mócsy, András (2014). Pannonia and Upper Moesia: A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire. New York: Routledge; Jean-Claude RICHARD, Pseudo-Aurelius Victor, Les Origines du Peuple Romain. Paris: Budé/Belles Lettres (1983).

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