AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, LIBANIUS AND LATE ROMAN NAMES

Abstract This article considers the vexed problem of whether the letters of the Antiochene sophist Libanius provide evidence for the life and career of the historian Ammianus Marcellinus. After brief consideration of the debate on Ep . 1063, it turns to Ep . 233 of a.d. 360, which mentions an Ammianus in imperial service, setting out the various attempts to identify this individual as the historian. It then outlines the later Roman onomastic system, casting new light in particular on the role which names played in indicating social status and on the way in which Libanius used names. It shows that fourth-century conventions of naming preclude identifying the Ammianus of the letter with Ammianus Marcellinus.