Tranquillina - Singara Issue

Great coins @Valentinian ! I've been reading Ammianus Marcellinus sporadically and he describes the siege of Singara and the war with the Persians under Constantius II and Julian and the unfavorable peace treaty signed by Jovian - pretty interesting read. Plus, it's free online.

 

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I agree Marcellinus is a great (and relatively easy) read. Not only does he give great descriptions of battles, he also give insightful social contexts.

Here's Marcellinus' quote about the war with the Alamanni (Book XVI)

(Chapter 12.46)
But the Alamanni, who enter eagerly into wars, made all the greater effort, as if to destroy utterly everything in their way by a kind of fit of rage. Yet darts and javelins did not cease to fly, with showers of iron-tipped arrows, although at close quarters also blade clashed on blade and breastplates were cleft with the sword; the wounded too, before all their blood was shed, rose up to some more conspicuous deed of daring. For in a way the combatants were evenly matched; the Alamanni were stronger and taller, our soldiers disciplined by long practice; they were savage and uncontrollable, our men quiet and wary, these relying on their courage, while the Germans presumed upon their huge size. Yet frequently the Roman, driven from his post by the weight of armed men, rose up again; and the savage, with his legs giving way from fatigue, would drop on his bended left knee and even thus attack his foe, a proof of extreme resolution.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/home.html


Good stuff.

 

I agree that Ammianus is one of the best historians of the late Roman period and gives a real glance at military and political affairs, as well as digressions on geography and peoples of the empire. The section on Mesopotamia, it's tribes and flora and fauna are highly interesting.