Ammianus Marcellinus, Forged Letters and a Conspiracy under Constantius II - The Pax Romana Podcast 91 cover art

Ammianus Marcellinus, Forged Letters and a Conspiracy under Constantius II - The Pax Romana Podcast 91

Ammianus Marcellinus, Forged Letters and a Conspiracy under Constantius II - The Pax Romana Podcast 91

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

In 355 AD, Silvanus, a high-ranking officer in the Roman Empire faced treason charges from forged letters. The emperor, Constantius II had him executed. But also, after learning that the letters were forged, the emperor pardoned the conspirators. Why else would he do all this unless he was either gullible or cruel? Well, the ancient historian who wrote about this episode, Ammianus Marcellinus, may have lied about what happened. He also happened to have bene in the party that ultimately assassinated Silvanus. Something very fishy happened--and a recent article offers a new theory for sorting it all out.


Read "Fraud and Forgery in the Reign of Constantius II: The Silvanus Affair of 355 CE" by Katherine Lagenfeld: https://biblioscout.net/article/10.25162/historia-2025-0020


Donate: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WZTWCMWCJJYFC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.