On the issue of the structure of Festus’ Brevuarium

Author(s):  E.A. Semicheva, candidate of Sciences, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia, semicheva@bsu.edu.ru

Issue:  Volume 46, № 2

Rubric:  Topical issues of world history

Annotation:  The article is devoted to the analysis of the Breviarium of Late Antiquity, the author of which is considered Rufus Festus who was a high-ranking official of Emperor Valens II. The study of the structure of the work and the principles of the text construction allows us to clarify the purpose of the Breviarium and its ideology. The author comes to conclusion that the two-part structure corresponds to the general idea, according to which the first part, offering a broader historical context, is a necessary condition for understanding the direct purpose of the author, expressed in the chapters of the second part. The article presents a debatable question about the content and structural opposition of the Western and Eastern provinces as a way to form the society's attitude to the Persian campaign of the Emperor. The author also notes the emphasis on personalities and their polar assessments in the second part of the work. Researchers have no doubts about the wide popularity throughout the Late Latin and, further, the medieval historical space of Breviary, epithomas, and other compendiums.

Keywords:  Late Antiquity, Breviarium, Festus, identity, list of provinces.

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