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Ursicinus (Roman general)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ursicinus was the "master of cavalry" (magister equitum) in the Eastern Roman Empire c. 349-359.[1]
In 353, Ammianus Marcellinus was attached to the command of Ursicinus at his headquarters in Nisibis.[2] He was recalled from Nisibis in 354 by the Caesar Constantius Gallus to take part in the investigation of treason in Antioch.[3]
When, in 355, Claudius Silvanus revolted against Emperor Constantius II in Gaul, Ursicinus was sent to him with a letter of recall by Constantius. However, Ursicinus had Silvanus killed and took his place.
Ursicinus was dismissed after the destruction of Amida (Diyarbakır, Turkey) in 359,[4], for which he was officially blamed.[5]
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus revered Ursicinus, and his account is greatly biased towards him.
- ^ Wallace-Hadrill, A., Ammianus Marcellinus. The Later Roman Empire (AD 354-378), Harmondsworth, 1986, p. 486.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 14.9.1,2; Thompson, E.A., The Historical Work of Ammianus Marcellinus Groningen, 1969, p. 3.
- ^ Matthews, J., The Roman Empire of Ammianus, London, 1989, p. 34.
- ^ Trombley, F., "Ammianus Marcellinus and fourth-century warfare: a protector's approach to historical narrative", in J.W. Drijvers and D. Hunt, eds. The Late Roman World and its Historian, London, 1999 p. 20
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 20.2.2-5; Barnes, T. D., Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality, Ithaca and London, 1998, p. 63.