ABSTRACT
Ammianus Marcellinus is usually studied as the mature author who completed the Res Gestae in the mid-390s, whose reporting on political and military affairs is subjected to all the usual tests for historical accuracy and literary influences. Less has been said, however, about the formative background and military experience upon which Ammianus drew: in other words, what effect did his career as a protector between 354 and 363, when he was perhaps 25-35 years of age, have on his approach to interpreting historical phenomena? To put it another way, Ammianus’ professional socialization in the schola of protectores domestici is certain to have given him a methodology for understanding political events at the imperial court and military operations on the Rhine and eastern frontiers different from that of a purely literary man. Along with his presumed early education in Latin and Greek rhetoric, this ‘staff work’ he carried out in the protectores was an important formative influence. It is possible that the tasks given protectores, everything from inspecting ships’ manifests to siting siege artillery, lay behind the criteria of relevance he used in deciding what belonged in a historical narrative. His reports reveal a rather unique preoccupation with the operational side of war-making, including such matter-of-fact issues as supply, bridging trains and reconnaissance. This applies particularly to the campaigns in which he took part and on which he gives eyewitness testimony.
