Two Greats in the Chronicle of Sulpicius Severus:

Cyrus and Alexander as Historical Harmony

Christian T. DJURSLEV, Aarhus University, Denmark

ABSTRACT
This article argues that Sulpicius Severus represented the great kings, Cyrus II of Persia
and Alexander III of Macedon, in a way that suited the purposes of his major historio-
graphical project, the Chronica or Historia Sacra. It demonstrates that Sulpicius Severus
altered pre-exisiting stories about the two monarchs, so that the pair became juxtaposed
historically in the manner that they treated the Jews of the Old Testament. To this end,
Sulpicius useE the translatio imperii tool not only to bring Cyrus and Alexander
closer together, but also to make a claim for how the distant past had been structured by
divine providence. The royal pairing thus becomes important for understanding
Sulpicius’ overall purpose of the work, namely his representation of the history of
God’s people.

1. Introduction

Saint Martin, a Roman soldier who became the third bishop of Tours (c. AD 371),
owes much of his legacy to his biographer Sulpicius Severus (c. 360-420).1 The
saint received much attention in Sulpicius’ works: he stars not only in the
famous Vita Martini, but also features across Sulpicius’ other literary output,
consisting of letters,2 dialogues,3 and a historiographical text, the Chronica
from after 403.4 This extensive literary production represented Martin as noth-
ing short of the ideal holy man, a message that resonated with contemporary

1
One of many examples of Sulpicius’ representation is in fact Martin’s problematic military
career, briefly revisited by Timothy D. Barnes, ‘Early Christian biography and the Roman historian’,
in Peter Gemeinhardt and Johan Leemans (eds), Christian Martyrdom in Late Antiquity: History
and Discourse, Tradition and Religious Identity (Berlin, Boston, 2012), 15-33, 25.
2
For Martin’s presence, see Anne-Marie Taisne, ‘Saint Martin dans la correspondance de
Sulpice-Sévère’, in Patrick Laurence and Francois Guillaumont (eds), Epistulae antiquae 5: Actes
du Ve colloque international ‘L’épistolaire antique et ses prolongements européens’ (Leuven, 2008),
229-37. For a new reading of Martin’s role, see Zachary Yuzwa, ‘Reading genre in Sulpicius
Severus’ Letters’, Journal of Late Antiquity 7 (2014), 329-50.
3
For a literary analysis, see Susana González Marín, ‘Los “Dialogi” de Sulpicio Severo, un
ejercicio literario’, in Gregorio Hinojo Andrés and Jose Carlos Fernández Corte (eds), ‘Munus
quaesitum meritis’: homenaje a Carmen Codoñer (Salamanca, 2007), 415-24.
4
All available in new translations by Richard J. Goodrich, Sulpicius Severus: Complete Works
(Mahwah, N.J., 2016). All translations from the Chronica are adapted from this translation, unless

Studia Patristica ???, 1-000.

© Peeters Publishers, 2021.

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