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Jordanes (),〔"Jordanes". ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2012.〕 also written Jordanis or, uncommonly, Jornandes,〔According to Schanz-Hosius (''Geschichte der Römischen Literatur'', 4, vol. 2 (1920), pp. 115, 118) the best MSS of his work present his name as ''Jordanes'', as does the 'Geographus Ravennas'. ''Jordanis'' is a 'vulgar' form that is also used, while ''Jornandes'' only appears in lesser MSS. The form ''Jornandes'', however, was often used in older publications.〕 was a 6th-century Roman bureaucrat,〔"If Jordanes was a bishop (as is frequently assumed) and if he lived in Italy (also frequently assumed), those elements of his background have left no trace in his two histories" (〕 who turned his hand to history later in life. While he also wrote ''Romana'' about the history of Rome, his best-known work is his ''Getica'', written in Constantinople 〔"Constantinople is "our city" (''Getica'' 38).〕 about AD 551.〔He mentions the great plague of 542 as having occurred "nine years ago" (''Getica'' 104). Still, there are some modern scholars who opt for a later date, see Peter Heather, Goths and Romans 332-489, Oxford 1991, pp. 47-49 (year 552), Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History, Princeton 1988, p. 98 (year 554).〕 It is the only extant ancient work dealing with the early history of the Goths. Jordanes was asked by a friend to write this book as a summary of a multi-volume history of the Goths (now lost) by the statesman Cassiodorus. He was selected for his known interest in history (he was working on Rome's), his ability to write succinctly, and because of his own Gothic background. He had been a high-level ''notarius'', or secretary, of a small client state on the Roman frontier in Scythia Minor, modern south-eastern Romania and north-eastern Bulgaria.〔Croke 1987.〕 Other writers, e.g. Procopius, wrote works which are extant on the later history of the Goths. As the only surviving work on Gothic origins, the ''Getica'' has been the object of much critical review. Jordanes wrote in Late Latin rather than the classical Ciceronian Latin. According to his own introduction, he had only three days to review what Cassiodorus had written, meaning that he must also have relied on his own knowledge. Some of his statements are laconic. ==Life== Jordanes writes about himself almost in passing: Already in the Mommsen text edition of 1882 it was suggested that the very long name of Jordanes' father should be split into two parts: ''Alanovii Amuthis'', both genitive forms. Jordanes' father's name would then be Amuth. The preceding word should then belong to Candac, signifying that he was an Alan. Mommsen, however, dismissed suggestions to emend a corrupt text. Paria was Jordanes' paternal grandfather. Jordanes writes that he was secretary to Candac, ''dux Alanorum'', an otherwise unknown leader of the Alans. Jordanes was ''notarius'', or secretary to Gunthigis Baza, a magister militum, nephew of Candac, of the leading Ostrogoth clan of the Amali. This was ''ante conversionem meam'' ("before my conversion"). The nature and details of the conversion remain obscure. The Goths had been converted with the assistance of Ulfilas (a Goth), made bishop on that account. However, the Goths had adopted Arianism. Jordanes' conversion may have been a conversion to the trinitarian Nicene creed, which may be expressed in anti-Arianism in certain passages in ''Getica''.〔''Getica'' 132, 133, 138, noted by Croke 1987:125〕 In the letter to Vigilius he mentions that he was awakened ''vestris interrogationibus'' - "by your questioning". Alternatively, Jordanes' ''conversio'' may mean that he had become a monk, or a ''religiosus'', or a member of the clergy. Some manuscripts say that he was a bishop, some even say bishop of Ravenna, but the name Jordanes is not known in the lists of bishops of Ravenna. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jordanes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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