CHRONOGRAPHER OF 354

The designation given by T. Mommsen to the unknown compiler of a calendarlike reference work prepared for general use in Rome. The original compiler

stopped at the year 354, but subsequently some additions brought it down to the year 496. Although the document is preserved only in fragments, scholars have succeeded in reconstructing almost completely this important source for the history of the ancient Church.

The contents of the work are: (1) a calendar in two parts, part one containing astronomical and astrological data, and part two a civil listing of pagan feasts and games, dates for the meetings of the Senate, and birthdays of the emperors. The calendar was composed by the calligrapher Furius Dionysius Philocalus (or Filocalus) and elaborately illustrated with miniatures. (2) Annals from the time of Caesar to the year 359 (added later by a copyist). (3) A list of the consuls from a.u.c. 245 to a.d. 354— the most complete list found in extant literary sources. (4) An Easter table from 312 to 411. (5) A list of the urban prefects at Rome for the years 254 to 354. (6) A Depositio episcoporum (list of the death dates of the popes from 254 to 352), and a Depositio Martyrum (list of Roman martyrs and martyrs venerated at Rome), the oldest extant martyrology. (7) A list of the bishops of Rome from St. Peter to Liberius—the earliest form of the Liber pontificalis. (8) Annals from the time of Caesar to 403, and from 455 to 496. (9) A world chronicle to the year 354, based on that of hippolytus of rome. (10) A chronicle of the city of Rome to the death of the Emperor Licinius (324), written in 334 and closely connected with the world chronicle just mentioned. (11) A description of the 14 regions of the city of Rome.

Bibliography: Editions. t. mommsen, ed., Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores antiquissimi 9.1 (Berlin 1892) 13–196; Gesammelte Schriften 8 v. (Berlin 1905–13) 7:536–579. Studies. o. bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, 5 v. (Freiburg 1913–32) 3:558–560. o. seeck, Paulys Realenzyklopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft 3.2 (Stuttgart 1899) 2477–81. h. leclercq, "Kalendaria, "Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclercq, and h. i. marrou, 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 8.1:624–667; "Chronographe de 354, "ibid. 3.1:1555–60. c. nordenfalk, Der Kalendar vom Jahre 354 und die lateinische Buchmalerei des IV. Jahrhunderts (Göteborg 1936). h. stern, Le Calendrier de 354: Étude sur son texte et sur ses illustrations (Paris 1952).

[m. r. p. mcguire]