Mark Currie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748676293
- eISBN:
- 9780748684465
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748676293.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This is a study of unexpected events in narrative, fiction and life. It explores theoretical writings on the subject of surprise, and its broader context in the philosophy of time, and demonstrates ...
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This is a study of unexpected events in narrative, fiction and life. It explores theoretical writings on the subject of surprise, and its broader context in the philosophy of time, and demonstrates the importance of related concepts, such as unpredictability, the event, the untimely and the messianic, in the contemporary world. Narrative is often thought of as the recollection or recapitulation of past events, but this study aims to accentuate questions of expectation, anticipation and futurity in the process of narrative comprehension. It offers an account of narrative temporality based around the twin ideas of surprise and the future anterior, and the necessity of thinking these concepts together. Through readings of theoretical, philosophical and fictional texts, the book explores the proposition that stories have some role in our conceptualization and cognitive control of the future.Less
This is a study of unexpected events in narrative, fiction and life. It explores theoretical writings on the subject of surprise, and its broader context in the philosophy of time, and demonstrates the importance of related concepts, such as unpredictability, the event, the untimely and the messianic, in the contemporary world. Narrative is often thought of as the recollection or recapitulation of past events, but this study aims to accentuate questions of expectation, anticipation and futurity in the process of narrative comprehension. It offers an account of narrative temporality based around the twin ideas of surprise and the future anterior, and the necessity of thinking these concepts together. Through readings of theoretical, philosophical and fictional texts, the book explores the proposition that stories have some role in our conceptualization and cognitive control of the future.
Alan J. Ross
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198784951
- eISBN:
- 9780191827174
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784951.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book presents a re-examination of Ammianus Marcellinus’ agenda and methods in narrating the reign of the emperor Julian (355–63). Ammianus’ Res Gestae provides the fullest extant narrative of ...
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This book presents a re-examination of Ammianus Marcellinus’ agenda and methods in narrating the reign of the emperor Julian (355–63). Ammianus’ Res Gestae provides the fullest extant narrative of Julian, and holds a prominent position in modern studies of the last ‘pagan’ emperor. This book suggests that the Res Gestae presents a Latin-speaking, western audience with an idiosyncratic and ‘Romanized’ depiction of the philhellene emperor. Consciously exploiting his position as a Greek writing in Latin, and as a contemporary of Julian, Ammianus wished the Res Gestae to be considered a culminating and definitive account of Julian. The volume examines several key episodes from Books 14–25—Gallus and Silvanus, Julian’s appointment as Caesar, the battle of Strasbourg, his acclamation as Augustus, and the Persian campaign of 363. Building on recent advances in literary approaches to historical texts, it evaluates Ammianus’ presentation of Julian in each episode by considering the Res Gestae within three interrelated contexts: as a work of Latin historiography, which sets itself within a classical and classicizing tradition; in a more immediate literary and political context, as the final contribution by a member of an ‘eyewitness’ generation to a quarter century of intense debate over Julian’s legacy by several authors who had lived through the reign and had been in varying degrees of proximity to Julian; and as a narrative text, in which narratorial authority is closely associated with the persona of the narrator, both as an external narrating agent and an occasional participant in the text.Less
This book presents a re-examination of Ammianus Marcellinus’ agenda and methods in narrating the reign of the emperor Julian (355–63). Ammianus’ Res Gestae provides the fullest extant narrative of Julian, and holds a prominent position in modern studies of the last ‘pagan’ emperor. This book suggests that the Res Gestae presents a Latin-speaking, western audience with an idiosyncratic and ‘Romanized’ depiction of the philhellene emperor. Consciously exploiting his position as a Greek writing in Latin, and as a contemporary of Julian, Ammianus wished the Res Gestae to be considered a culminating and definitive account of Julian. The volume examines several key episodes from Books 14–25—Gallus and Silvanus, Julian’s appointment as Caesar, the battle of Strasbourg, his acclamation as Augustus, and the Persian campaign of 363. Building on recent advances in literary approaches to historical texts, it evaluates Ammianus’ presentation of Julian in each episode by considering the Res Gestae within three interrelated contexts: as a work of Latin historiography, which sets itself within a classical and classicizing tradition; in a more immediate literary and political context, as the final contribution by a member of an ‘eyewitness’ generation to a quarter century of intense debate over Julian’s legacy by several authors who had lived through the reign and had been in varying degrees of proximity to Julian; and as a narrative text, in which narratorial authority is closely associated with the persona of the narrator, both as an external narrating agent and an occasional participant in the text.
Vanessa Joosen
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496815163
- eISBN:
- 9781496815200
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496815163.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
The introduction addresses the urgent need to study intergenerational relationships and situates the connection between childhood and old age in a historical context and within age studies. The main ...
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The introduction addresses the urgent need to study intergenerational relationships and situates the connection between childhood and old age in a historical context and within age studies. The main theoretical concepts on which the authors in this volume rely are introduced: drawing on cognitive studies, they treat the connection between childhood and old age as a “root metaphor” (Lakoff & Johnson) and study age not as a biological given, but as a social performance. A performative take on age in fiction involves terminological challenges, and the introduction situates ways of defining age and phases in the life course in a multinational, multimedia context. It also offers some pragmatic solutions for discussing age despite these challenges. Finally, the introduction establishes three basic patterns in the way that old age and childhood are connected: affinity, complementarity, and conflict. Each pattern is discussed in detail with reference to the contributions in the volume.Less
The introduction addresses the urgent need to study intergenerational relationships and situates the connection between childhood and old age in a historical context and within age studies. The main theoretical concepts on which the authors in this volume rely are introduced: drawing on cognitive studies, they treat the connection between childhood and old age as a “root metaphor” (Lakoff & Johnson) and study age not as a biological given, but as a social performance. A performative take on age in fiction involves terminological challenges, and the introduction situates ways of defining age and phases in the life course in a multinational, multimedia context. It also offers some pragmatic solutions for discussing age despite these challenges. Finally, the introduction establishes three basic patterns in the way that old age and childhood are connected: affinity, complementarity, and conflict. Each pattern is discussed in detail with reference to the contributions in the volume.
Alan J. Ross
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198784951
- eISBN:
- 9780191827174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784951.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Epilogue offers a summation of the main arguments of the book; namely that Ammianus Marcellinus casts the major episodes of Julian’s reign as topoi, which are familiar from classicizing ...
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The Epilogue offers a summation of the main arguments of the book; namely that Ammianus Marcellinus casts the major episodes of Julian’s reign as topoi, which are familiar from classicizing historiography in Latin, and that in doing so he deliberately presents a more ‘Romanized’ account of Julian for a Western, Latin-speaking audience. The Epilogue also compares the various points in the narrative where the narrator appears as a participant, and suggests that these are all conditioned by Ammianus’ wish to use his ‘presence’ as a way both of critiquing Julian, and of creating authority for his version of Julian’s reign.Less
The Epilogue offers a summation of the main arguments of the book; namely that Ammianus Marcellinus casts the major episodes of Julian’s reign as topoi, which are familiar from classicizing historiography in Latin, and that in doing so he deliberately presents a more ‘Romanized’ account of Julian for a Western, Latin-speaking audience. The Epilogue also compares the various points in the narrative where the narrator appears as a participant, and suggests that these are all conditioned by Ammianus’ wish to use his ‘presence’ as a way both of critiquing Julian, and of creating authority for his version of Julian’s reign.
Douglas Cairns and Ruth Scodel
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748680108
- eISBN:
- 9780748697007
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748680108.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
Narratologies, both ‘classical’ structuralist narratology and the ‘new narratologies’ of the past twenty years, have mostly been built around the novel. At the same time, the history of narrative ...
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Narratologies, both ‘classical’ structuralist narratology and the ‘new narratologies’ of the past twenty years, have mostly been built around the novel. At the same time, the history of narrative methods has become a recognized area of scholarly discussion. While this work is not confined to the history of the novel, the novel tends to be most prominent. Meanwhile, structuralist narratology has been adapted and applied to ancient literary texts. These studies tend to go directly from an individual text to universals, showing that a Greek author uses a technique found in modern literatures, or that the author's combination of techniques is unusual. They do not show how the methods of storytelling develop over time from one author or genre to another, or how Greek narrative is like and unlike other narrative traditions. This volume represents the beginnings of such a project. Several papers look particularly at ways in which early Greek narrative, particularly Homer, differs from earlier and contemporary Near Eastern narratives. Another group looks at typical features of Greek narrative (exemplarity, occasion, favoured structures). Another considers particular genres (historiography, lyric, tragedy). Others examine particular narrative devices through time or consider how Latin authors read and adapt Greek narrative. The volume as a whole shows how much remains to be explored once we study narrative historically; how much comparison can enhance our understanding of Greek; and how much the study of Greek narrative can contribute to narratology more broadly.Less
Narratologies, both ‘classical’ structuralist narratology and the ‘new narratologies’ of the past twenty years, have mostly been built around the novel. At the same time, the history of narrative methods has become a recognized area of scholarly discussion. While this work is not confined to the history of the novel, the novel tends to be most prominent. Meanwhile, structuralist narratology has been adapted and applied to ancient literary texts. These studies tend to go directly from an individual text to universals, showing that a Greek author uses a technique found in modern literatures, or that the author's combination of techniques is unusual. They do not show how the methods of storytelling develop over time from one author or genre to another, or how Greek narrative is like and unlike other narrative traditions. This volume represents the beginnings of such a project. Several papers look particularly at ways in which early Greek narrative, particularly Homer, differs from earlier and contemporary Near Eastern narratives. Another group looks at typical features of Greek narrative (exemplarity, occasion, favoured structures). Another considers particular genres (historiography, lyric, tragedy). Others examine particular narrative devices through time or consider how Latin authors read and adapt Greek narrative. The volume as a whole shows how much remains to be explored once we study narrative historically; how much comparison can enhance our understanding of Greek; and how much the study of Greek narrative can contribute to narratology more broadly.
Brandon Manning
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781617039973
- eISBN:
- 9781626740280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617039973.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter argues for the need of developing a “black feminist narratology” in order to understand the complex role of the racialized narrator in Post-Soul fiction. Building off of the work of ...
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This chapter argues for the need of developing a “black feminist narratology” in order to understand the complex role of the racialized narrator in Post-Soul fiction. Building off of the work of feminist narratology, this chapter applies the black feminist narratology – with its dual focus on race and gender – to ZZ Packer’s recent story “Brownies.” Packer’s satire works to emphasize the need for marginalized peoples to foster positive approaches to community identification, while also suggesting the need to develop such communal identification between reader and writer.Less
This chapter argues for the need of developing a “black feminist narratology” in order to understand the complex role of the racialized narrator in Post-Soul fiction. Building off of the work of feminist narratology, this chapter applies the black feminist narratology – with its dual focus on race and gender – to ZZ Packer’s recent story “Brownies.” Packer’s satire works to emphasize the need for marginalized peoples to foster positive approaches to community identification, while also suggesting the need to develop such communal identification between reader and writer.
Lisa Irene Hau
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474411073
- eISBN:
- 9781474422048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474411073.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The Introduction defines the perimeters and terminology of the book. In addition, it offers a brief overview of the role of moral didacticism in historiography from antiquity to the 21st century and ...
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The Introduction defines the perimeters and terminology of the book. In addition, it offers a brief overview of the role of moral didacticism in historiography from antiquity to the 21st century and discusses the distinctiveness of moralising in ancient Greek historiography compared with other genres at the time. It then offers a narratologically based typology of moralising techniques, which is used throughout the book.Less
The Introduction defines the perimeters and terminology of the book. In addition, it offers a brief overview of the role of moral didacticism in historiography from antiquity to the 21st century and discusses the distinctiveness of moralising in ancient Greek historiography compared with other genres at the time. It then offers a narratologically based typology of moralising techniques, which is used throughout the book.
Jeremy Rosen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231177443
- eISBN:
- 9780231542401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231177443.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
Argues that the conventional form of minor-character elaboration, which becomes visible as the genre flourishes between the 1980s and the present, articulates a set of consensus values of liberal ...
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Argues that the conventional form of minor-character elaboration, which becomes visible as the genre flourishes between the 1980s and the present, articulates a set of consensus values of liberal pluralism. Reading a wide range of texts produced in this period, the chapter shows how the registering of the narrative voice and psychology of a formerly minor character becomes the genre’s primary convention. While scholars have often lauded such texts for liberating the voices, of minor characters, I argue that rather than accomplishing an emancipation or posing a subversive challenge, the genre reaffirms the unique subjective experience of every individual, and the necessity of a pluralist dialogue between conflicting agendas.Less
Argues that the conventional form of minor-character elaboration, which becomes visible as the genre flourishes between the 1980s and the present, articulates a set of consensus values of liberal pluralism. Reading a wide range of texts produced in this period, the chapter shows how the registering of the narrative voice and psychology of a formerly minor character becomes the genre’s primary convention. While scholars have often lauded such texts for liberating the voices, of minor characters, I argue that rather than accomplishing an emancipation or posing a subversive challenge, the genre reaffirms the unique subjective experience of every individual, and the necessity of a pluralist dialogue between conflicting agendas.
Eva von Contzen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719095962
- eISBN:
- 9781526109675
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719095962.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter provides an introduction to narrative theory as a formal approach to the lives of the saints in the Scottish Legendary. Narratology as a key theoretical field, its main strands as well ...
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This chapter provides an introduction to narrative theory as a formal approach to the lives of the saints in the Scottish Legendary. Narratology as a key theoretical field, its main strands as well as its chances and challenges for the analysis of medieval narrative are discussed and problematised. The formal approach is placed within more general discussions of surface vs. symptomatic reading. Both a close and a deep reading are proposed as an expedient method to scrutinise the narrative art in the compilation. The chapter is rounded off with a section on the various ‘communicative’ instances that come into play when reading and interpreting the legends of the saints.Less
This chapter provides an introduction to narrative theory as a formal approach to the lives of the saints in the Scottish Legendary. Narratology as a key theoretical field, its main strands as well as its chances and challenges for the analysis of medieval narrative are discussed and problematised. The formal approach is placed within more general discussions of surface vs. symptomatic reading. Both a close and a deep reading are proposed as an expedient method to scrutinise the narrative art in the compilation. The chapter is rounded off with a section on the various ‘communicative’ instances that come into play when reading and interpreting the legends of the saints.
Geoffrey Rockwell and Stéfan Sinclair
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034357
- eISBN:
- 9780262332064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034357.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
How can you study the emergence of a field through a new journal? Chapter 8, the third Interlude, looks at ten years of the online journal Game Studies as a way of looking at the new field of game ...
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How can you study the emergence of a field through a new journal? Chapter 8, the third Interlude, looks at ten years of the online journal Game Studies as a way of looking at the new field of game studies. We use Voyant to look at the high frequency vocabulary and we use named entity recognition with social network analysis to look at the connections between key figures like Espen Aarseth and Janet Murray. The chapter revisits the challenge of ludology (the study of play) to avoid importing narratology into the new field from literary studies. High frequency words give us some idea of what game studies is becoming as more attention is paid to rules and culture.Less
How can you study the emergence of a field through a new journal? Chapter 8, the third Interlude, looks at ten years of the online journal Game Studies as a way of looking at the new field of game studies. We use Voyant to look at the high frequency vocabulary and we use named entity recognition with social network analysis to look at the connections between key figures like Espen Aarseth and Janet Murray. The chapter revisits the challenge of ludology (the study of play) to avoid importing narratology into the new field from literary studies. High frequency words give us some idea of what game studies is becoming as more attention is paid to rules and culture.
Emma V. Miller and Miles Leeson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526122162
- eISBN:
- 9781526138767
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526122162.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Using Carter’s textual relationship with Saussure and Derrida as a starting point, this chapter will examine the writing of two other “literary” female authors and their narratological engagement ...
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Using Carter’s textual relationship with Saussure and Derrida as a starting point, this chapter will examine the writing of two other “literary” female authors and their narratological engagement with incest and difference with regard to Derridean différance. This will include a discussion of A.S. Byatt’s writing of incest and the assertion of familial class difference in Morpho Eugenia (1992). Similarly in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook (1962), there is also a social and cultural hierarchy of difference, which is expressed through the telling of incest. By linking the difference of both the incestuous and the separateness of the notebooks a reading of transcription will suggest that incest does not only fill the abject space but comes perilously closer to home.Less
Using Carter’s textual relationship with Saussure and Derrida as a starting point, this chapter will examine the writing of two other “literary” female authors and their narratological engagement with incest and difference with regard to Derridean différance. This will include a discussion of A.S. Byatt’s writing of incest and the assertion of familial class difference in Morpho Eugenia (1992). Similarly in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook (1962), there is also a social and cultural hierarchy of difference, which is expressed through the telling of incest. By linking the difference of both the incestuous and the separateness of the notebooks a reading of transcription will suggest that incest does not only fill the abject space but comes perilously closer to home.
John Limon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823242795
- eISBN:
- 9780823242832
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823242795.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
W.G. Sebald's documentary fiction takes two forms: following and wandering. Yet the wandering always turns into repetitious self-following, and the following always dissolves into wandering. This is ...
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W.G. Sebald's documentary fiction takes two forms: following and wandering. Yet the wandering always turns into repetitious self-following, and the following always dissolves into wandering. This is the reciprocal form melancholy takes in his books, and the chapter argues that melancholy thus is unexpectedly harnessed to propel a narrative. If the ontological point-contra Heidegger-is that death is never near enough, the ethical point is that melancholy, contra Freud, is an attempt to wander with the dead who cannot be brought near enough. Melancholy is an imitation of death that energizes itself by its failure to imitate death perfectly.Less
W.G. Sebald's documentary fiction takes two forms: following and wandering. Yet the wandering always turns into repetitious self-following, and the following always dissolves into wandering. This is the reciprocal form melancholy takes in his books, and the chapter argues that melancholy thus is unexpectedly harnessed to propel a narrative. If the ontological point-contra Heidegger-is that death is never near enough, the ethical point is that melancholy, contra Freud, is an attempt to wander with the dead who cannot be brought near enough. Melancholy is an imitation of death that energizes itself by its failure to imitate death perfectly.
Leon Antonio Rocha
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096006
- eISBN:
- 9781781708460
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096006.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Acupuncture is currently among the most popular complementary therapies used by IVF patients in North America and the United Kingdom, offered predominantly in private clinics and occasionally through ...
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Acupuncture is currently among the most popular complementary therapies used by IVF patients in North America and the United Kingdom, offered predominantly in private clinics and occasionally through national health services. There is currently no consensus on the efficacy and mechanism of acupuncture treatment on IVF; hypotheses offered included the facilitation of the flow of qi in the pelvic cavity, the improvement of uterine-lining thickness, better response to medications such as hormone injections, or the optimisation of general health. This chapter investigates the promotion and dissemination of acupuncture treatments for IVF patients, in particular through an expanding market of self-help books published in the United States, which discuss how to make babies with the help of Chinese medical treatments. Close readings of these texts reveal their mobilisation of: patient testimonials; a particular history of Chinese medicine that invokes a continuous tradition and timeless wisdom; and a narrative of individualism, customisation of therapies to suit patients’ need, and attainment of a general sense of well-being. These popular manuals reveal how practitioners of Chinese medicine in North America fashion themselves, and how they respond to patient demands and changes in the medical marketplace.Less
Acupuncture is currently among the most popular complementary therapies used by IVF patients in North America and the United Kingdom, offered predominantly in private clinics and occasionally through national health services. There is currently no consensus on the efficacy and mechanism of acupuncture treatment on IVF; hypotheses offered included the facilitation of the flow of qi in the pelvic cavity, the improvement of uterine-lining thickness, better response to medications such as hormone injections, or the optimisation of general health. This chapter investigates the promotion and dissemination of acupuncture treatments for IVF patients, in particular through an expanding market of self-help books published in the United States, which discuss how to make babies with the help of Chinese medical treatments. Close readings of these texts reveal their mobilisation of: patient testimonials; a particular history of Chinese medicine that invokes a continuous tradition and timeless wisdom; and a narrative of individualism, customisation of therapies to suit patients’ need, and attainment of a general sense of well-being. These popular manuals reveal how practitioners of Chinese medicine in North America fashion themselves, and how they respond to patient demands and changes in the medical marketplace.
Alan J. Ross
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198784951
- eISBN:
- 9780191827174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784951.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Chapter 2 analyses the depiction of two characters in the first extant books, who in similar ways prefigure Julian’s later role in the narrative. The Caesar Gallus in Book 14 and the usurper Silvanus ...
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Chapter 2 analyses the depiction of two characters in the first extant books, who in similar ways prefigure Julian’s later role in the narrative. The Caesar Gallus in Book 14 and the usurper Silvanus in Book 15 are both appointees, rivals, and finally victims of Constantius. Significantly Ammianus appears as a character during both episodes, and it is argued that he establishes his presence as a means of effecting a significant shift in the narrative’s presentation of each of Constantius’ rivals. Additionally the chapter proposes that Ammianus draws on the figure of Nero in his characterization of the tyrannical Gallus, and it offers a narratological survey of the Silvanus episode.Less
Chapter 2 analyses the depiction of two characters in the first extant books, who in similar ways prefigure Julian’s later role in the narrative. The Caesar Gallus in Book 14 and the usurper Silvanus in Book 15 are both appointees, rivals, and finally victims of Constantius. Significantly Ammianus appears as a character during both episodes, and it is argued that he establishes his presence as a means of effecting a significant shift in the narrative’s presentation of each of Constantius’ rivals. Additionally the chapter proposes that Ammianus draws on the figure of Nero in his characterization of the tyrannical Gallus, and it offers a narratological survey of the Silvanus episode.
