A decorative horizontal woodcut header band featuring a central rosette flanked by symmetrical foliate scrolls and stylized arabesque motifs.

TESTIMONIES

OF CERTAIN

LEARNED MEN

CONCERNING

AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS.

JEAN BODIN,

from the Method of History,

Chapter 4.

A large square historiated woodcut initial 'E' begins the text. The scene depicts a landscape with a central tree. On the left, a muscular nude figure, likely Hercules, stands holding a large club. On the right, a smaller figure is visible in the background. The letter 'E' is integrated into the left side of the scene.

Church historians, for the most part, when they wrote about the enemies of our religion, were incensed with such great hatred that they attempted not only to bury their praises but even to tear them apart with every kind of insult. Let the Emperor Julian referring to Julian the Apostate (reigned 361–363 AD), the last pagan emperor of Rome, who attempted to suppress Christianity. be the proof; he who is called "the Deserter" original: transfuga; a derogatory term used by early Christian writers to describe Julian’s "desertion" from Christianity back to Hellenistic paganism.. Although he may have been worthy of deadly hatred and every punishment, nevertheless, those things which were brilliantly achieved by him ought not to have been passed over by anyone writing history—as our own historians have done. In this regard, one must certainly admire the fairness and zeal of Ammianus Marcellinus The text ends mid-sentence here; the editor is likely about to quote Bodin's praise for how Ammianus, though a pagan, provided a balanced view of Julian's virtues and vices.