The Roman History

...it appears [the name] was transferred; for he distinguishes First Germany—stretching from Augusta Rauracorum Modern Augst, near Basel, Switzerland or the Swiss Alps as far as Trier original: Treviros or the Moselle river—from Second or Lower Germany, whose capital was Cologne original: Colonia Agrippina. And since Marcellinus himself served as a soldier in Germany under the Emperors Constantius and Julian, he records many true and highly useful facts about the Franks, the Alemanni, and other Germanic peoples.

I. LIPSIUS, IN THE NOTES

added to the book On Politics.

Among the writers of the middle age—oh, the shame!—there is no one I would praise even as a mediocre historian. To such a degree did barbarism and squalor occupy all things as the Empire declined; and if any did write, they drifted mostly toward vanities, mixing the true with the false, or with things greater than the truth. Ammianus Marcellinus, however, is sufficiently distinguished for his reliability and judgment, though less so for his style Justus Lipsius, a famous Renaissance humanist, suggests that while Ammianus is a truthful witness, his Latin style is cramped and difficult compared to the "Golden Age" authors like Cicero..