The Polyhistor

That ancient Dominicalium Burdegalensium Dominican of Bordeaux codex, on the authority of which we restored the Breviaria rerum Romanarum Brief Chronicles of Roman Affairs of Lucius Florus and Eutropius, also contained the Polyhistor of Solinus. Although I had noticed that it was damaged in many places, I would hardly have undertaken its amendment had it not been a matter of religious duty to deny it that labor which I had provided to those others, with whom, as dearest companions, it had happily escaped the injury of so many centuries. Now, the writing we found in that book is as follows: "JULIUS SOLINUS ENDS HAPPILY BY THE STUDY AND DILIGENCE OF LORD THEODOSIUS, MOST INVINCIBLE PRINCE." This certainly proves the remarkable antiquity of the book: it was written, clearly, at least 835 years ago. Since the last of the Theodosii reigned in the year of Christ 717, and his reign was so short that the Polyhistor of Solinus could hardly have been described in its entirety if that PRINCE were the Theodosius who was surnamed the Great and was the elder, who began to reign in the year 382 after the birth of Christ, or his grandson by his son, whom they called the younger and later Theodosius: this would not only serve to demonstrate the antiquity of the book, but would also provide some weight toward proving the age of its author, about whom I see that nothing is certain. He himself makes no mention of his own times. You will know this much about him: he made these collectanea collected notes after the year of Christ 73, because he mentions not only Claudius and Nero, but also the emperor Vespasian and Jerusalem being razed by him; which event, as Eusebius thought, occurred in that seventy-third year of Christ.