by Richard J. Goodrich (Translator)
Volume 70 in the Ancient Christian Writers series offers the first complete English translation since the late nineteenth century of the works of Sulpicius Severus, an early fifth-century Gallic writer. Although Sulpicius is primarily known for his two works on Saint Martin of Tours (Life of Saint Martin and Dialogues), he also wrote the Chronica, a history of the world in two books that began with the creation of Adam and extended to the ecclesiastical controversies of late-fourth-century Gaul. These three works, plus a small number of extant letters, offer a fascinating glimpse into the emerging Gallic church, the use of historical writing in biography, apologetic, and polemic, and the role played by Roman aristocrats in promoting and shaping the western monastic movement. +