Eutropius

Eutropius, a Latin historian, concerning whom we only know that he filled the office of secretary to the Emperor Constantine, fought against the Persians under Julian, and died probably about 370 A.D. His Breviarum Historiæ Romanæ, giving a short narrative of Roman history from the foundation of the city to the time of the Emperor Valens (364 A.D.), is written in an extremely simple style, and appears to have been originally intended for the use of schools. It became very popular as the taste for original investigation declined, and is either copied or followed by the early monkish annalists; it was twice translated into Greek, and was continued by others down to the 9th century. The History existed in three distinct forms at the revival of letters: the genuine work of Eutropius in ten books; the expanded editions of Paulus Diaconus and others; and a complete but largely interpolated copy contained in the Historia Miscella (edited by Eyssenhardt, Berlin, 1839). The editio princeps, printed at Rome in 1471, was from the impure text of Paul. The best modern editions are those of Tzschucke (Leip. 1796), of Grosse (Halle, 1813), and of Droysen (Berlin, 1879).