- Ursicinus (Roman general)
Ursicinus was the "master of cavalry" ("
magister equitum ") in the EasternRoman Empire "c." 349-359. [Wallace-Hadrill, A., "Ammianus Marcellinus. The Later Roman Empire (AD 354-378)", Harmondsworth, 1986, p. 486.]In 353,
Ammianus Marcellinus was attached to the command of Ursicinus at his headquarters inNisibis . [Ammianus Marcellinus, "Res Gestae", 14.9.1,2; Thompson, E.A., "The Historical Work of Ammianus Marcellinus" Groningen, 1969, p. 3.] He was recalled from Nisibis in 354 by the CaesarConstantius Gallus to take part in the investigation of treason inAntioch . [Matthews, J., "The Roman Empire of Ammianus", London, 1989, p. 34.]When, in 355,
Claudius Silvanus revolted against EmperorConstantius II inGaul , Ursicinus was sent to him with a letter of recall by Constantius. However, Ursicinus had Silvanus killed and took his place.Ursicinus was dismissed after the destruction of Amida (
Diyarbakır ,Turkey ) in 359, [Trombley, F., "Ammianus Marcellinus and fourth-century warfare: a protector's approach to historical narrative", in J.W. Drijvers and D. Hunt, eds. "The Late Roman World and its Historian", London, 1999 p. 20] , for which he was officially blamed. [Ammianus Marcellinus, "Res Gestae" 20.2.2-5; Barnes, T. D., "Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality", Ithaca and London, 1998, p. 63.]The Roman historian
Ammianus Marcellinus revered Ursicinus, and his account is greatly biased towards him.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.