Herodian's History of the Roman Empire

E285382

Roman historiography ancient Greek literature historical work

Herodian's History of the Roman Empire is a 3rd-century Greek historical work that narrates the Roman Empire’s political and military events from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the accession of Gordian III.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire	4
Herodian's History of the Roman Empire canonical	2
History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2626212 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Herodian's History of the Roman Empire
Context triple: [Commodus, depictedIn, Herodian's History of the Roman Empire]

A. Historia Augusta
The Historia Augusta is a late Roman collection of imperial biographies, notable for its mix of historical fact and fictionalized material about emperors and usurpers.
B. Zosimus' "New History"
Zosimus' "New History" is a late antique Greek historical work that offers a pagan, critical account of the Roman Empire’s decline, including a detailed narrative of the Sack of Rome in 410.
C. The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius
The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius is a 19th-century painting by John William Waterhouse depicting the Roman emperor neglecting affairs of state while feeding his pet birds.
D. The Life of Flavius Josephus
The Life of Flavius Josephus is an autobiographical work by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, detailing his ancestry, career, and role in the Jewish-Roman War.
E. Edessan Chronicle
The Edessan Chronicle is an early medieval Syriac historical text that records events in and around the city of Edessa, including local political, religious, and natural occurrences.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Herodian's History of the Roman Empire
Target entity description: Herodian's History of the Roman Empire is a 3rd-century Greek historical work that narrates the Roman Empire’s political and military events from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the accession of Gordian III.

A. Historia Augusta
The Historia Augusta is a late Roman collection of imperial biographies, notable for its mix of historical fact and fictionalized material about emperors and usurpers.
B. Zosimus' "New History"
Zosimus' "New History" is a late antique Greek historical work that offers a pagan, critical account of the Roman Empire’s decline, including a detailed narrative of the Sack of Rome in 410.
C. The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius
The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius is a 19th-century painting by John William Waterhouse depicting the Roman emperor neglecting affairs of state while feeding his pet birds.
D. The Life of Flavius Josephus
The Life of Flavius Josephus is an autobiographical work by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, detailing his ancestry, career, and role in the Jewish-Roman War.
E. Edessan Chronicle
The Edessan Chronicle is an early medieval Syriac historical text that records events in and around the city of Edessa, including local political, religious, and natural occurrences.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Roman historiography ⓘ ancient Greek literature ⓘ historical work ⓘ
alternativeName	Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ surface form: History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus History of the Roman Empire since the Death of Marcus Aurelius ⓘ
author	Herodian ⓘ
chronologicalCoverage	early 3rd century CE ⓘ late 2nd century CE ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Roman Empire ⓘ
coversReignOf	Caracalla ⓘ Commodus ⓘ Didius Julianus ⓘ Elagabalus ⓘ Emperor Gordian III ⓘ surface form: Gordian III Macrinus ⓘ Maximinus Thrax ⓘ Pertinax ⓘ Septimius Severus ⓘ Severus Alexander ⓘ
dateWritten	3rd century ⓘ
describesEvent	Year of the Five Emperors ⓘ accession of Gordian III ⓘ assassination of Commodus ⓘ reign of Elagabalus ⓘ rise of Septimius Severus ⓘ
genre	history ⓘ military history ⓘ political history ⓘ
historicalScope	Roman Empire from 180 to 238 CE ⓘ
historicalValue	primary narrative source for the period 180–238 CE ⓘ
influenced	later Byzantine historians ⓘ
language	Ancient Greek ⓘ
literaryStyle	rhetorical Greek prose ⓘ
narrativeFocus	military events of the Roman Empire ⓘ political events of the Roman Empire ⓘ
originalAudience	Greek-speaking elites of the Roman Empire ⓘ
perspective	senatorial viewpoint ⓘ
relatedWork	Cassius Dio’s Roman History ⓘ surface form: Cassius Dio's Roman History Historia Augusta ⓘ
setting	Rome ⓘ provinces of the Roman Empire ⓘ
structure	continuous prose narrative ⓘ
subjectMatter	civil wars in the Roman Empire ⓘ imperial succession crises ⓘ relations between emperor and Senate ⓘ relations between emperor and army ⓘ
timePeriodCoveredEnd	accession of Gordian III ⓘ
timePeriodCoveredStart	death of Marcus Aurelius ⓘ
topic	crisis of the third century in Rome ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Commodus → depictedIn → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

Parthian campaigns of Septimius Severus → documentedIn → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

this entity surface form: Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire

Assassination of Caracalla → describedIn → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

this entity surface form: Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire

Murder of Geta → hasHistoricalSource → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

this entity surface form: Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire

Rise and fall of Elagabalus → documentedIn → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

Assassination of Severus Alexander → documentedIn → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

this entity surface form: Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire

Herodian's History of the Roman Empire → alternativeName → Herodian's History of the Roman Empire ⓘ

this entity surface form: History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (49)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited