Damasus et Ursinus, supra humanum modum ad rapiendam episcopi sedem ardentes, scissis studiis asperrime conflictabantur, ad usque mortis vulnerumque discrimina adiumentis utriusque progressis. ... In basilica Sicinini, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculum, uno die centum triginta septem reperta cadavera peremptorum. ... Qui esse poterant beati re vera, si magnitudine urbis despecta, quam vitiis opponunt, ad imitationem antistitum quorundam provincialium viverent, quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissime, vilitas etiam indumentorum, et supercilia humum spectantia, perpetuo numini, verisque eius cultoribus, ut puros commendant, et verecundos." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Damasus and Ursinus, burning with a superhuman desire of seizing the bishopric, engaged in bitter strife because of their opposing interests; and the supporters of both parties went even so far as conflicts ending in bloodshed and death. ... In the basilica of Sicininus, where the assembly of the Christian sect is held, in a single day one hundred and thirty-seven corpses of the slain were found. ... These men might be truly happy, if they would disregard the greatness of the city behind which they hide their faults, and live after the manner of some provincial bishops, whose moderation in food and drink, plain apparel also, and gaze fixed upon the earth, commend them to the Eternal Deity and to his true servants as pure and reverent men.
• Res gestae, XXVII, iii, 12, 13, 15
“

Damasus et Ursinus, supra humanum modum ad rapiendam episcopi sedem ardentes, scissis studiis asperrime conflictabantur, ad usque mortis vulnerumque discrimina adiumentis utriusque progressis. ... In basilica Sicinini, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculum, uno die centum triginta septem reperta cadavera peremptorum. ... Qui esse poterant beati re vera, si magnitudine urbis despecta, quam vitiis opponunt, ad imitationem antistitum quorundam provincialium viverent, quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissime, vilitas etiam indumentorum, et supercilia humum spectantia, perpetuo numini, verisque eius cultoribus, ut puros commendant, et verecundos.

— Ammianus Marcellinus

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Damasus et Ursinus, supra humanum modum ad rapiendam episcopi sedem ardentes, scissis studiis asperrime conflictabantur, ad usque mortis vulnerumque discrimina adiumentis utriusque progressis. ... In basilica Sicinini, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculum, uno die centum triginta septem reperta cadavera peremptorum. ... Qui esse poterant beati re vera, si magnitudine urbis despecta, quam vitiis opponunt, ad imitationem antistitum quorundam provincialium viverent, quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissime, vilitas etiam indumentorum, et supercilia humum spectantia, perpetuo numini, verisque eius cultoribus, ut puros commendant, et verecundos." in the context of "Damasus and Ursinus, burning with a superhuman desire of seizing the bishopric, engaged in bitter strife because of their opposing interests; and the supporters of both parties went even so far as conflicts ending in bloodshed and death. ... In the basilica of Sicininus, where the assembly of the Christian sect is held, in a single day one hundred and thirty-seven corpses of the slain were found. ... These men might be truly happy, if they would disregard the greatness of the city behind which they hide their faults, and live after the manner of some provincial bishops, whose moderation in food and drink, plain apparel also, and gaze fixed upon the earth, commend them to the Eternal Deity and to his true servants as pure and reverent men.
• Res gestae, XXVII, iii, 12, 13, 15" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Ammianus Marcellinus" (Quotes: John C. Rolfe, Ammianus: Roman History, LCL, vols. 1, 2, 3 (1935, 1939, 1940) Norbert Guterman, A Book of Latin Quotations (1966), pp. 356–9) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Ammianus Marcellinus#conflictabantur#conventiculum#provincialium#indumentorum#vulnerumque#peremptorum#magnitudine#imitationem#discrimina#adiumentis#progressis
Ammianus Marcellinus

About Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicised as Ammian (Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; c. 330 – c. 391–400), was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). Written in Latin and known as the Res gestae, his work chronicled the history of Rome from the accession of the Emperor Nerva in 96 to the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Only the sections covering the period 353 to 378 survive.