Condicio optima est ultimi: the concept of historical cycle and Evagrius Scholasticus’ list of ancient historians

This chapter discusses a list of ancient historians reported in the final section of Book 5 of Evagrius Scholasticus' Church History (6th century CE). This list, which most probably relies on the work of Eustathius of Epiphania, is of great relevance for historiography in late antiquity: it displays a lack of interest for Hellenistic history as well as a focus on Greek historians of Rome. It is also somewhat surprising that Latin historiography is absent from the list preserved by Evagrius, who in fact does not cite any Latin historian in his Church History, even though his contemporaries did have access to large number of Latin texts. The question of Evagrius' legal education is also considered: did he have a knowledge of Latin? Was this knowledge necessary for pursuing legal studies in the second half of the 6th century? An analysis of the quotations of the Code of Justinian in Evagrius' Church History displays no proof of his knowledge of Latin, which is in line with other contemporary examples. From 535 CE most legislation in the East was promulgated in Greek, and Latin was not a prerequisite for being a successful lawyer or civil servant anymore. Finally, Evagrius' place in the tradition of ancient historiography is compared to a passage in Seneca the Younger (Ep. 79.6) where those who come chronologically last in a literary tradition are believed to be in the best position for building on the works of their predecessors and breaking new ground: condicio optima est ultimi.