Cosmic Warnings and Imperial Responses: Ammianus' Astronomical Excursuses

Resumen: The chapter is a narratological examination of three excursus in Ammianus' Res Gestae, that explain astronomical phenomena, and indirectly deal with Constantius' and Jovian's responses to premonitory signs. The historian implicitly contrasts them with Julian's reaction to divination, especially during the Persian campaign of 363. Those sections further specify the authorial voice of the historian and shape the narrator's idea of emperorship. The enquiry also underscores that Julian's centrality in Ammianus' narrative is disclosed in contrast with the other imperial characters: so, the depiction of Constantius II, Jovian, Valentinian, and Valens requires that of Julian, whereas the narrative of Julian only makes full sense in the interaction with the other characters