The Chronicon (Chronicle) or Temporum liber (Book of Times) was a
universal chronicle written by
Jerome. It was one of his earliest attempts at history. It was composed
c. 380 in
Constantinople; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the Chronicon of
Eusebius, with a supplement covering the period from 325 to 379. Despite numerous errors taken from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work of
universal history, if only for the example which it gave to such later chroniclers as
Prosper of Aquitaine,
Cassiodorus, and
Victor of Tunnuna to continue his annals. In conformity with the Chronicon of Eusebius (early 4th century), Jerome dated Creation to 5201 BC.[1][2]
The Chronicle includes a chronology of the events of
Greek mythology, based on the work of
Hellenistic scholars such as
Apollodorus,
Diodorus Siculus, and
Eusebius.[3] While many of the earlier sections contain legendary characters and events that are not necessarily historically factual, there may be scattered remnants of historical events of late
Mycenean Greece from entries of the 12th century BC. (See the
historicity of the Iliad. Notably, Jerome's date for the capture of
Troy of 1183 BC corresponds remarkably well with the destruction layer of
Troy VIIa, the main candidate for the historical inspiration of legendary Troy, dated to
c. 1190 BC.)
Homer himself is dated to 940 BC, while modern scholarship usually dates him after 800 BC.
Timeline
From Adam until the 14th year of
Valens (AD 377), 5,579 years; this places Adam in 5201 BC
Richard W. Burgess, Studies in Eusebian and post-Eusebian Chronography, Stuttgart (1999).
Malcolm Drew Donalson, A Translation of Jerome's Chronicon With Historical Commentary, Mellen University Press (1996).
ISBN0-7734-2258-7.
J. K. Fotheringham, The Bodleian Manuscript of Jerome's Version of the Chronicle of Eusebius Reproduced in Collotype. Oxford: Clarendon (1905)
J. K. Fotheringham, Eusebii Pamphili Chronici canones. London: Humphrey Milford (1923).
R. Helm, Eusebius Werke 7: Die Chronik des Hieronymus, Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der Ersten Jahrhunderte 47 (1956).
Benoît Jean-Jean &
Bertrand Lançon, Saint-Jérôme, Chronique : Continuation de la Chronique d'Eusèbe, années 326-378, Brest, (2004),
ISBN2-7535-0018-5.
Josef Karst, Eusebius Werke, 5. Band : Die Chronik aus dem Armenischen übersetzt. Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der Ersten Jahrhunderte 20 (1911).
Alden A. Mosshammer, The Chronicle of Eusebius and the Greek Chronographic Tradition, Lewisburg/London (1979),
ISBN0-8387-1939-2.
Alfred Schoene, Eusebi Chronicorum Libri. 2 vols. Berlin: Weidmann (1875).