Chronicon (Jerome)

The Chronicon (Chronicle) or Temporum liber (Book of Times) was a universal chronicle by Jerome written in Constantinople around the year 380. One of the earliest attempts of universal history; this is a Latin translation and expansion of the Greek chronological tables in the second part of the Chronicon of Eusebius, written about 50 years earlier. 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 Eusebius, Jerome dated Creation to 5200 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 (the kings of Assyria, for example, are solely based on Greek legends), 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; 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.

The chronicle contains several regnal lists, including the rulers of Assyria, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. Each year in the table corresponds to a whole calendar year, meaning that years are counted inclusively. Eusebius attempted to synchronize every year with a regnal year; while the specific years do not always match reality, the overall chronology, specially closer to Eusebius' own time, is often accurate. Some of the discrepancies may be explained by the fact that several of the events were originally recorded in different calendars that do not always match perfectly with each other.^[4]

^ Croke, Brian (1995). The Chronicle of Marcellinus: A translation with commentary. BRILL. pp. 53–55. ISBN 978-90-04-34463-1.
^ Mungello, D. E. (1988). Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-0-8248-1219-5.
^ Pearse, Roger et al. (2005) The Chronicle of St. Jerome. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_00_eintro.htm
^ Burgess, Richard W.; Witakowski, Witold (1999). Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian Chronography. Franz Steiner Verlag. pp. 21–43. ISBN 978-3-515-07530-5.

[1] Croke, Brian (1995). The Chronicle of Marcellinus: A translation with commentary. BRILL. pp. 53–55. ISBN 978-90-04-34463-1.

[2] Mungello, D. E. (1988). Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-0-8248-1219-5.

[3] Pearse, Roger et al. (2005) The Chronicle of St. Jerome. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_00_eintro.htm

[4] Burgess, Richard W.; Witakowski, Witold (1999). Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian Chronography. Franz Steiner Verlag. pp. 21–43. ISBN 978-3-515-07530-5.

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