The construction of literary authority in the late antique Christian chronographical tradition

Abstract

In this article we intend to explore the ways in which literary authority is constructed in the Christian chronological tradition of Late Antiquity. The question that guides our investiga-tion is: as a new historiographical genre, how do the Christian chronicles put themselves before the oldest historiographic traditions? Is it possible that the authors use the same strategies as the historians of the classical period, or are there also new forms? For this, we will briefly revisitthe question of authority in classical authors, tracing the permanence of these principles in late his-toriographical works considered as heirs of that tradition. Then we will analyze the prefaces and introductions of the chronicle of Eusebius and the continuations of Jerome and Hydatius of Lem-ica, searching for elements of affirmation of literary authority.