Ilkka Syvänne

this is a difficult book to work through. Sadly the accounts of the period covered (250's through the 260's are based on the "Augustan History" or "Scriptores Historiae Augustae", a series of short biographies of a bewildering number of Emperors, and usurpers who succeed each other at high speed. Various modern workers in this period have tried to sort out the incidents and possible sequences of possible, or at any rate recorded events, in some coherent fashion. Their approaches have varied from labelling this particular source as so confused to be of no more practical value than "The history of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth" to the method employed here by Dr. Syvanne. He has chosen to choose, with good evidence, that there is a possible course of events, and then to create it by apportioning the incidents to several men, and then assigning them to the various reigns dealt with in the SHA. Sometimes the men accomplished their actions as subordinates of the reigning emperor, and sometimes when they had their brief periods of power. I would describe this effort as a plausible course of events and certainly more likely than some other reconstructions by other hands. If you provide yourself with some aids, such as timelines and maps the effort seems to work. Syvanne gets full credit from me for his efforts.… (more)