Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus (1886).  Preface to the online text.

J.S.Watson's translation of Eutropius was accompanied by versions of Cornelius Nepos, and Justin.  I have included these, although they have nothing to do with the fathers, rather than leave them, as no-one else was doing them.  By the time I completed Justin, I found that two other website editors had commenced work on it.

Justin's work is an epitome of the massive 44 volume universal history of Pompeius Trogus, now lost.  It is the only remaining history covering the whole of the Hellenistic period.  Trogus knew the complete work of Livy, and criticised it, not least for exceeding the proper limits when it came to putting speeches in the mouths of generals.

The version of Justin given by Watson was incomplete, in that it did not include the 'Prologi', found at the end of the manuscripts in two of the four families of the text tradition.  These are the only remaining portion of Pompeius Trogus, the summaries of the content of each book.  The collection of summaries must have circulated separately, possibly as an advertising method, and so became attached to the epitome.  From them we can gain an idea of the portions of Trogus omitted by Justin.  I have therefore translated these from the critical text of Otto Seel, using J.C.Yardley's excellent modern version of Justin as a control to ensure I do not make daft mistakes.

A significant number of manuscripts of Justin survive.

This text was authored by Roger Pearse, 2003.  All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.

Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.