When writing about the 3rd century AD, I often feel like a detective piecing together fragments of evidence. Ancient sources are scattered, biased, and sometimes contradictory. But they are also the scaffolding that holds my novels upright. Without them, the story of Gallienus and his world would be unmoored.
## The Nature of the Sources
The 3rd century is notoriously under-documented compared to the age of Caesar or Augustus. What we do have includes:
– Historians: Authors like Zosimus, Zonaras, and the writers of the Historia Augusta — often biased, sometimes unreliable, but full of telling details.
– Coins and Inscriptions: Tiny but powerful. A coin might proclaim Gallienus as “Restorer of the World,” showing how he wanted to be remembered. Inscriptions mark troop movements, dedications, or honors granted.
– Letters and Sermons: Christian sources, like the writings of Cyprian, paint vivid pictures of life during plague and persecution.
– Archaeology: Ruins of forts, city walls, and even humble houses give texture to the age.
Together, these fragments form a mosaic — incomplete, but still rich.
## Bias as a Storytelling Tool
Many of the surviving sources are hostile to Gallienus. Senators resented him, later historians downplayed him, and Christian writers ignored him. At first, this frustrated me. But then I realized bias is itself a story. When a source sneers at Gallienus as frivolous, I ask: what threat did he pose to the author’s worldview? Sometimes, the insults tell us more than praise ever could.
As a novelist, I can flip those judgments inside out — showing the emperor not as a caricature, but as a human being caught in impossible circumstances.
## Filling the Gaps
Of course, the sources leave wide silences. They rarely describe how an emperor felt when betrayed, or how a soldier’s family endured plague. Here, fiction steps in. I imagine the conversations, fears, and small triumphs the sources forgot. The gaps become opportunities to give voice to people history left behind.
## Why Sources Still Matter
Even when hostile or incomplete, the ancient sources keep me anchored. They ensure my novels don’t drift into fantasy. They provide the stage — the battles, the decrees, the alliances — on which my characters act. Without them, Gallienus’ world would be vague mist. With them, it becomes a stage alive with tension.
## My Takeaway as a Writer
Researching ancient sources has taught me that history is never neutral. Every account carries the perspective of its author. As a writer of fiction, I embrace those perspectives, not to parrot them, but to engage with them — to ask new questions and imagine new answers.
## Reader’s Corner
When you read history, do you prefer the “official” voices of rulers and historians, or do you find yourself drawn to the fragments — letters, graffiti, coins — that hint at everyday life?
This article was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI
