The Text and Language of a Vulgar Latin Chronicle (Anonymus Valesianus II)

"Anonymus Valesianus II", sometimes referred to as the "Pars Posterior", written after 526 and probably between 540 and 550. The text, which mostly deals with the reign of the Gothic king in Italy, Theodoric the Great. The identity of the author and the circumstances of the compilation of the "Pars Posterior" is obscure, however a few scholars think it "based on a no longer extant chronicle by the bishop of Ravenna, Maximianus". The "Pars Posterior" consists of 60 chapters and it presents the chain of events as a chronicle from Chapter 36 to 59: from the rule of Emperor Zeno, through the decline of the power of Odoacer, up to the succession of Theodoric the Great in 493. In the next section, from Chapter 60 to 79, the description of the rule of Theodoric the Great – the Italian ruler of Germanic origin – can be found. Besides the description of political events the author dwells on portraying the major virtues of the ruler through different narratives. In the closing section (Chapter 80 to 96) the author describes the tragic years of Theodoric's rule.