Almost nothing is known of Justin's personal history, his name appearing only in the title of his work. He must have lived after
Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus, whose work he excerpted, and his references to the
Romans and
Parthians having divided the world between themselves would have been anachronistic after the rise of the
Sassanians in the third century. His
Latin appears to be consistent with the style of the second century.
Ronald Syme, however, argues for a date around 390, immediately before the compilation of the
Augustan History, and dismisses anachronisms and the archaic style as unimportant, as he asserts that readers would have understood Justin's phrasing to represent Trogus' time, and not his own. ==Works== Justin was the author of an
epitome of Trogus' expansive
Liber Historiarum Philippicarum, or
Philippic Histories, a history of the kings of
Macedon, compiled in the time of
Augustus. Due to its numerous digressions, this work was retitled by one of its editors,
Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs, or
Philippic History and Origins of the Entire World and All of its Lands. Justin's
preface explains that he aimed to collect the most important and interesting passages of that work, which has since been lost. Some of Trogus' original arguments ('''') are preserved in various other authors, such as
Pliny the Elder. Trogus' main theme was the rise and history of the
Macedonian Empire, and like him, Justin permitted himself considerable freedom of digression, producing an idiosyncratic anthology rather than a strict epitome. ==Legacy==