URSICINUS (ROMAN GENERAL)

'Ursicinus' was the "master of cavalry" (''magister equitum'') in the Eastern Roman Empire ''c.'' 349-359.^[1]
In 353, Ammianus Marcellinus was attached to the command of Ursicinus at his headquarters in Nisibis.^[2] He was recalled from Nisibis in 354 by the Caesar Constantius Gallus to take part in the investigation of treason in Antioch.^[3]
When, in 355, Claudius Silvanus revolted against Emperor Constantius II in Gaul, Ursicinus was sent to him with a letter of recall by Constantius. However, Ursicinus had Silvanus killed and took his place.
Ursicinus was dismissed after the destruction of Amida (Diyarbakır, Turkey) in 359,^[4], for which he was officially blamed.^[5]
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus revered Ursicinus, and his account is greatly biased towards him.

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References

References

1. Wallace-Hadrill, A., ''Ammianus Marcellinus. The Later Roman Empire (AD 354-378)'', Harmondsworth, 1986, p. 486.
2. Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', 14.9.1,2; Thompson, E.A., ''The Historical Work of Ammianus Marcellinus'' Groningen, 1969, p. 3.
3. Matthews, J., ''The Roman Empire of Ammianus'', London, 1989, p. 34.
4. Trombley, F., "Ammianus Marcellinus and fourth-century warfare: a protector's approach to historical narrative", in J.W. Drijvers and D. Hunt, eds. ''The Late Roman World and its Historian'', London, 1999 p. 20
5. Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' 20.2.2-5; Barnes, T. D., ''Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality'', Ithaca and London, 1998, p. 63.