Annals (Latin: annΔles, from annus, "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
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π Annal in the context of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy, was Roman dictator in 498 or 496 BC, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus and subsequently celebrated a triumph. Many of the coins of the Postumii Albi commemorate this victory of their ancestor, as in the one pictured. Roman folklore related that Castor and Pollux were seen fighting in this battle on the side of the Romans, whence the dictator afterwards promised a temple to Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum.
He was consul in 496 BC, in which year some of the annals, according to Livy, placed the battle of Lake Regillus; and it is to this year that Dionysius assigns it. The name "Regillensis" is usually supposed to have been derived from this battle; but Niebuhr thinks that it was taken from a place of residence, just as the Claudii bore the same name, and that the later annalists only spoke of Postumius as commander in consequence of the name. Livy states expressly that Scipio Africanus was the first Roman who obtained a surname from his conquests. In 495 BC, Postumius was chosen at short notice by the Romans to lead the cavalry to victory against a Sabine invading force. In 493 BC Postumius was one of the ten envoys sent by the senate to treat with the plebeian leaders during the first secessio plebis.
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Annal in the context of Ethiopian historiography
Ethiopian historiography includes the ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern disciplines of recording the history of Ethiopia, including both native and foreign sources. The roots of Ethiopian historical writing can be traced back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum (c. AD 100 β c. 940). These early texts were written in either the Ethiopian Ge'ez script or the Greek alphabet, and included a variety of mediums such as manuscripts and epigraphic inscriptions on monumental stelae and obelisks documenting contemporary events. The writing of history became an established genre in Ethiopian literature during the early Solomonic dynasty (1270β1974). In this period, written histories were usually in the form of royal biographies and dynastic chronicles, supplemented by hagiographic literature and universal histories in the form of annals. Christian mythology became a linchpin of medieval Ethiopian historiography due to works such as the Orthodox Kebra Nagast. This reinforced the genealogical traditions of Ethiopia's Solomonic dynasty rulers, which asserted that they were descendants of Solomon, the legendary King of Israel.
Ethiopian historiographic literature has been traditionally dominated by Christian theology and the chronology of the Bible. There was also considerable influence from Muslim, pagan and foreign elements from within the Horn of Africa and beyond. Diplomatic ties with Christendom were established in the Roman era under Ethiopia's first Christian king, Ezana of Axum, in the 4th century AD, and were renewed in the Late Middle Ages with embassies traveling to and from medieval Europe. Building on the legacy of ancient Greek and Roman historical writings about Ethiopia, medieval European chroniclers made attempts to describe Ethiopia, its people, and religious faith in connection to the mythical Prester John, who was viewed as a potential ally against Islamic powers. Ethiopian history and its peoples were also mentioned in works of medieval Islamic historiography and even Chinese encyclopedias, travel literature, and official histories.