ion 



BYZANTINE HISTORIANS. 



liY/.AXTINE HISTOI. 



1071 



may serve as illustrations of the Byzantine history, soch as ' De Adtni- 

 uislranHo Imperio,' on the AdmiuUtration of the State, addreed to 

 hi* son Komanus; ' De Ceremoniia Aulaj ByMtina;' 'DeThcmatiboa,' 

 or military divisions of the empire. He alo caused several learned 

 men to compile a kind of historical library out of the works of all pre- 

 rioui historians. This great compilation wag divided into 53 books, 

 of which the titles of 26 only are known. One was on the succession 

 of kings, another on the art of generalship, Ac. Under each of these 

 beads, passages from the various historians bearing upon the subject 

 were collected. Three books alone, more or less mutilated, have come 

 down to us. One, entitled ' De Legationibus,' is an account of the 

 various embassies between the Romans and other nations; another 

 ' l)e Stntentii*,' and the third ' De Virtute et Vitio.' 13. Oenenus of 

 Byzantium wrote a history of Leo the Armenian, Michael II., Theo- 

 philiu, and Michael III., embracing the period from 813 to 867. 14. 

 Leontins of Byiantinm, called the younger, wrote also a history of the 

 same period, to serve as an introduction to Constantine's life of Basilius. 

 15. An anonymous writer has left a continuation of Constantino's life 

 of Basilius, embracing the lives of Leo VI. and his brother Alexander, 

 of Constantino VI. himself, and his son Itomauun. 16. Joannes 

 Cameniata of Thesnalonica wrote an account of the taking of thst 

 city by the Saracens in 904, of which he was an rye- witness. 17. Leo 

 Diaconua of Kaloe, born about 950, accompanied Basilius II. in his wars 

 against the Bulgarians, and wrote the lives of Romauus, Nicephoma 

 Fhocas, and Tzimisces, from 959 to 975. 18. Michael Constantino 

 Psellus wrote a history from the death of Tzimiaces in 975 till the 

 accession of Constsntine Ducas in 1059. 19. Nicephorua Bryennius, 

 the husband of Anna Comneno, wrote ' Historical Materials,' being a 

 kind of memoirs of the Comneni family to the accession of Alexius I. 



20. ANNA COMMEHA hu written the hiatory of her father Alexius. 



21. Joannes Cinnamus, who lived towards the end of the 1 2th century, 

 was imperial notary at Constantinople. He wrote the lives of John 

 Comnenus and of Manuel his son from 1118, when Anna Comuena 

 ends, till 1176. 22. Oeorgius Acropolita, born in 1220 at Constanti- 

 nople, filled several important offices under Michael Pnlicologua, and 

 li-il in 1282. There are two works under his name, one styled a 

 ' Chronography,' and the other a ' Short Chronicle of the late Event*,' 

 both referring to the period from 1204, when the Franks took Con- 

 stantinople, to 1261, when they were finally expelled. Acropolita baa 

 also written a ' General Chronicle from the Creation to the taking of 

 Constantinople by the Franks,' which is not yet printed. 23. Oeorgius 

 Pachymeres, born at Nicsea in 1242. After the recovery of Constanti- 

 nople by the Greeks, he was raised to high offices in the state. He 

 wrote a ' Byzantine History,' which forms a continuation to Acropolita'a 

 work, and comes down to 1308. Fachymercs is a faithful but dull 

 writer. He wrote also several philosophical works and a history of 

 his own life. 24. Joannes Cantacuzenus, after his abdication of the 

 empire in 1355, retired to a convent where he wrote a Byzantine 

 history from 1320 to 1357. Cantacuzenus is in general a good 

 authority for the history of that period in which he acted an important 

 part, though he is of course somewhat partial in his own cause. 25. 

 Joannes Ducas, of the imperial family of that name, fled from Con- 

 stantinople at the time of the Turkish invasion, and took refuge at 

 Lesbos under the Genoese adventurer Prince Castelluzzi. He wrote 

 a Byzantine history, which begins from Adam, after the fashion of the 

 chroniclers, and is but a brief general chronicle as far as the year 1341, 

 after which his account becomes more circumstantial, being more 

 especially occupied with the hiatory of the latter period of the eastern 

 empire : it ends with the taking of Lesbos by the Turks in 1462. 

 This latter part therefore forms a continuation to Cantacuzenus. 26. 

 Joannes Anagnostm of Theasalonica has left an account of the taking 

 of that city by the Turks in 1430. 27. Joannes Cananus has written 

 a history of the war against Sultan Murad II. in 1420. 2S. Georgius 

 Phranxa, born in 1401, of a family related to the Polaologi, filled 

 some of the highest offices in the state under the last emperors. He 

 was made prisoner by the Turks at the taking of Constantinople, was 

 sold as a slave, recovered his liberty, and took shelter for a time with 

 Thomas Palxologns, prince of Peloponnesus. When the Turks invaded 

 that part of Greece Phranza escaped to Italy, and at last became monk 

 at Corfu in 146S. There he wrote his ' Chronicle' in four books, which 

 begins with 1260 and ends with 1477, embracing the whole history of 

 the I'alxologi. The work of Phranza is most valuable, though it is full 

 of digressions upon religious controversies, the origin of comets, Ac. 



The following are the general ' chroniclers' properly so called, who 

 are also included under the general appellation of Byzantine historians : 

 1. Georgius Syncellus lived in the 8th century. He wrote a ' Chro- 

 nognpby ' from the beginning of the world to the time of Diocletian, 

 in which be hag availed himself of Eusebius and Africanus. 2. Thco- 

 phanes Issacius of Constantinople, who died about 817, continued the 

 chronicle of Syncellus from 280 till 813. 3. Joannes of Antiocb, 

 called Malalas, a Syrian word meaning a rhetor or sophist, lived in the 

 9th century, and wrote a chronicle from Adam till 666. 4. Joannes 

 ScvliUes, who lived in the llth century, wrote a 'Short History 1 or 

 chronicle from .ill till 1057, which be afterwards recast and continued 

 till 10S1. :>. Leo Qrammaticus wrote a chronography, which is a 

 continuation of Theppbanes, from 813 to 949. 6. Qeorgius Monachus 

 has also left a chronicle embracing the same period as Leo's. 7. The 

 ' Cbronicon Paschale,' called also ' Alexandrian Chronicle,' is attributed 



by some to Georgius the Bishop of Alexandria, who lived in t 

 century. It is alio called ' Fasti Siculi,' because the manuscript w;ia 

 discovered in Sicily. It extends from the beginning of the world to 

 1042. 8. Georgius Hamartolus, an Archimandrite, wrote a chronicle 

 to the year 84'J, which is yet unedited. V. Joannes of Sicily wrote 

 in the 9th century a chronicle from the creation of the worlil till 

 866, which is not yet printed. An anonymous continuation of it till 

 1222 exists in the imperial library at Vienna. 10. Nicephorun, 

 patriarch of Constantinople in the first part of the 9th century, hai 

 left a 'Breviarium Chronograpbicum,' or short chronicle. fr<>m the 

 creation to the author's death in 828, giving aeries of the kings, 

 emperors, patriarchs, and bishops, Ac. He wrote also a ' Brcvisrium 

 Historicum,' or general history of events from 602 to 770. 11. Julius 

 Pollux, not the author of the ' Onomastioon,' wrote a chronicle with 

 the title of ' Historia Physica," from the creation to the reign of 

 Valens. A manuscript in the national library at Paris brings it down 

 to the death of Komanus the younger in 963. This chronicle is chiefly 

 engrossed with church matters. 12. Georgius Cedrenus, a monk of 

 the llth century, wrote a chronicle compiled chiefly from the former 

 chronicles of Scylitzes and others. It is mixed up with fictions, and 

 is one of the least valuable in the Byzantine collection. 1 3. Simeon 

 Metaphrastes filled tome high stations at the imperial court in the first 

 part of the 10th century. His chronicle cornea to 963, and ban the 

 merit of being compiled from the works of ten lost writers who lived 

 between Leo Grammaticus and Michael Psellus. 14. Hippolytua of 

 Thebes lived towards the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 

 llth centuries. He wrote a chronicle from the birth of Jesus 

 to his own time, 15. Michael Olykas, whose country and age are not 

 ascertained, wrote a chronicle from the creation to the year 1118. It 

 ia valuable both for its historical and its biblical references. 16. Con- 

 stantino Monassen, who lived in the 12th century, has left a chronicle 

 in verse down to 10S1. 17. Ephr.pinius, believed to be the son of 

 John XII., patriarch of Constantinople, wrote a chronicle in iambics 

 of the emperors, from Julius Cojsar to the restoration of the Byzantine 

 empire after the Prankish invasion. It is followed by a chronology of 

 the patriarchs of Constantinople till 1313. The whole poem contains 

 10,410 lines. Angela Mai published it first in his Vatican collection 

 of inctiited manuscripts. 18. Joel wrote a short general chronicle of 

 the world to the Prankish invasion of Constantinople in 1204. 19. 

 Theodosins of M elite has left a chronicle which ia not yet printed. 

 Professor Tafel of Tubingen has published a notice of this writer : 

 'De Theodoxio Meliteno inedito hiatoriro Byzantium Scriptore,' 4to, 

 Tubingen, 1828, from the manuscript of his chronicle which is at 

 Tubingen, and which was brought from Constantinople by St. Gcrlach 

 in 1578. 20. Hesychius of Miletus, who lived under Juatinua and 

 Justinian, wrote a history of the world, which is lost, except a valu- 

 able fragment on the origin of Constantinople, which has been 

 extracted and preserved by Codinus. 



Besides the above historians and chroniclers there are other Byzan- 

 tine authors whe have written on the statistics, politics, antiquities, 

 Ac., of the Roman empire, whose history properly so called they serve 

 to illustrate, and who are generally included in the collection of 

 Byzantine historical writers. Among these Procopius stands foremost 

 by his curious work, ' Do -Kdificiia Domini Justiuiani,' lib. vi., which 

 contains a brief notice of the towns, temples, convents, bridges, roads, 

 walls, and fortifications built or repaired under the reign of Justinian. 

 2. Joannes Laurentius, called Lydus from his being a native of Phila- 

 delphia in Lyilia, lived under Justinian, and was both a poet and 

 prose writer. He has left a work ' ou the Homan Magistrates.' which 

 affords valuable assistance for the knowledge of Roman civil history. 

 The manuscript was first discovered by Choiseul Gouflier and Villoison 

 in the library of Prince Morousi at Constantinople in 1781, and is now 

 in the public library at Paris. It was published by Haac at Paris, 

 1812. In the same manuscript WAS found another work of Lydus, 

 'De Ostentis,' or on divination or "augurs' science," which has been 

 also published by Hase with notes in 1823. 3. Hieroclex, called the 

 grammarian, to distinguish him from the philosopher of the same 

 name, wrote a Synecdemos, or traveller's guide, in which he describes 

 the 64 provinces of the eastern empire, and the 935 cities or towns 

 contained in it. It has been published in several collections, among 

 others in Banduri's ' Imperium Orientate,' Paris, 1711. Some suppose 

 that Hierocles lived under Justinian, others later, but certainly 

 previous to the 10th century. 4. Theophylactun, archbishop of Achris 

 in Bulgaria in the latter part of the llth century, wrote a work ' Ou 

 the Education of Princes,' intended for the young Constautine, the 

 son of Michael VIL, Parapinaces. It ia published in Banduri's 

 ' Imperium Orientate.' 5. Alexius I. Comnenus wrote ' Novum 

 Ratinnarium,' or Inventory of the Revenues of the State, in imitation 

 of Augustus. It has been published in the collection of the Benedic- 

 tines, Paris, 1688. 6. A monk, of unknown name, who lived under 

 Alexius I., wrote a book on the antiquities of Constantinople, which 

 gives a description of its buildings, monuments, Ac. It is inserted in 

 Bauduri's 'Imperium.' 7. Mattharas Blastares, a monk, wrote, about 

 1305, un account of the numerous household charge* and offices iu the 

 imperial palace of Constantinople, which is inserted in the eighteenth 

 volume of the Venetian edition of the ' Corpus Hiat liyzaut. Sciip- 

 toruin.' 8. Georgius Codiuun, surnamed Curopalates, lived in the 

 latter age of the empire, and wrote ' On the Dignities and Offices of 



