The Chronicle of the Logothete

The Chronicle of the Logothete PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2020-10-29

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781789628074

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The Chronicle of the Logothete covers the period from the Creation of the World to the burial of emperor Romanos I Lekapenos in the summer of 948 AD. If we deduce a medieval text's importance and success from the number of extant manuscripts, this work must score highly. While some medieval chronicles have come down to us in only one manuscript, about thirty manuscripts transmit the Chronicle of the Logothete in its main form, and there are also manuscripts containing different kinds of elaborated versions of the text. Also, the chronicle was translated into Old Slavonic at least twice. In spite of the work's popularity, the chronicler himself remains obscure. It has been suggested that this could be Symeon Metaphrastes, an illustrious Byzantine literate who collected and edited, or wrote, Saints' Lives. However, fairly certain is only that the final compilation of the text was made in the second half of the tenth century, and there seems to be a pro-Lekapenian bias and an antipathy towards the Macedonian dynasty. This volume is based on the translator's 2006 edition of the text and constitutes the first translation ever into English.

The Chronicle of the Logothet

The Chronicle of the Logothet PDF

Author: Staffan Wahlgren

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 9781802071009

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The Chronicle of the Logothete covers the period from the Creation of the World to the burial of emperor Romanos I Lekapenos in the summer of 948 AD. If we deduce a medieval text's importance and success from the number of extant manuscripts, this work must score highly. While some medieval chronicles have come down to us in only one manuscript, about thirty manuscripts transmit the Chronicle of the Logothete in its main form, and there are also manuscripts containing different kinds of elaborated versions of the text. Also, the chronicle was translated into Old Slavonic at least twice. In spite of the work's popularity, the chronicler himself remains obscure. It has been suggested that this could be Symeon Metaphrastes, an illustrious Byzantine literate who collected and edited, or wrote, Saints' Lives. However, fairly certain is only that the final compilation of the text was made in the second half of the tenth century, and there seems to be a pro-Lekapenian bias and an antipathy

The Reign of Leo VI (886-912)

The Reign of Leo VI (886-912) PDF

Author: Shaun Tougher

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9789004108110

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This book provides a fresh examination of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886-912) and his reign. A consideration of personal and political relationships and internal and external affairs forms the basis of a reassessment of his achievements and kingship.

History and Literature of Byzantium in the 9th–10th Centuries

History and Literature of Byzantium in the 9th–10th Centuries PDF

Author: Athanasios Markopoulos

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-08-11

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1000939340

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The studies reprinted here deal with the Byzantine empire between the 9th and 11th centuries, with a focus on the period of the Macedonian dynasty, and include four translated into English for this volume. They reflect both historical and prosopographical concerns, but Professor Markopoulos's principle interest is in the analysis of literary works and texts. This he combines with the examination of the ideological context of the period, as shaped in the reigns of Basil I and Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, and the investigation of gender issues and other approaches. The close analysis of the texts shows how, after the close of Iconoclasm, new styles of writing and new attitudes towards the writing of history emerged, for instance in the use of mythological themes, which exemplify the changing intellectual concerns of the time.

The Emperor's House

The Emperor's House PDF

Author: Michael Featherstone

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2015-08-31

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 3110382288

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Evolving from a patrician domus, the emperor's residence on the Palatine became the centre of the state administration. Elaborate ceremonial regulated access to the imperial family, creating a system of privilege which strengthened the centralised power. Constantine followed the same model in his new capital, under a Christian veneer. The divine attributes of the imperial office were refashioned, with the emperor as God's representative. The palace was an imitation of heaven. Following the loss of the empire in the West and the Near East, the Palace in Constantinople was preserved – subject to the transition from Late Antique to Mediaeval conditions – until the Fourth Crusade, attracting the attention of Visgothic, Lombard, Merovingian, Carolingian, Norman and Muslim rulers. Renaissance princes later drew inspiration for their residences directly from ancient ruins and Roman literature, but there was also contact with the Late Byzantine court. Finally, in the age of Absolutism the palace became again an instrument of power in vast centralised states, with renewed interest in Roman and Byzantine ceremonial. Spanning the broadest chronological and geographical limits of the Roman imperial tradition, from the Principate to the Ottoman empire, the papers in the volume treat various aspects of palace architecture, art and ceremonial.

The Chronicle of Theophanes

The Chronicle of Theophanes PDF

Author: Theophanes (the Confessor)

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 1982-09

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9780812211283

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The most important illuminating source that survived from the two centuries termed "the dark ages of Byzantium" is the chronicle of the monk Theophanes (d. 817 or 818). In it Theophanes paints a vivid picture of the Empire's struggle in the seventh and eighth centuries both to withstand foreign invasions and to quell internal religious conflicts. Theophanes's carefully developed chronological scheme was mined extensively by later Byzantine and Western record keepers; his chronicle was used as a source of information as well as a stylistic model. It is the framework upon which all Byzantine chronology for this period must be based. Important topics covered by the Chronicle include: The Empire's struggle to repel explosive Arab expansionism and the Bulgar invasion. The iconoclastic controversy, which caused civil war within Byzantium and led to schism between the churches of Constantinople and Rome. The development of the Byzantine thematic system, the administrative and social structure that would bring the Empire to the height of its power and prosperity. Almost all the sources used by Theophanes have perished, leaving his chronicle as the most important historical literature from this period. Turledove's translation makes available in English this crucial primary text for the study of medieval Byzantine civilization.

To Date and Not to Date

To Date and Not to Date PDF

Author: Thomas Ernst van Bochove

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-07-24

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 9004675655

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Scientific reserach implies progress. Sometimes, however, progress merely consists of a step back to the past, as in the case of the dating of the Prochiron, one of the Byzantine law books dealt with in this study. Recently, progress seemed to imply that the Prochiron had been issued by Leo the Wise in the year 907. This book sets out to show that the Prochiron was promulgated by Basil the Macedonian in the years 870-879, thus confirming the view of Karl Eduard Zachariä von Lingenthal, one of the first scholars who paved a way in the ‘ungodly jumble’ of Byzantine law books. Of course, the present study does not exclusively deal with the dating of law books: their status appeared to be inextricably bound up with their dating. Moreover, recent research has come up with results that shed new light on the Basilica and the Novels of Leo the Wise. Reason enough to investigate Leo’s legislative intentions..... To date and not to date, that is the issue in the realm of Byzantine legal history.

Chronicles, Consuls, and Coins: Historiography and History in the Later Roman Empire

Chronicles, Consuls, and Coins: Historiography and History in the Later Roman Empire PDF

Author: R.W. Burgess

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-31

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1000942120

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The papers collected in this volume focus on the sources for reconstructing the history of the third to fifth centuries AD. The first section, 'Historiography', looks at a small group of chronicles and breviaria whose texts are fundamental for our reconstruction of the history of the third and fourth centuries, some well known, others much less so: Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome, the lost Kaisergeschichte, and Eutropius. In this section the goal in each case is a specific attempt to come to a better understanding of the structure, composition, date, or author of these historical texts. The second section, 'History', presents a group of historical studies, ranging in time from the death of Constantine in 337 to the vicennalia of Anastasius in 511. In these papers the keys to the conclusions offered arise from a better understanding of the literary sources - particularly chronicles and consularia -, an understanding of the evolution of historical accounts over time, or the employment of sources that are either new or unusual in these particular contexts: consular fasti, coins, papyri, and itineraries.

The Reign of Leo VI (886-912)

The Reign of Leo VI (886-912) PDF

Author: Tougher

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-09-20

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9004477586

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The focus of this book is the Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886-912) and his reign. He has been characterised as a careless and ineffectual emperor, but this work presents a more considered account of Leo and the politics of his age. Initial chapters on sources and the broader historical context are provided before particular aspects of Leo's life and reign are presented in eight chapters, arranged so as to give a rough chronological framework. Subjects discussed include relations with family and officials, imperial ideology, and ecclesiastical and military affairs. By drawing on a broad spectrum of primary evidence the book illustrates that Leo forged a distinctive imperial style as a literate city-based non-campaigning emperor, and argues that he was actively concerned about the problems that faced his empire.