1.
Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
Constantinople
–
Constantinople in the Byzantine era
Constantinople
–
Map of Byzantine Constantinople
Constantinople
–
Emperor
Constantine I presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic.
Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantinople
–
Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople
2.
Samothrace
–
Samothrace is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace, the island is 17 km long and is 178 km2 in size and has a population of 2,859. Its main industries are fishing and tourism, resources on the island include granite and basalt. Samothrace is one of the most rugged Greek islands, with Mt. Saos and its tip Fengari rising to 1,611 m. Samothrace was not a state of any significance in ancient Greece, since it has no natural harbour and most of the island is too mountainous for cultivation. It was, however, the home of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, among those who visited this shrine to be initiated into the island cult were Lysander of Sparta, Philip II of Macedon and Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, father-in-law of Julius Caesar. The ancient city, the ruins of which are called Palaeopoli, was situated on the north coast, demetrios of Skepsis mention the Samothracian Mysteries. The traditional account from antiquity is that Samothrace was first inhabited by Pelasgians and Carians, at the end of the 8th century BC the island was colonised by Greeks from Samos, from which the name Samos of Thrace, that later became Samothrace, however, Strabo denies this. The archaeological evidence suggests that Greek settlement was in the sixth century BC, the Persians occupied Samothrace in 508 BC, it later passed under Athenian control, and was a member of the Delian League in the 5th century BC. It was subjugated by Philip II, and from then till 168 BC it was under Macedonian suzerainty, with the battle of Pydna Samothrace became independent, a condition that ended when Vespasian absorbed the island in the Roman Empire in AD70. Apart from the sanctuary, decisive role in the great development of Samothrace played also her two ports from which passed the sea road Troas - Macedonia. Furthermore, an important role played as well her possessions in Perea, st. Theophanes died in Samothrace in 818. The Byzantines ruled until 1204, when Venetians took their place, only to be dislodged by a Genoan family in 1355, the island came under Greek rule in 1913 following the Balkan War. It was occupied by Bulgaria during the Second World War, from 1941 to 1944, the modern port town of Kamariotissa is on the north-west coast and provides ferry access to and from points in northern Greece such as Alexandroupoli and Kavala. There is no airport on the island. Other sites of interest on the island include the ruins of Genoese forts, the picturesque Chora and Paliapoli and it was discovered in pieces on the island in 1863 by the French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, and is now—headless—in the Louvre in Paris. It had the territory as the present municipality. List of settlements in the Evros regional unit Samothrace temple complex Winged Victory of Samothrace Samothrace travel guide from Wikivoyage Official Samothrace webpage
Samothrace
–
View of the Chora (Samothraki)
Samothrace
–
Sanctuary of the Great Gods, Palaiopolis.
Samothrace
–
Samothrace, with Mount Fengari in the background.
Samothrace
–
Waterfall and pond, characteristics of the island.
3.
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
Orthodox liturgy
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
An
icon of
John the Baptist, 14th century, Macedonia
4.
Calendar of saints
–
The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
Calendar of saints
–
A
medieval manuscript fragment of
Finnish origin, about 1340–60. Utilized by the
Dominican convent at
Turku.
Calendar of saints
–
Excerpt from the Irish
Feastology of Oengus, presenting the entries for 1 and 2 January in the form of quatrains of four six-syllabic lines for each day. In this 16th-century copy (MS G10 at the
National Library of Ireland) we find pairs of two six-syllabic lines combined into bold lines, amended by glosses and notes that were added by later authors.
Calendar of saints
–
A
Welsh calendar of saint days c.1488 - 1498
Calendar of saints
–
Anglican Communion
5.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
6.
Byzantine Empire
–
It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
Byzantine Empire
–
Tremissis with the image of
Justinian the Great (r. 527–565) (see
Byzantine insignia)
Byzantine Empire
–
Byzantine
lamellar armour klivanium (Κλιβάνιον) - a predecessor of Ottoman krug
mirror armour
Byzantine Empire
–
The Baptism of Constantine painted by
Raphael 's pupils (1520–1524,
fresco, Vatican City,
Apostolic Palace);
Eusebius of Caesarea records that (as
was common among converts of early Christianity) Constantine delayed receiving
baptism until shortly before his death
Byzantine Empire
–
Restored section of the Theodosian Walls.
7.
Monk
–
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, in the Greek language the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word nun is typically used for female monastics, although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, hesychast. In Eastern Orthodoxy monasticism holds a special and important place. Orthodox monastics separate themselves from the world in order to pray unceasingly for the world and they do not, in general, have as their primary purpose the running of social services, but instead are concerned with attaining theosis, or union with God. However, care for the poor and needy has always been an obligation of monasticism, the level of contact though will vary from community to community. Hermits, on the hand, have little or no contact with the outside world. Orthodox monasticism does not have religious orders as are found in the West, basil the Great and the Philokalia, which was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Hesychasm is of importance in the ascetical theology of the Orthodox Church. Meals are usually taken in common in a dining hall known as a trapeza. Food is usually simple and is eaten in silence while one of the brethren reads aloud from the writings of the Holy Fathers. The monastic lifestyle takes a deal of serious commitment. Within the cenobitic community, all monks conform to a way of living based on the traditions of that particular monastery. In struggling to attain this conformity, the comes to realize his own shortcomings and is guided by his spiritual father in how to deal honestly with them. For this same reason, bishops are almost always chosen from the ranks of monks, Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms, anchoritic, cenobitic, and the middle way between the two, known as the skete. One normally enters a community first, and only after testing and spiritual growth would one go on to the skete or, for the most advanced. However, one is not necessarily expected to join a skete or become a solitary, in general, Orthodox monastics have little or no contact with the outside world, including their own families
Monk
–
St. Anthony the Great of Egypt, considered the Father of
Christian Monasticism
Monk
–
Monastery of St. Dionysius on
Mount Athos.
Monk
–
General view of
Holy Trinity-Makaryev Monastery, on the
Volga River in
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast,
Russia.
Monk
–
Order of Saint Benedict
8.
Chronicle
–
A chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events and this is in contrast to a narrative or history, which sets selected events in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important. Some made use of materials, charters, letters, or the works of earlier chroniclers. Still others are tales of such unknown origins so as to hold mythical status, copyists also affected chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original author. The reliability of a chronicle is an important determination for modern historians. In modern times various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted chronicle as part of their name, various fictional stories have also adopted chronicle as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories. A chronicle which traces world history is called a universal chronicle, scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups, live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, a live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, the earliest medieval chronicle to combine both retrospective and contemporary entries, is the Chronicle of Ireland, which spans the years 431 to 911. Chronicles are the predecessors of modern time lines rather than analytical histories, if the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, the point of view of most chroniclers is highly localised, to the extent that many anonymous chroniclers can be sited in individual abbeys. Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints. It is impossible to say how many chronicles exist, as the many ambiguities in the definition of the make it impossible to draw clear distinctions of what should or should not be included. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists some 2,500 items written between 300 and 1500 AD
Chronicle
–
Key concepts
9.
Iconodule
–
The term is usually used in relation to the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, the most famous iconodules of that time being the Saints Theodore the Studite and John of Damascus. The controversy was instigated by Byzantine Emperor Leo III in 726, a wider prohibition of icons followed in 730. St. John of Damascus argued successfully that to prohibit the use of icons was tantamount to denying the incarnation, icons reminded the church of the physicality of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. Veneration of icons was restored by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, however this was met with opposition, in particular of Charlemagne. The last outburst of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire was overcome in 843, Byzantine iconoclasm Iconoclasm Iconography Idolatry Iconolatry References Sources Barnard, Leslie William. The Graeco-Roman and oriental background of the iconoclastic controversy
Iconodule
–
Late 14th-early 15th century icon illustrating the
"Triumph of Orthodoxy" under the Byzantine empress Theodora over iconoclasm in 843. (National Icon Collection 18,
British Museum). Theodora was regarded as an iconodule.
10.
Byzantine Emperors
–
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. All Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be the rightful Roman emperor in direct succession from Augustus, the title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially Augustus, although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus, following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus, which had formerly meant sovereign but was then used in place of Augustus. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, in later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the Emperor of the Greeks. Towards the end of the Empire, the standard formula of the Byzantine ruler was in Christ, Emperor. For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors, family tree of the Byzantine emperors List of Roman emperors List of Roman usurpers List of Byzantine usurpers List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
Byzantine Emperors
–
Constantine XI
Byzantine Emperors
–
Imperial insignia used by the
Palaiologos dynasty
Byzantine Emperors
–
Constantine I "the Great" (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Α' ὁ Μέγας, Latin: Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus)
Byzantine Emperors
–
Constantius II (Κωνστάντιος [Β'], Flavius Iulius Constantius)
11.
Constantine V Copronymus
–
Constantine V was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. Constantine was born in Constantinople, the son and successor of Emperor Leo III, in August 720 he was associated on the throne by his father, who had him marry Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar khagan Bihar. His new bride was baptized as Irene in 732, Constantine V succeeded his father as sole emperor on 18 June 741. Artabasdos was the stratēgos of the Armeniac theme, Constantine was defeated and sought refuge in Amorion, while Artabasdos advanced on Constantinople and was accepted as Emperor. Constantine received the support of the Anatolic and Thracesian themes, Artabasdos secured the support of the themes of Thrace and Opsikion, the rival emperors bided their time making military preparations. Artabasdos marched against Constantine in May 743 but was defeated, three months later Constantine defeated Artabasdos son Niketas and headed for Constantinople. In early November Constantine was admitted into the capital and immediately turned on his opponents, the usurpation of Artabasdos was connected with restoring the veneration of images, leading Constantine to become perhaps an even more fervent iconoclast than his father. Constantines avowed enemies over this extremely emotional issue, the iconodules, using this obscene name, they spread the rumour that as an infant he had defecated in his baptismal font, or on the imperial purple cloth with which he was swaddled. Constantines position on Iconoclasm was clear, He cannot be depicted, for what is depicted in one person, and he who circumscribes that person has plainly circumscribed the divine nature which is incapable of being circumscribed. In February 754 Constantine convened a synod at Hieria, which was attended entirely by Iconoclast bishops, the council approved of Constantines religious policy and secured the election of a new Iconoclast patriarch, but refused to follow in all of Constantines views. The synod was followed by a campaign to remove images from the walls of churches and to purge the court, the repressions against the monks were largely led by the Emperors general Michael Lachanodrakon, who threatened resistant monks with blinding and exile. An iconodule abbot, Stephen Neos, was lynched by a mob at the behest of the authorities. As a result, many fled to southern Italy and Sicily. By the end of Constantines reign, Iconoclasm had gone as far as to brand relics, ultimately, iconophiles considered his death a divine punishment. In the 9th century he was disinterred, and his remains were thrown into the sea, Constantine was an able general and administrator. He reorganised the themes, the districts of the Empire. This organization was intended to minimize the threat of conspiracies and to enhance the capabilities of the Empire. With this reorganized army he embarked on campaigns on the three major frontiers, in 746, profiting by the unstable conditions in the Umayyad Caliphate, which was falling apart under Marwan II, Constantine invaded Syria and captured Germanikeia
Constantine V Copronymus
–
Constantine V and his father
Leo III the Isaurian
12.
Cyzicus
–
Cyzicus was an ancient town of Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. The site of Cyzicus, located on the Erdek and Bandırma roads, is protected by Turkeys Ministry of Culture. Eudoxus of Cnidus had a school at Cyzicus and went with his pupils to Athens, visiting Plato, and then returned to Cyzicus, the era of Olympiads in Cyzicus was reckoned from 135 or 139. Its unique and characteristic coin, the cyzicenus, was worth 28 drachmae, during the Peloponnesian War Cyzicus was subject to the Athenians and Lacedaemonians alternately. In the naval Battle of Cyzicus in 410 during the Peloponnesian War, at the peace of Antalcidas, like the other Greek cities in Asia, it was made over to Persia. Alexander the Great later captured it from the Persians in 334 BC and was claimed to be responsible for the land bridge connecting the island to the mainland. The history of the town in Hellenistic times is closely connected with that of the Attalids of Pergamon, the Romans favored it and recognized its municipal independence. Cyzicus was the city of Northern Mysia as far as Troas. Under Tiberius, it was incorporated into the Roman Empire but remained the capital of Mysia, Cyzicus was captured temporarily by the Arabs led by Muawiyah I in AD675. It appears to have been ruined by a series of earthquakes beginning in 443, following its conquest by the Ottomans it underwent hard times. From a point between 1370 and 1372 until 1387, the metropolitan was empty, Speros Vryonis speculates this was due to financial difficulties, later in the 14th century, the sees of Chalcedon and certain patriarchal possessions in Bithynia and Hellespont were bestowed on the metropolitan of Cyzicus. In the Ottoman era, it was part of the kaza of Erdek in the province of Brusa, Cyzicus, as capital of the Roman province of Hellespontus, was its ecclesiastical metropolitan see. The province also included two autocephalous archiepiscopal sees, Parium and Proconnesus, Cyzicus had a catalogue of bishops beginning with the 1st century, Michel Le Quien mentions fifty-nine. A more complete list is found in Nicodemos, in the Greek Office of St. Emilian, 34-36, another saint who came from Cyzicus, Saint Tryphaena of Cyzicus, is the patron saint of the city. Gelasius, a historian of Arianism, who wrote about 475, was born at Cyzicus, george Kleidas, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in ca. 1253–61 Theodore Skoutariotes, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in ca, the last bishop of the see died in 1932. Today it is a metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Since 1885, the Catholic Church lists Cyzicus as a titular see. of the highest rank, titular metropolitans were, John Baptist Lamy William Benedict Scarisbrick, O. S. B
Cyzicus
–
Bas
relief of a charioteer, late 6th century BC
Cyzicus
–
Cyzicus was a town of Mysia.
13.
Sea of Marmara
–
The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea. The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides, the sea has an area of 11,350 km² with the greatest depth reaching 1,370 m. The sea takes its name from the island of Marmara, which is rich in sources of marble, from the Greek μάρμαρον, marble. The seas ancient Greek name Propontis derives from pro- and pontos, deriving from the fact that the Greeks sailed through it to reach the Black Sea, Pontos. The surface salinity of the sea averages about 22 parts per thousand, which is greater than that of the Black Sea. The water is more saline at the sea bottom, averaging salinities of around 38 parts per thousand. This high-density saline water, like that of the Black Sea, water from the Susurluk, Biga and Gonen Rivers also reduces the salinity of the sea, though with less influence than on the Black Sea. With little land in Thrace draining southward, almost all of these rivers flow from Anatolia, the sea contains the archipelago of the Prince Islands and Marmara Island, Avşa and Paşalimanı. The south coast of the sea is heavily indented, and includes the Gulf of İzmit, the Gulf of Gemlik Gulf of Bandırma and the Gulf of Erdek. During a storm on December 29,1999, the Russian oil tanker Volgoneft broke in two in the Sea of Marmara, and more than 1,500 tonnes of oil were spilled into the water. The North Anatolian Fault, which has triggered many major earthquakes in recent years, such as the August and November 1999 earthquakes in Izmit and Düzce, respectively, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Marmara as follows, On the West. The Dardanelles limit of the Aegean Sea, a line joining Cape Rumili with Cape Anatoli
Sea of Marmara
–
Photograph of the Sea of Marmara from space (
STS-40, 1991). The sea is the light-colored body of water.
Sea of Marmara
–
Map of the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
–
This astronaut photograph highlights the metropolitan area of Izmit along the northern and eastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, at the end of the Gulf of Izmit.
Sea of Marmara
–
Sea of Marmara - From the dining room of the Rákóczi exile
14.
Abbot
–
Abbot, meaning father, is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as a title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The word is derived from the Aramaic av meaning father or abba, in the Septuagint, it was written as abbas. At first it was employed as a title for any monk. The title abbot came into general use in western monastic orders whose members include priests. An abbot is the head and chief governor of a community of monks, the English version for a female monastic head is abbess. In Egypt, the first home of monasticism, the jurisdiction of the abbot, or archimandrite, was, sometimes he ruled over only one community, sometimes over several, each of which had its own abbot as well. Saint John Cassian speaks of an abbot of the Thebaid who had 500 monks under him, by the Rule of St Benedict, which, until the Cluniac reforms, was the norm in the West, the abbot has jurisdiction over only one community. Monks, as a rule, were laymen, nor at the outset was the abbot any exception, for the reception of the sacraments, and for other religious offices, the abbot and his monks were commanded to attend the nearest church. This rule proved inconvenient when a monastery was situated in a desert or at a distance from a city, the change spread more slowly in the West, where the office of abbot was commonly filled by laymen till the end of the 7th century. The ecclesiastical leadership exercised by abbots despite their frequent lay status is proved by their attendance, thus at the first Council of Constantinople, AD448,23 archimandrites or abbots sign, with 30 bishops. The second Council of Nicaea, AD787, recognized the right of abbots to ordain their monks to the inferior orders below the diaconate, abbots used to be subject to episcopal jurisdiction, and continued generally so, in fact, in the West till the 11th century. The Code of Justinian expressly subordinates the abbot to episcopal oversight, in the 12th century, the abbots of Fulda claimed precedence of the archbishop of Cologne. It has been maintained that the right to wear mitres was sometimes granted by the popes to abbots before the 11th century, but the documents on which this claim is based are not genuine. The first undoubted instance is the bull by which Alexander II in 1063 granted the use of the mitre to Egelsinus, abbot of the monastery of St Augustine at Canterbury. Of these the precedence was yielded to the abbot of Glastonbury, until in AD1154 Adrian IV granted it to the abbot of St Albans, next after the abbot of St Albans ranked the abbot of Westminster and then Ramsey. Of course, they always and everywhere had the power of admitting their own monks, the power of the abbot was paternal but absolute, limited, however, by the canon law. One of the goals of monasticism was the purgation of self and selfishness
Abbot
–
Saint Peter
Abbot
–
St.
Dominic of Silos enthroned as abbot (Hispano-Flemish Gothic 15th century)
Abbot
–
Coptic icon of St.
Pachomius, the founder of
cenobitic monasticism.
Abbot
–
Carving of St.
Benedict of Nursia, holding an abbot's
crozier and his
Rule for Monasteries (Münsterschwarzach, Germany).
15.
Second General Council of Nicaea
–
The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by both West and East. Orthodox, Catholics, and Old Catholics unanimously recognize it, Protestant opinions on it are varied and it met in AD787 in Nicaea to restore the use and veneration of icons, which had been suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Leo III. His son, Constantine V, had held the Council of Hieria to make the suppression official, the veneration of icons had been banned by Byzantine Emperor Constantine V and supported by his Council of Hieria, which had described itself as the seventh ecumenical council. The emperors vigorous enforcement of the ban included persecution of those who venerated icons, Constantines iconoclastic tendencies were shared by Constantines son, Leo IV. After the latters death, his widow, Irene of Athens, as regent for her son, began its restoration, moved thereto by personal inclination. However, a council, claiming to be ecumenical, had abolished the veneration of icons, Pope Adrian I was invited to participate, and gladly accepted. However, the intended for the oriental patriarchs could not even be delivered to them. The Roman legates were an archbishop and an abbot, both named Peter, in 786, the council met in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. However, soldiers in collusion with the opposition entered the church, as a result, the government resorted to a stratagem. Under the pretext of a campaign, the bodyguard was sent away from the capital — disarmed and disbanded. The council was summoned to meet, this time in Nicaea. The council assembled on September 24,787 at the church of Hagia Sophia and it numbered about 350 members,308 bishops or their representatives signed. Tarasius presided, and seven sessions were held in Nicaea, first Session — Three bishops, Basilius of Ancyra, Theodore of Myra and Theodosius of Amorium begged for pardon for the heresy of iconoclasm. Second Session — Papal legates read the letters of Pope Hadrian I asking for agreement with veneration of images, third Session — Other bishops having made their abjuration, were received into the council. Fourth Session — Proof of the lawfulness of the veneration of icons was drawn from Exodus 25,19 sqq, ezekiel 41,18, and Genesis 31,34, but especially from a series of passages of the Church Fathers, the authority of the latter was decisive. Fifth Session — It was claimed that the iconoclast heresy came originally from Jews, Saracens, sixth Session — The definition of the pseudo-Seventh council was read and condemned. Seventh Session — The council issued a declaration of faith concerning the veneration of holy images, and exhibited on the walls of churches, in the homes, and in all conspicuous places, by the roadside and everywhere, to be revered by all who might see them. For the more they are contemplated, the more they move to fervent memory of their prototypes, eighth Session — The last session was held in Constantinople at the Magnaura Palace
Second General Council of Nicaea
–
An
icon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (17th century,
Novodevichy Convent,
Moscow).
Second General Council of Nicaea
–
Hagia Sophia of Nicaea, where the Council took place;
Iznik, Turkey.
Second General Council of Nicaea
–
Hagia Sophia, İznik
16.
Veneration
–
Veneration, or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions, philologically, to venerate derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam. The practice of veneration is deemed heretical by iconoclastic denominations, Hinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various gurus and teachers of sanctity, both living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism classifying degrees of sainthood, other sects, such as Wahhabists etc. abhor the practice. In Judaism, there is no classical or formal recognition of saints, in some regions, for example within Judaism in Morocco, there is a long and widespread tradition of saint veneration. Both main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, recognize those who have achieved a degree of enlightenment as an Arhat. Mahayana Buddhism particularly gives emphasis to the power of saints to aid ordinary people on the path to enlightenment and those who have reached enlightenment, and have delayed their own complete enlightenment in order to help others, are called Bodhisattvas. Mahayana Buddhism has formal liturgical practices for venerating saints, along with specific levels of sainthood. Tibetan Buddhists venerate especially holy lamas, such as the Dalai Lama, veneration towards those who were considered holy began in early Christianity, with the martyrs first being given special honor. Official church commemoration of saints in Rome beginning as early as the third century, over time, the honor also began to be given to those Christians who lived lives of holiness and sanctity. Various denominations venerate and determine saints in different ways, with some having a formal canonization or glorification process, in Roman Catholic and Orthodox theology, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the adoration due to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of a divine person. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves, veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor and we see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor. We must make a further clarification regarding the use of the term “worship” in relation to the categories of adoration and veneration, historically, schools of theology have used the term “worship” as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between “worship of adoration” and “worship of veneration. ”The word “worship” was not synonymous with adoration, hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term “worship” not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints
Veneration
–
Veneration in Noto
St Conrad of Piacenza (San Corrado)
17.
Icon
–
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and certain Eastern Catholic churches. The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and/or angels, icons may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity are generally not described as icons, Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the creation of Christian images dates back to the very early days of Christianity, and there is has been a continuous tradition since then. The icons of later centuries can be linked, often closely, to images from the 5th century onwards, there was enormous destruction of images during the Byzantine Iconoclasm of 726-842, although this did settle for good the question of the appropriateness of images. Since then icons have had a continuity of style and subject. At the same time there has been change and development, Christian tradition dating from the 8th century identifies Luke the Evangelist as the first icon painter. Aside from the legend that Pilate had made an image of Christ and he relates that King Abgar of Edessa sent a letter to Jesus at Jerusalem, asking Jesus to come and heal him of an illness. In this version there is no image, further legends relate that the cloth remained in Edessa until the 10th century, when it was taken to Constantinople. It went missing in 1204 when Crusaders sacked Constantinople, but by then numerous copies had firmly established its iconic type. They crown these images, and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle, and the rest. They have also other modes of honouring these images, after the manner of the Gentiles. And he called him and said, Lycomedes, what do you mean by this matter of the portrait, can it be one of thy gods that is painted here. For I see that you are living in heathen fashion. Later in the passage John says, But this that you have now done is childish and imperfect, at least some of the hierarchy of the Christian churches still strictly opposed icons in the early 4th century. At the Spanish non-ecumenical Synod of Elvira bishops concluded, Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration. to our religion. After the emperor Constantine I extended official toleration of Christianity within the Roman Empire in 313 and this period of Christianization probably saw the use of Christian images became very widespread among the faithful, though with great differences from pagan habits. Robin Lane Fox states By the early century, we know of the ownership of private icons of saints. 480-500, we can be sure that the inside of a saints shrine would be adorned with images and votive portraits, when Constantine himself apparently converted to Christianity, the majority of his subjects remained pagans
Icon
–
The Ladder of Divine Ascent icon showing monks ascending to
Jesus in Heaven, top right. 12th century,
Saint Catherine's Monastery
Icon
–
Russian icon of
Holy Trinity
Icon
–
The icon of
St Nicolas carved in stone. Between the 12 and 15th cc.
Radomysl Castle, Ukraine
Icon
–
Ceramic icons are rare.
Saint Arethas, Byzantine, 10th century.
18.
Leo V the Armenian
–
Leo V the Armenian was Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and he ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals, Leo was the son of the patrician Bardas, who was of Armenian descent. Leo served in 803 under the rebel general Bardanes Tourkos, whom he deserted in favor of Emperor Nikephoros I, the Emperor rewarded Leo with two palaces, but later exiled him for marrying the daughter of another rebel, the patrician Arsaber. Punishment also included depriving of his rank, beating and hair cutting. Leo survived the Battle of Versinikia in 813 by abandoning the battlefield, in a diplomatist move, he wrote a letter to Patriarch Nikephoros in order to reassure him of his orthodoxy. One month later, during his entrance to the Palace quarter, a further step in preventing future usurpations was the castration of Michaels sons. With Krum of Bulgaria blockading Constantinople by land, Leo V had inherited a precarious situation and he offered to negotiate in person with the invader and attempted to have him killed in an ambush. The stratagem failed, and although Krum abandoned his siege of the capital, he captured and depopulated Adrianople, when Krum died in spring 814, Leo V defeated the Bulgarians in the environs of Mesembria and the two states concluded a 30-year peace in 815. According to some sources, Krum participated in the battle and abandoned the heavily injured. Leo V appointed competent military commanders from among his own comrades-in-arms, including Michael the Amorian, when Leo jailed Michael for suspicion of conspiracy, the latter organized the assassination of the Emperor in the palace chapel of St. Stephen on Christmas,820. Leo was attending the service when a group of assassins disguised as monks suddenly threw off their robes. In the dim light they mistook the officiating priest for the Emperor and his remains were dumped unceremoniously in the snow and the assassins hurried to the dungeons to free Michael II. Leos family was exiled to monasteries in Princes Islands and his four sons were castrated, a procedure so brutally carried out that one of them died during the operation. Even sources vehemently hostile to Leo acknowledge his competence in managing state affairs, unfortunately, as with all iconoclast emperors, his actions and intentions cannot be easily reconstructed due to the extreme bias of the iconodule sources. All known children of Leo V are traditionally attributed to his wife Theodosia, genesius records four sons, Symbatios, renamed Constantine, co-emperor from 814 to 820. Castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father, castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father. Still alive in 847, recorded to have supported the election of Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople, castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father
Leo V the Armenian
–
Gold
solidus of Leo V, with his son and co-emperor,
Constantine
Leo V the Armenian
–
Proclamation of Leo as emperor, miniature from the
Madrid Skylitzes
19.
Iconoclasm
–
Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other images or monuments for religious or political motives. Over time, the word, usually in the form, has also come to refer to aggressive statements or actions against any well-established status quo. It is a frequent component of political or religious changes. The term does not generally encompass the destruction of images of a ruler after his death or overthrow. Conversely, one who reveres or venerates religious images is called an iconolater, in a Byzantine context, Iconoclasm may be carried out by people of a different religion, but is often the result of sectarian disputes between factions of the same religion. The Church Fathers identified Jews and Judaism with heresy and they saw deviations from orthodox Christianity and opposition to the veneration of images as heresies that were essentially Jewish in spirit. The degree of iconoclasm among Christian branches greatly varies, Islam, in general, tends to be more iconoclastic than Christianity, with Sunni Islam being more iconoclastic than Shia Islam. Akhenatens actions are described thusly, In rebellion against the old religion, public references to Akhenaten were destroyed soon after his death. Comparing the ancient Egyptians with the Israelites, Jan Assmann writes, For Egypt, in the eyes of the Israelites, the erection of images meant the destruction of divine presence, in the eyes of the Egyptians, this same effect was attained by the destruction of images. In Egypt, iconoclasm was the most terrible crime, in Israel. It is more probable that these traditions evolved under mutual influence. In this respect, Moses and Akhenaten became, after all, the period after the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian evidently saw a huge increase in the use of images, both in volume and quality, and a gathering aniconic reaction. In the Eastern Roman Empire, government-led iconoclasm began with Byzantine Emperor Leo III, the religious conflict created political and economic divisions in Byzantine society. It was generally supported by the Eastern, poorer, non-Greek peoples of the Empire who had to frequently with raids from the new Muslim Empire. On the other hand, the wealthier Greeks of Constantinople, and also the peoples of the Balkan and Italian provinces, within the Byzantine Empire the government had probably been adopting Christian images more frequently. One notable change came in 695, when Justinian IIs government added an image of Christ on the obverse of imperial gold coins. The change caused the Caliph Abd al-Malik to stop his earlier adoption of Byzantine coin types and he started a purely Islamic coinage with lettering only. As a result, individuals attacked statues and images, however, in most cases, civil authorities removed images in an orderly manner in the newly reformed Protestant cities and territories of Europe
Iconoclasm
–
"
Triumph of Orthodoxy " over iconoclasm under the
Byzantine Empress Theodora and her son
Michael III.
Late 14th – early 15th century icon.
Iconoclasm
–
Byzantine Iconoclasm,
Chludov Psalter, 9th century.
Iconoclasm
–
16th-century iconoclasm in the
Protestant Reformation. Relief statues in St. Stevenskerk in
Nijmegen, the Netherlands, were attacked and defaced in the
Beeldenstorm.
Iconoclasm
–
Looting of the Churches of
Lyon by the
Calvinists in 1562 by
Antoine Caron.
20.
Diocletian
–
Diocletian, born Diocles, was a Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, after the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor. The title was claimed by Carus other surviving son, Carinus. Diocletians reign stabilized the empire and marks the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and he appointed fellow officer Maximian as Augustus, co-emperor, in 286. Diocletian delegated further on 1 March 293, appointing Galerius and Constantius as Caesars, under this tetrarchy, or rule of four, each emperor would rule over a quarter-division of the empire. Diocletian secured the borders and purged it of all threats to his power. He defeated the Sarmatians and Carpi during several campaigns between 285 and 299, the Alamanni in 288, and usurpers in Egypt between 297 and 298, Galerius, aided by Diocletian, campaigned successfully against Sassanid Persia, the empires traditional enemy. In 299 he sacked their capital, Ctesiphon, Diocletian led the subsequent negotiations and achieved a lasting and favorable peace. He established new centres in Nicomedia, Mediolanum, Antioch. Building on third-century trends towards absolutism, he styled himself an autocrat, elevating himself above the masses with imposing forms of court ceremonies. Bureaucratic and military growth, constant campaigning, and construction increased the states expenditures. From at least 297 on, imperial taxation was standardized, made more equitable, not all of Diocletians plans were successful, the Edict on Maximum Prices, his attempt to curb inflation via price controls, was counterproductive and quickly ignored. Weakened by illness, Diocletian left the office on 1 May 305. He lived out his retirement in his palace on the Dalmatian coast and his palace eventually became the core of the modern-day city of Split in Croatia. Diocletian was born near Salona in Dalmatia, some time around 244 and his parents gave him the Greek name Diocles, or possibly Diocles Valerius. The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes his official birthday,22 December, other historians are not so certain. Diocles parents were of low status, and writers critical of him claimed that his father was a scribe or a freedman of the senator Anullinus, the first forty years of his life are mostly obscure. The Byzantine chronicler Joannes Zonaras states that he was Dux Moesiae, the often-unreliable Historia Augusta states that he served in Gaul, but this account is not corroborated by other sources and is ignored by modern historians of the period
Diocletian
–
Laureate head of Diocletian
Diocletian
–
Antoninianus of Diocletian
Diocletian
–
Panorama of amphitheatre in
Salona
Diocletian
–
Head of
Carinus at the
Centrale Montemartini
21.
Michael I Rhangabes
–
Michael I Rhangabe was Byzantine Emperor from 811 to 813. Michael was the son of the patrician Theophylact Rhangabe, the admiral of the Aegean fleet and he married Prokopia, the daughter of the future Emperor Nikephoros I, and received the high court dignity of kouropalatēs after his father-in-laws accession in 802. Michael survived Nikephoros disastrous campaign against Krum of Bulgaria, and was considered an appropriate candidate for the throne than his severely injured brother-in-law Staurakios. When Michaels wife Prokopia failed to persuade her brother to name Michael as his successor, Michael I attempted to carry out a policy of reconciliation, abandoning the exacting taxation instituted by Nikephoros I. While reducing imperial income, Michael generously distributed money to the army, the bureaucracy, Michaels piety won him a very positive estimation in the work of the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor. In 812 Michael I reopened negotiations with the Franks, and recognized Charlemagne as basileus, in exchange for that recognition, Venice was returned to the Byzantine Empire. However, under the influence of Theodore, Michael rejected the terms offered by Krum. After an initial success in spring 813, Michaels army prepared for an engagement at Versinikia near Adrianople in June. The Byzantine army was turned to flight and the Emperors position was seriously weakened, with conspiracy in the air, Michael preempted events by abdicating in favor of the general Leo the Armenian and becoming a monk. His sons were castrated and relegated into monasteries, one of them, Niketas, Michael died peacefully on 11 January 844. By his wife Prokopia, Michael I had at least five children, Gorgo Theophylact, Niketas, later Patriarch Ignatios of Constantinople. Staurakios Theophano The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991, History of the Byzantine State, Rutgers University Press Treadgold, W. A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford University Press,1 edition Gregory, a History of Byzantium, Wiley-Blackwell List of Byzantine emperors
Michael I Rhangabes
–
Michael I Rangabe, from the
Madrid Skylitzes.
Michael I Rhangabes
–
Coronation by the Patriarch, as depicted in the
Madrid Skylitzes.
22.
Justin II
–
Justin II was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 to 574. He was the husband of Sophia, nephew of Justinian I and the Empress Theodora and his reign is marked by war with Sasanian Iran and the loss of the greater part of Italy. He presented the Cross of Justin II to Saint Peters, Rome and he was a son of Vigilantia and Dulcidio, respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. His siblings included Marcellus and Praejecta, Justinian I died on the night of 14 to 15 November 565. The clarification was needed because there was another nephew and candidate for the throne, Justin, modern historians suspect Callinicus may have fabricated the last words of Justinian to secure the succession for his political ally. As Robert Browning observed, Did Justinian really bring himself in the end to make a choice, in any case, Callinicus started alerting those most interested in the succession, originally various members of the Byzantine Senate. Then they jointly informed Justin and Vigilantia, offering the throne, Justin accepted after the traditional token show of reluctance, and with his wife Sophia, he was escorted to the Great Palace of Constantinople. The Excubitors blocked the palace entrances during the night, and early in the morning, John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, only then was the death of Justinian and the succession of Justin publicly announced in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Both the Patriarch and Tiberius, commander of the Excubitors, had recently appointed, with Justin having played a part in their respective appointments. Their willingness to elevate their patron and ally to the throne was hardly surprising, in the first few days of his reign Justin paid his uncles debts, administered justice in person, and proclaimed universal religious toleration. Contrary to his uncle, Justin relied completely on the support of the aristocratic party, proud of character, and faced with an empty treasury, he discontinued Justinians practice of buying off potential enemies. Immediately after his accession, Justin halted the payment of subsidies to the Avars and they quickly overran the Po valley, and within a few years they had made themselves masters of nearly the entire country. The Avars themselves crossed the Danube in 573 or 574, when the Empires attention was distracted by troubles on the Persian frontier and they were only placated by the payment of a subsidy of 60,000 silver pieces by Justins successor Tiberius. The North and East frontiers were the focus of Justins attention. In 572 his refusal to pay tribute to the Persians in combination with overtures to the Turks led to a war with the Sassanid Empire, after two disastrous campaigns, in which the Persians overran Syria and captured the strategically important fortress of Dara, Justin reportedly lost his mind. Istämi refused the first request, but when he sanctioned the second one and had the Sogdian embassy sent to the Sassanid king, Justin agreed and sent an embassy to the Turkic Khaganate, ensuring the direct silk trade desired by the Sogdians. Previte-Orton continues, In foreign affairs he took the attitude of the invincible, unbending Roman, the temporary fits of insanity into which Justin fell warned him to name a colleague. Passing over his own relatives, he raised, on the advice of Sophia, the general Tiberius to be Caesar in December 574, adopting him as his son, in 574, Sophia paid 45,000 solidi to Chosroes in return for a years truce
Justin II
–
Solidus of Justin II
Justin II
–
Justin II and Sophia depicted on 40 Nummi coin (572AD)
Justin II
–
100
nummi coin of Justin II minted in Carthage. Helmeted and cuirass-wearing facing bust, holding shield Monogram; cross above, 100 below.
23.
Latin
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
24.
Pope
–
The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
Pope
Pope
–
Bishop of
Rome
Pope
–
Saint Peter
Pope
–
St. Peter's Basilica,
Vatican City
25.
Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople
–
St. Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I, was a Christian Byzantine writer and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from April 12,806, to March 13,815. He was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of an orthodox family. Nevertheless, he entered the service of the Empire, became cabinet secretary and he then withdrew to one of the cloisters that he had founded on the eastern shore of the Bosporus, until he was appointed director of the largest home for the destitute in Constantinople c. After the death of the Patriarch Tarasios, although still a layman, after vain theological disputes, in December 814, there followed personal insults. From there he carried on a literary polemic for the cause of the iconodules against the synod of 815, on the occasion of the change of emperors, in 820, he was put forward as a candidate for the patriarchate and at least obtained the promise of toleration. He died at the monastery of Saint Theodore, revered as a confessor and his feast is celebrated on this day both in the Greek and Roman Churches, the Greeks also observe 2 June as the day of his death. He was mild in his ecclesiastical and monastical rules and non-partisan in his treatment of the period from 602 to 769. He used the chronicle of Traianus Patricius, the Chronography offered a universal history from the time of Adam and Eve to his own time. To it he appended a canon catalog, the catalog of the accepted books of the Old and New Testaments is followed by the antilegomena and the apocrypha. Next to each book is the count of its lines, his stichometry, to which we can compare our accepted texts and this is especially useful for apocrypha for which only fragmentary texts have survived. Nikephoros follows in the path of John of Damascus, list of Catholic saints The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991. Paul J. Alexander, The Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople, Oxford University Press,1958, development of the Canon of the New Testament, the Stichometry of Nicephorus St. Nicephorus
Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople
–
Nikephoros I of Constantinople trampling on
John VII of Constantinople. Miniature from
Chludov Psalter.
26.
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
–
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, the Purple-born, was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959. He was the son of the emperor Leo VI and his wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor. Constantine VII is best known for his four books, De Administrando Imperio, De Ceremoniis, De Thematibus and his nickname alludes to the Purple Room of the imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time, nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimized son, as opposed to all others who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born in the purple, Constantine was born at Constantinople, an illegitimate son born before an uncanonical fourth marriage. To help legitimize him, his mother gave birth to him in the Purple Room of the palace, hence his nickname Porphyrogennetos. He was symbolically elevated to the throne as a child by his father. In June 913, as his uncle Alexander lay dying, he appointed a regency council for Constantine. Following Alexanders death, the new and shaky regime survived the attempted usurpation of Constantine Doukas, Patriarch Nicholas was presently forced to make peace with Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, whom he reluctantly recognized as Bulgarian emperor. Because of this concession, Patriarch Nicholas was driven out of the regency by Constantines mother Zoe. She was no more successful with the Bulgarians, who defeated her main supporter, in 919 she was replaced as regent by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who married his daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine. Romanos used his position to advance to the ranks of basileopatōr in May 919, to kaisar in September 920, thus, just short of reaching nominal majority, Constantine was eclipsed by a senior emperor. Nevertheless, he was an intelligent young man with a large range of interests. Romanos kept and maintained power until 944, when he was deposed by his sons, Romanos spent the last years of his life in exile on the Island of Prote as a monk and died on June 15,948. With the help of his wife, Constantine VII succeeded in removing his brothers-in-law, several months later, Constantine VII crowned his own son Romanos II co-emperor. In 949 Constantine launched a new fleet of 100 ships against the Arab corsairs hiding in Crete, but like his fathers attempt to retake the island in 911, on the Eastern frontier things went better, even if with alternate success. In 949 the Byzantines conquered Germanicea, repeatedly defeated the enemy armies, but in 953 the Hamdanid amir Sayf al-Daula retook Germanicea and entered the imperial territory. An Arab fleet was destroyed by Greek fire in 957
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
–
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
–
Constantine and Simeon dining
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
–
Christ Crowning Constantine VII (945)
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
–
The
Madrid Skylitzes ' depiction of Constantine on his deathbed
27.
C. Krumbacher
–
Karl Krumbacher was a German scholar who was an expert on Byzantine Greek language, literature, history and culture. He was one of the founders of Byzantine Studies as an independent academic discipline in modern universities. Krumbacher was born at Kürnach im Allgäu in the Kingdom of Bavaria and he studied Classical Philology and Indo-European linguistics at the Universities of Munich and Leipzig. In 1879 he passed the State Exam and was active as a school teacher until 1891. In 1883 he gain his doctorate and in 1885 his Habilitation in Medieval, Krumbacher founded the Byzantinische Zeitschrift, the oldest academic journal of Byzantine Studies, and the Byzantinisches Archiv. His collaborator at the time was Božidar Prokić, the renowned Belgrade Byzantinist and he died in Munich in 1909. His successor as Professor of Byzantine Studies was August Heisenberg, father of physicist Werner Heisenberg and his most important work is Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur von Justinian bis zum Ende des oströmischen Reiches in 1891. A second edition was published in 1897, with the collaboration of Albert Ehrhard, the value of the work was greatly enhanced by its lengthy bibliographies and it remained a standard textbook for decades. Krumbachers extensive travels in Greece and the Ottoman Empire became the basis of his Griechische Reise and his notable works include studies of the poetry of Michael Glykas and Kassia and Populäre Aufsätze. In Das Problem der neugriechischen Schriftsprache he strongly opposed the efforts of the Katharevousa purists to introduce the style into modern Greek language. A full list of his works was published in the edition of Byzantinische Zeitschrift. Alexander Kazhdan K. Dieterich, Zum Gedächtnis an Karl Krumbacher, Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum, a. Heisenberg, Karl Krumbacher, Allgäuer Geschichtsfreund NF24 1–26. F. Dölger, Karl Krumbacher in Chalikes, festgabe für die Teilnehmer am XI. Festgabe für die Teilnehmer am XI, P. Wirth, Krumbacher, Karl in M. Bernath and K. Nehring Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas. Zum Gründungsjahr des Münchner Seminars für Mittel- und Neugriechische Philologie in H. Lamm,40 Jahre Deutsch-Griechische Gesellschaft, Germano-Helleniko Syllogos, P. Schreiner and E. Vogt, Karl Krumbacher. Works written by or about Karl Krumbacher at Wikisource Literature by and about Karl Krumbacher in the German National Library catalogue Themenportal bei Propylaeum
C. Krumbacher
–
Karl Krumbacher
28.
Public domain
–
The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
Public domain
–
Newton's own copy of his
Principia, with hand-written corrections for the second edition
Public domain
–
L.H.O.O.Q. (1919). Derivative work by the
Dadaist Marcel Duchamp based on the
Mona Lisa.
29.
Catholic Encyclopedia
–
The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed to give its readers full and authoritative information on the cycle of Catholic interests, action. The Catholic Encyclopedia was published by the Robert Appleton Company, a company incorporated at New York in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the encyclopedia. The five members of the encyclopedias Editorial Board also served as the directors of the company, in 1912 the companys name was changed to The Encyclopedia Press. Publication of the volumes was the sole business conducted by the company during the projects lifetime. The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church, concentrating on information related to the Church and it records the accomplishments of Catholics and others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits, including artists, educators, poets and scientists. The volumes came out sequentially the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912, The editors had their first editorial meeting at the office of The Messenger, on West 16th Street, New York City. The text received a nihil obstat from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1,1908 and this review process was presumably accelerated by the reuse of older authorized publications. A first supplement was published in 1922, a supplement in nine loose-leaf sections was published by The Gilmary Society between 1950 and 1958. In 1912, a special completely illustrated commemorative volume was awarded to patrons who contributed to the start of the enterprise by buying multiple encyclopedia sets early on. The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of The Catholic University of America and a 17-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia was first published in 1967, and then in 2002. The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers states that, The work is entirely new, the editors have insisted that the articles should contain the latest and most accurate information to be obtained from the standard works on each subject. Those who wrote new articles in English include Anthony Maas and Herbert Thurston, under United States copyright law, all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. Knight founded the website New Advent to house the undertaking, volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995, and transcription work ended in 1997, in 2007, Catholic Answers published a watermarked version derived from page scans. This version has since replaced with a transcription of the Encyclopedia similar to that found at the New Advent website. The Catholic Answers transcription, however, is a transcription of the original text, whereas the New Advent version at times modernizes certain words. Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the Internet Archive, wikisource also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons
Catholic Encyclopedia
–
Cover page of 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1.
30.
Jacques Paul Migne
–
He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied theology at Orléans. It quickly gained 1,800 subscribers and he edited it for three years, Migne believed in the power of the press and the value of information widely distributed. In 1836 he opened his great publishing house, Imprimerie Catholique, at Petit-Montrouge and he published numerous religious works in rapid succession meant for lesser clergy at prices that insured wide circulation. The three great series that have made his reputation were Patrologiae cursus completus, Latin series in 221 vols, Greek series, first published in Latin, then published with Greek text and Latin translation. Though the cheap paper of the originals has made them fragile today, the scope of the Patrologia still makes it unique and valuable and it is a far more complete collection of Patristic and later literature than anything that has appeared subsequently or is likely to. To create so much so quickly, Migne reprinted the best or latest earlier editions available to him, in the PG the Latin translations were often made in the renaissance before any Greek text had been printed, and so do not necessarily match the Greek text very accurately. The indexes themselves are useful for locating references in the patristic writings, the collection is available through Google Books and archive. org. Migne bypassed the bookselling establishment with direct subscriptions and his Imprimerie Catholique developed into the largest privately held press in France. However, on the night of 12–13 February 1868, a fire, which began in the printing plant, destroyed Mignes establishment. Despite his insurance contracts, Migne was only able to retrieve a pittance, shortly afterwards Mgr Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, forbade the continuance of the business and even suspended him from his priestly functions. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 inflicted further losses, then from the curia of Pope Pius IX came a decree condemning the use of Mass stipends to purchase books, which specifically called out Migne and his publications. Migne died without ever having regained his former prosperity and his Imprimerie Catholique passed in 1876 into the hands of Garnier Frères, the Patrologia Latina and the Patrologia Graeca, are among the great 19th century contributions to the scholarship of patristics and the Middle Ages. Within the Roman Catholic Church, Mignes editions put many original texts for the first time into the hands of the priesthood. Documenta Catholica Omnia PDFs of much of the Patrologia Latina PL at Google Book Search Polytonic Greek OCR of PG from the Lace repository at Mount Allison University,45, vol.46 Works by Jacques-Paul Migne at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Jacques Paul Migne at Internet Archive
Jacques Paul Migne
–
Jacques-Paul Migne, engraving by E. Tailland
31.
I. Bekker
–
August Immanuel Bekker was a German philologist and critic. Born in Berlin, Bekker completed his education at the University of Halle under Friedrich August Wolf. In 1810 he was appointed professor of philosophy in the University of Berlin, for several years, between 1810 and 1821, he travelled in France, Italy, England and parts of Germany, examining classical manuscripts and gathering materials for his great editorial labours. Some of the fruits of his researches were published in the Anecdota Graeca and his best known editions are those of Plato, Oratores Attici, Aristotle, Aristophanes, and twenty-five volumes of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. The only Latin authors edited by him were Livy and Tacitus, Bekker confined himself entirely to manuscript investigations and textual criticism, he contributed little to the extension of other types of scholarship. Bekker numbers have become the way of referring to the works of Aristotle. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and he died in Berlin aged 86. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Bekker. Endnotes, Sauppe, Zur Erinnerung an Meineke und Bekker, Haupt, “Gedächtnisrede auf Meineke und Bekker, ” in his Opuscula, Bekker, “Zur Erinnerung an meinen Vater, ” in the Preussisches Jahrbuch, xxix. Apollonii Dyscoli de Pronomine liber, ed. I, apollonii Alexandrini de Constructione Orationis libri quatuor ex rec. I. Aristotelis Opera edidit Academia Regia Borussica, Berlin, 1831–1870
I. Bekker
–
August Immanuel Bekker.
32.
Combefis
–
François Combefis was a French Dominican patrologist. He published previously unedited works by Saint John Chrysostom and he was born at Marmande, made his preliminary studies in the Jesuit College at Bordeaux, and joined the Dominican Order in 1624. After finishing his course, he became professor of theology. In 1640 he was transferred to Paris where he undertook the publication of patristic texts and he remained there until his death. He published successively the works of Amphilochius of Iconium, of Methodius of Olympus, in 1648 appeared his Novum Auctarium Graeco-Latinae Bibliothecae Patrum in two parts, exegitical and historico-dogmatic. In an assembly of the French bishops held in Paris,1655, a subsidy was voted to enable him to carry on his publications. In 1656 he edited St. John Chrysostoms De educandis Liberis, another important work, Auctarium Novissimum Bibliothecae Patrum, appeared at Paris in 1672. The three following years saw many publications from the pen of Combefis, in 1674 appeared Ecclesiastes Graecus, i. e. illustrium Graecorum Patrum ac oratorum digesti sermones ac tractatus, etc. In 1675 appeared Theodoti Ancyrani adv, a third volume of the works of Maximus Confessor was ready when Combefis died. This shows the skill of Combefis at its best, though it was later surpassed by the Maurist edition. Besides these and several critical editions of works of the Fathers. Partial list of works by François Combefis Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
Combefis
–
François Combefis
33.
Priscus
–
Priscus of Panium was a 5th-century Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician. Priscus was born in Panion between 410-420 AD, in 448/449 AD, he accompanied Maximinus, the head of the Byzantine embassy representing Emperor Theodosius the Younger, on a diplomatic mission to the court of Attila the Hun. While there, he met and conversed with a Greek merchant, dressed in Scythian fashion, the trader explained to Priscus that after the sack of Viminacium, he was a slave of Onegesius, a Hunnic nobleman, but obtained his freedom and chose to settle among the Huns. Priscus ultimately engaged in a debate with the Greek defector regarding the qualities of life, after an interlude in Rome, Priscus traveled to Alexandria and the Thebaid in Egypt. He last appeared in the East, circa 456, attached to the staff of Euphemios as Emperor Marcians magister officiorum, Priscus was the author of an eight-volume historical work, written in Greek, entitled the History of Byzantium, which was probably not the original title name. The History probably covered the period from the accession of Attila the Hun to the accession of Emperor Zeno, priscuss work currently survives in fragments and was very influential in the Byzantine Empire. Priscuss writing style is straightforward and his work is regarded as a contemporary account of Attila the Hun, his court. Priscus recount of a dinner with Attila the Hun Priscus recount of a dinner with Attila the Hun was at, but this one was said to be supposedly greater than the rest. Made for celebration due to it being constructed of polished wood. Priscus entered the house the following day bearing gifts to Attilas wife and her name was Kreka who had three sons. The dinner was at three O’clock, Priscus and the embassy of Western Romans, were placed at the end of the table farthest from Attila but still in his presence, this was to show a means of Attila being greater than the Roman guest. That to Priscus, Attila considered his people were more important than Prius, as Priscus and the Western Roman embassy stood, they followed the cultural tradition of being given tea from the cupbearers. They were to pray and have a drink before having a seat at the table, Attila sat in the middle of the couch, with the seats being arranged linear to the walls. As the seating arrangement went on the side of Attila was held for the Chiefs in honor. With the everyone else including Priscus and the Roman embassies on the left, following the seating, everyone was to raise a glass to pledge one another with wine. Once the Cupbearers left another attendant came in with a plate of meat, followed by other items of food such as bread, all of the food was served on plates of silver and gold. Prius also notes that Attila didn’t use any silver or gold plates but instead used a cup made of wood, once the first round was finished, they stood and then drank again to the health of Attila. Once evening arrived torches were lite and songs that were composed of Attilas victories were sung, the remaining works of Priscus are currently published in four collections, Given, John
Priscus
–
Priscus (left) with the Roman embassy at the court of
Attila the Hun, holding his ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ (History, which the painter has incorrectly spelled ΙΣΤ Ω ΡΙΑ). (Detail from
Mór Than 's
Feast of Attila.)
34.
Agathias
–
Agathias was a native of Myrina. A brother of Agathias is mentioned in sources, but his name has not survived. Their probable sister Eugenia is known by name, the Suda clarifies that Agathias was active in the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian I, mentioning him as a contemporary of Paul the Silentiary, Macedonius of Thessalonica and Tribonian. Agathias mentions being present in Alexandria as a law student at the time when an earthquake destroyed Berytus, the law school of Berytus had been recognized as one of the three official law schools of the empire. Within a few years, as the result of the earthquake of 551. The dating of the event to 551, as a law student, Agathias could be in his early twenties and he mentions leaving Alexandria for Constantinople shortly following the earthquake. Agathias visited the island of Kos, where he witnessed the devastation caused by the earthquake and he returned to Constantinople in 554 to finish his training, and practised as an advocatus in the courts. John of Epiphania reports that Agathias practiced his profession in the capital, evagrius Scholasticus and Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos describe Agathias as a rhetor. The Suda and a passage of John of Nikiû call him Agathias the scholastic and he is known to have served as pater civitatis of Smyrna. He is credited with constructing public latrines for the city, while Agathias mentions these buildings, he fails to mention his own role in constructing them. Myrina is known to have erected statues to honor Agathias, his father Memnonius and he seems to have been known to his contemporaries more as an advocatus and a poet. There are few mentions of Agathias as a historian, few details survive of his personal life – mainly in his extant poems. One of them tells the story of his pet cat eating his partridge, another responds to his seeing the tomb of the courtesan Lais of Corinth, implying a visit to that city, which he refers to using the poetic name Ephyra. No full account of his life survives, literature, however, was Agathias favorite pursuit, and he remains best known as a poet. Of his Daphniaca, a collection of poems in hexameter on love and romance in nine books. This work largely survives in the Greek Anthology—the edition by Maximus Planudes preserves examples not found elsewhere, Agathiass poems exhibit considerable taste and elegance. He also wrote notes on the Description of Greece of Pausanias. Almost equally valued are Agathiass Histories, which he started in the reign of Justin II and he explains his own motivation in writing it, as simply being unwilling to let the momentous events of his own times go unrecorded
Agathias
–
A game of
τάβλη (tabula) played by Zeno in 480 and recorded by Agathias in circa 530 because of a very unlucky dice result for Zeno. The game is nearly identical to
backgammon; Zeno (red) threw 2, 5 and 6 and was forced to leave eight pieces alone and thus exposed to capture. See "Zeno's Game of τάβλη".
35.
John of Epiphania
–
John of Epiphania was a late sixth century Byzantine historian. He was a Christian and served as a counselor to the Patriarch of Antioch. John was also a cousin of the church historian Evagrius Scholasticus, in his role as legal adviser, he was a witness to the Persian king, Khosrau Parvezs retreat into Roman territory, and may have even met the king. Khosrau was restored to the Persian throne by the Roman emperor Maurice, John may have also visited Persia John wrote a history of the Byzantine-Persian wars, from the campaigns of Khosrau I against Justin II, to the flight of his grandson Khosrau II to the Byzantines. The work is lost, but a fragment is preserved, the history was used by Evagrius and Theophylact Simocatta. As with many other Byzantine works, it is written in a form of Greek
John of Epiphania
–
John records
Khosrau 's restoration to the Persian throne by
Maurice. However, Khosrau would use Maurice's murder in 602 as an excuse to resume war with the Byzantines. Khosrau is seen here, finally defeated by
Heraclius in the
Battle of Nineveh.
36.
Jordanes
–
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or, uncommonly, Jornandes, was a 6th-century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life. While he also wrote Romana about the history of Rome, his work is his Getica. It is the extant ancient work dealing with the early history of the Goths. Jordanes was asked by a friend to write this book as a summary of a history of the Goths by the statesman Cassiodorus. He was selected for his known interest in history, his ability to write succinctly and he had been a high-level notarius, or secretary, of a small client state on the Roman frontier in Scythia Minor, modern south-eastern Romania and north-eastern Bulgaria. Other writers, e. g. Procopius, wrote works which are extant on the history of the Goths. As the only surviving work on Gothic origins, the Getica has been the object of critical review. Jordanes wrote in Late Latin rather than the classical Ciceronian Latin, according to his own introduction, he had only three days to review what Cassiodorus had written, meaning that he must also have relied on his own knowledge. Some of his statements are laconic, Jordanes writes about himself almost in passing, The Sciri, moreover, and the Sadagarii and certain of the Alani with their leader, Candac by name, received Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia. Paria, the father of my father Alanoviiamuth, was secretary to this Candac as long as he lived. Already in the Mommsen text edition of 1882 it was suggested that the long name of Jordanes father should be split into two parts, Alanovii Amuthis, both genitive forms. Jordanes fathers name would then be Amuth, the preceding word should then belong to Candac, signifying that he was an Alan. Mommsen, however, dismissed suggestions to emend a corrupt text, Jordanes writes that he was secretary to Candac, dux Alanorum, an otherwise unknown leader of the Alans. Jordanes was notarius, or secretary to Gunthigis Baza, a magister militum, nephew of Candac, the nature and details of the conversion remain obscure. The Goths had been converted with the assistance of Ulfilas, made bishop on that account, however, the Goths had adopted Arianism. Jordanes conversion may have been a conversion to the trinitarian Nicene creed, in the letter to Vigilius he mentions that he was awakened vestris interrogationibus - by your questioning. Alternatively, Jordanes conversio may mean that he had become a monk, or a religiosus, some manuscripts say that he was a bishop, some even say bishop of Ravenna, but the name Jordanes is not known in the lists of bishops of Ravenna. Jordanes wrote his Romana at the behest of a certain Vigilius, although some scholars have identified this person with pope Vigilius, there is nothing else to support the identification besides the name
Jordanes
–
The deeds of Dacians and Getae (here from Trajan's column) were wrongly attributted to Goths by Jordanes
37.
Peter the Patrician
–
Peter the Patrician was a senior East Roman or Byzantine official, diplomat, and historian. A well-educated and successful lawyer, he was sent as envoy to Ostrogothic Italy in the prelude to the Gothic War of 535–554. Despite his diplomatic skill, he was not able to avert war, upon his release, he was appointed to the post of magister officiorum, head of the imperial secretariat, which he held for an unparalleled 26 years. His historical writings survive only in fragments, but provide unique source material on early Byzantine ceremonies, after studying law, he embarked on a successful career as a lawyer in Constantinople, which brought him to the attention of Empress Theodora. In 534, on account of his skills, he was employed as an imperial envoy to the Ostrogothic court at Ravenna. At the time, a struggle was developing there between Queen Amalasuntha, regent to the young king Athalaric, and her cousin Theodahad. Following the death of Athalaric, Theodahad usurped the throne, imprisoned Amalasuntha, Peter met the envoys at Aulon, on his way to Italy, and notified Constantinople, seeking new instructions. Emperor Justinian ordered him to convey the message to Theodahad that Amalasuntha was under the Emperors protection, consequently, Peter returned to Italy in the summer of 535 conveying an ultimatum, only if Theodahad abdicated and returned Italy to imperial rule, could war be averted. A two-pronged Byzantine offensive followed soon thereafter, attacking the outlying possessions of the Ostrogothic kingdom, Belisarius took Sicily, in the event, Justinian rejected the first proposal, and was delighted to learn of the second one. Peter was sent back to Italy with Athanasius, bearing letters to Theodahad and the Gothic nobles and it was not to be, upon their arrival in Ravenna, the Byzantine envoys found Theodahad in a changed disposition. Supported by the Gothic nobility and buoyed up by a success against Mundus in Dalmatia, he resolved to resist and he would hold this post for 26 consecutive years, longer by a wide margin than any other before or after. At about the time or shortly thereafter, he was raised to the supreme title of patrician. He was also awarded an honorary consulship, Peter is also recorded as attending the Second Council of Constantinople in May 553. In 550, he was sent as envoy by Justinian to negotiate a treaty with Persia, a role he reprised in 561. The annual Roman subsidies to Persia would resume, but the amount was lowered from 500 to 420 pounds of gold. Further clauses regulated cross-border trade, which was to be limited to the two cities of Dara and Nisibis, the return of fugitives, and the protection of the religious minorities. As disagreements remained on two areas, Suania and Ambros, in spring 562, Peter travelled to Persia to negotiate directly with the Persian Shah, Chosroes I. He then returned to Constantinople, where he died sometime after March 565 and his son Theodore, nicknamed Kontocheres or Zetonoumios, would succeed him as magister officiorum in 566, after a brief interval where the post was held by the quaestor sacri palatii Anastasius
Peter the Patrician
–
Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) and his entourage, mosaic from the
Basilica of San Vitale in
Ravenna.
38.
Procopius
–
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent late antique scholar from Palaestina Prima. He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient Western world, apart from his own writings, the main source for Procopius life is an entry in the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopaedia, written sometime after 975, which tells everything about his early life. He was a native of Caesarea in the Roman Province Palaestina Prima and he evidently knew Latin, as was natural for a man with legal training. In 527, the first year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinians reign, he became the adsessor for Belisarius, Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until the latter was defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531 and recalled to Constantinople. Procopius witnessed the Nika riots of January,532, which Belisarius, Procopius recorded a few of the extreme weather events of 535–536, although these were presented as a backdrop to Roman military activities, such as a mutiny, in and near Carthage. He rejoined Belisarius for his campaign against the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and experienced the Gothic siege of Rome that lasted a year and nine days and he witnessed Belisarius entry into the Gothic capital, Ravenna, in 540. Book Eight of the Wars of Justinian, and the Secret History, suggest that his relationship with Belisarius seems to have cooled thereafter. When Belisarius was sent back to Italy in 544 to cope with a renewal of the war with the Goths, now led by the able king Totila, Procopius appears to have no longer been on Belisarius staff. As magister militum, Belisarius was a vir illustris, and Procopius, as his adsessor, must and he thus belonged to the middle-ranking group of the ordo senatorius. However, the Suda, which is well informed in such matters. Should this information be correct, then Procopius had a seat in the senate of Constantinople and it is not known when Procopius himself died, and many historians date his death to 554, but in 562 there was an urban prefect of Constantinople who happened to be called Procopius. In that year, Belisarius was implicated in a conspiracy and was brought before this urban prefect, the writings of Procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian. Procopius Wars of Justinian is clearly his most important work, although it is not as known as the Secret History. The first two deal with the conflict between the Romans and Sassanid Persia in Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia, Lazica and Caucasian Iberia. They also cover the early career of the Roman general Belisarius, Procopius patron, the next two books, the Vandal War, cover Belisarius successful campaign against the Vandal kingdom in Roman Africa. The remaining books cover the Gothic War, the campaigns by Belisarius and others to recapture Italy and this includes accounts of the sieges of Naples and Rome. Later, Procopius added a book, which brings the history to 552/553. This eighth book covers both in Italy and on the Eastern frontier
Procopius
–
Emperor Justinian
Procopius
–
Triumphal arch at the entrance to the
Sangarius Bridge
39.
Zacharias Rhetor
–
Zacharias of Mytilene, also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian. The life of Zacharias of Mytilene can be reconstructed only from a few scattered reports in contemporary sources, Zacharias was born and raised in a Christian family near Gaza, which hosted a significant school of rhetorics in late antiquity. That was also where he received his initial education, in 485, he travelled to Alexandria, where he studied philosophy for two years. In Alexandria, he was embroiled in a conflict between Christians and Pagans in connection with the Horapollo affair and it was also there he met Severus, who was later to become a notable patriarch of Antioch. Zacharias travelled in 487 to Beirut to study law at its law school and he stayed there, leading a very ascetic life, until 491, but he also made several journeys to different parts of Palestine in search for religious knowledge. He finally moved to Constantinople, where he worked as a lawyer for a long time, Zacharias, who was leaning towards moderate Monophysitism, seems to have often played with the thought of becoming a monk. He apparently had good contacts with the Imperial court and that won him the appointment as Bishop of Mytilene. His successor is known to have taken the post in 553 and he was certainly alive in 536, as he took part in the Synod in Constantinople that year. Zacharias composed several works in Greek, among which an Ecclesiastical history that was completed towards the end of the 5th century. The document, dedicated to Eupraxius, a dignitary, contains historical material. It was used by Evagrius Scholasticus for his own history, Zacharias also composed three biographies of Monophysitic clergymen that he had met personally, the above-mentioned Severus, Peter the Iberian and the Egyptian monk Isaiah the Younger. The biographies have been preserved with varying quality, Zacharias also wrote several polemic works, e. g. against the philosopher Ammonius Hermiae and against the Manichaeans. The first English translation of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor was published in 1899 under the title The Syriac Chronicle by F. J. Hamilton and it was part of a five-volume series, Byzantine Texts, edited by J. B. A new English translation was published by Liverpool University Press in 2011 under the title The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor, Church, edited by Geoffrey Greatrex and translated into English by Robert R. Phenix and Cornelia B. Horn, it consists of a translation of books 3-12 of Historia Miscellanea, the Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor, Church and War in Late Antiquity. Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori vulgo adscripta, die sogennante Kirchengeschichte des Zacharias Rhetor. Transl. by K. Ahrens & G. Krüger, the Syriac Chronicle known as that of Zachariah of Mitylene. Transl. by F. J. Hamilton & E. W. Brooks, P. Allen, Zachariah Scholasticus and the Historia Ecclesiastica of Evagrius
Zacharias Rhetor
–
Ammonius
40.
Theophylact Simocatta
–
Theophylact Simocatta was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity, writing in the time of Heraclius about the late Emperor Maurice. Simocatta is best known as the author of a history in eight books, of the reign of the emperor Maurice and he mentions the war of Heraclius against the Persians, but not that against the Arabs, so it is likely that he was writing around 630. Among his sources he used the history of John of Epiphania, edward Gibbon wrote, His want of judgement renders him diffuse in trifles and concise in the most interesting facts. This notwithstanding, Simocattas general trustworthiness is admitted, the history contains an introduction in the form of a dialogue between History and Philosophy. Nicolaus Copernicus translated Greek verses by Theophylact into Latin prose and had his translation, dedicated to his uncle Lucas Watzenrode and it was the only book that Copernicus ever brought out on his own account. Simocatta was also the author of Physical Problems, a work on natural history, Simocatta also provided cursory information about the geography of China along with its customs and culture, deeming its people idolatrous but wise in governance. He also related how the ruler was named Taisson, the meaning of which was Son of God and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
Theophylact Simocatta
–
Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius receiving the submission of the
Sassanid king
Khosrau II – during Simocatta's times (plaque from a cross. Champlevé enamel over gilt copper, 1160–1170, Meuse Valley). Housed at the
Louvre.
41.
Nikephoros I of Constantinople
–
St. Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I, was a Christian Byzantine writer and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from April 12,806, to March 13,815. He was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of an orthodox family. Nevertheless, he entered the service of the Empire, became cabinet secretary and he then withdrew to one of the cloisters that he had founded on the eastern shore of the Bosporus, until he was appointed director of the largest home for the destitute in Constantinople c. After the death of the Patriarch Tarasios, although still a layman, after vain theological disputes, in December 814, there followed personal insults. From there he carried on a literary polemic for the cause of the iconodules against the synod of 815, on the occasion of the change of emperors, in 820, he was put forward as a candidate for the patriarchate and at least obtained the promise of toleration. He died at the monastery of Saint Theodore, revered as a confessor and his feast is celebrated on this day both in the Greek and Roman Churches, the Greeks also observe 2 June as the day of his death. He was mild in his ecclesiastical and monastical rules and non-partisan in his treatment of the period from 602 to 769. He used the chronicle of Traianus Patricius, the Chronography offered a universal history from the time of Adam and Eve to his own time. To it he appended a canon catalog, the catalog of the accepted books of the Old and New Testaments is followed by the antilegomena and the apocrypha. Next to each book is the count of its lines, his stichometry, to which we can compare our accepted texts and this is especially useful for apocrypha for which only fragmentary texts have survived. Nikephoros follows in the path of John of Damascus, list of Catholic saints The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991. Paul J. Alexander, The Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople, Oxford University Press,1958, development of the Canon of the New Testament, the Stichometry of Nicephorus St. Nicephorus
Nikephoros I of Constantinople
–
Nikephoros I of Constantinople trampling on
John VII of Constantinople. Miniature from
Chludov Psalter.
42.
George Hamartolos
–
George Hamartolos or Hamartolus was a monk at Constantinople under Michael III and the author of a chronicle of some importance. It is a common form among Byzantine monks, krumbacher protests against the use of this epithet as a name and proposes the form Georgios Monachos. Nothing is known about him except from the evidence of his work. The chronicle consists of four books, the chronicle is the only original contemporary authority for the years 813–842, and therefore so far indispensable. As usually in the case of medieval chronicles, the only part to be taken seriously is the account of more or less contemporary events. The rest is interesting as an example of Byzantine ideas on the subjects, George describes his ideal and principles in the preface. But of so great a mass of material he has chosen only what is most useful, in effect, the questions that seemed most useful and necessary to ecclesiastical persons at Constantinople in the ninth century are those that are discussed. There are copious pious reflections and theological excursuses and he writes of how idols were invented, the origin of monks, the religion of the Saracens, and especially of the Iconoclast controversy that had just ended. Like all monks he hates iconoclasts, the violence with which he speaks of them shows how recent the storm had been and how the memory of iconoclast persecutions was still fresh when he wrote. He writes out long extracts from Greek Fathers, the first book treats of an astonishingly miscellaneous collection of persons — Adam, Nimrod, the Persians, Chaldees, Brahmins, Amazons, etc. In the second book, too, although it professes to deal with Bible history only, he has much to say about Plato, Hamartolus ended his chronicle with the year 842, as a colophon in most manuscripts attests. In these additions, religious questions are relegated to the background, more attention is devoted to history. Still further continuations of little value go down to 1143 and it was soon translated into Church Slavonic and also in Georgian by Arsen of Iqalto. In these versions it became a sort of fountain-head for all early Slavonic historians, in Maxima bibliotheca Paris,1685, reprinted, Venice,1729. The last part of Book IV of the chronicle and the continuation, georgii monachi, dicti Hamartoli, Chronicon ab orbe condito ad annum p. chr.842 et a diversis scriptoribus usq. ad ann.1143 continuatum. The first edition of the whole work and it does not represent the original text, but one of the many modified versions, and is in many ways deficient and misleading. Reprint of the edition, with a Latin translation. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
George Hamartolos
–
"George the Monk at work", an early 14th-century miniature from
Tver
43.
Constantine VII
–
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, the Purple-born, was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959. He was the son of the emperor Leo VI and his wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor. Constantine VII is best known for his four books, De Administrando Imperio, De Ceremoniis, De Thematibus and his nickname alludes to the Purple Room of the imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time, nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimized son, as opposed to all others who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born in the purple, Constantine was born at Constantinople, an illegitimate son born before an uncanonical fourth marriage. To help legitimize him, his mother gave birth to him in the Purple Room of the palace, hence his nickname Porphyrogennetos. He was symbolically elevated to the throne as a child by his father. In June 913, as his uncle Alexander lay dying, he appointed a regency council for Constantine. Following Alexanders death, the new and shaky regime survived the attempted usurpation of Constantine Doukas, Patriarch Nicholas was presently forced to make peace with Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, whom he reluctantly recognized as Bulgarian emperor. Because of this concession, Patriarch Nicholas was driven out of the regency by Constantines mother Zoe. She was no more successful with the Bulgarians, who defeated her main supporter, in 919 she was replaced as regent by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who married his daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine. Romanos used his position to advance to the ranks of basileopatōr in May 919, to kaisar in September 920, thus, just short of reaching nominal majority, Constantine was eclipsed by a senior emperor. Nevertheless, he was an intelligent young man with a large range of interests. Romanos kept and maintained power until 944, when he was deposed by his sons, Romanos spent the last years of his life in exile on the Island of Prote as a monk and died on June 15,948. With the help of his wife, Constantine VII succeeded in removing his brothers-in-law, several months later, Constantine VII crowned his own son Romanos II co-emperor. In 949 Constantine launched a new fleet of 100 ships against the Arab corsairs hiding in Crete, but like his fathers attempt to retake the island in 911, on the Eastern frontier things went better, even if with alternate success. In 949 the Byzantines conquered Germanicea, repeatedly defeated the enemy armies, but in 953 the Hamdanid amir Sayf al-Daula retook Germanicea and entered the imperial territory. An Arab fleet was destroyed by Greek fire in 957
Constantine VII
–
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
Constantine VII
–
Constantine and Simeon dining
Constantine VII
–
Christ Crowning Constantine VII (945)
Constantine VII
–
The
Madrid Skylitzes ' depiction of Constantine on his deathbed
44.
John Kaminiates
–
John Kaminiates was a Greek resident of Thessalonica when the city, then one of the largest in the Byzantine Empire, was besieged and sacked by a Saracen force led by Leo of Tripoli in 904. John Kaminiates has alternatively been transliterated John Kaminatos, Ioannis Kaminiatis, english Kaminiates, John The capture of Thessaloniki Byzantina Australiensia,12. Perth, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies,2000, kazhdan, Alexander Some Questions Addressed to the Scholars, who Believe in the Authenticity of Kaminiates’ Capture of Thessalonika Byzantinische Zeitschrift 71. Tougher, Shaun The Reign of Leo VI, Politics and People BRILL,1997, foreign Kaminiates, John Eis ten alosin tes Thessalonikes / De Expugnatione Thessalonicae Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae. ISSN 0589-8048 A portion of the text online The Manuscript Editing Process - An interesting look at how the four surviving manuscripts are used to create a modern scholarly Greek edition
John Kaminiates
–
The sack of Thessalonica in 904, from the
Madrid Skylitzes.
45.
Symeon the Metaphrast
–
Symeon the Metaphrast was the author of the 10 volume medieval Greek menologion, or collection of saints lives. He lived in the half of the 10th century. About his life we know very few details. The Eastern Orthodox Church honours him as a saint, with his feast day falling on November 9, a service composed in his honour is found in the Menaion. Also numerous prayers which have attributed to him are found in various Orthodox liturgical books. Metaphrastes was the most renowned of the Byzantine hagiographers, among other works attributed to Symeon are a Chronicle, a canonical collection, some letters and poems, and other writings of less importance. Symeons great popularity is due more particularly to his Menologion and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. Rewriting and Canonization Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes
Symeon the Metaphrast
–
Russian icon with Saint Symeon Metaphrastes
46.
Michael Attaleiates
–
Michael Attaleiates or Attaliates was a Byzantine public servant and historian active in Constantinople and around the empires provinces in the second half of the eleventh century. He was a contemporary of Michael Psellos and likely an older colleague of John Skylitzes. Michael Attaleiates was probably a native of Attaleia and moved to Constantinople between 1030 and 1040 to pursue studies in law, during years of service in the empires judicial system he built a small private fortune. Prominence on the bench also brought him to the attention of a number of emperors who rewarded him with some of the highest honours available to civil servants. In 1072 Attaleiates compiled for Emperor Michael VII a synopsis of law, known as the Ponema Nomikon, in addition he drew up an Ordinance for the Poor House and Monastery which he founded at Constantinople in the mid-1070s. This work, known as the Diataxis, is of value for students of the social, economic, cultural and religious history of Byzantium in Constantinople and it also provides invaluable information regarding the life of Attaleiates himself. It includes a catalogue of the books available in the library, while also offering details about the founders fortune in the capital. From the Diataxis we learn that Attaleiates owned numerous properties in Constantinople, Raidestos, around 1079/80 Michael Attaleiates circulated The History, a political and military history of the Byzantine Empire from 1034 to 1079. The History concludes with a long encomium to Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, on account of this encomium and dedication, Attaleiates was for years considered an honest supporter of this elderly and largely ineffective emperor. Careful reading of his text, however, suggests that the words of praise may be less than honest, instead Attaleiates appears to be partial towards the young military commander and future emperor Alexios Komnenos. Attaleiates probably died around 1080, shortly before the beginning of the Komnenian era and he therefore had no chance to rededicate his work to the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, Alexios I Komnenos, whom The History treats as a potential saviour of the Byzantine state. He was outlived by his son Theodore, who died sometime before 1085. Their bodies, along with those of the two wives, Eirene and Sophia, were put to rest on the grounds of the church of St. George of the Cypresses in the southwestern side of Constantinople. This was the area where the familys Constantinopolitan estates were likely clustered, close to the monastery of Christ Panoikteirmon, one may still visit the church of St George, which today, after two fires and extensive reconstruction, bears no resemblance to the church of Attaleiates day. Attaleiates’ History is a consciously constructed account of Byzantine military decline, the authors turn to the past is not, however, a sign of idle antiquarianism. This is not an attempt on Attaleiates part to impress the reader with a display of erudition, instead, in the civic virtue of The Historys Republican heroes the reader detects a quest for a new Roman patriotism that would take the empire out of the crisis. At the same time history-writing allows Attaleiates to reflect on the empire’s troubled present through the prism of the past in a manner that hints at his ability to plan for an uncertain future, the History therefore confirms the authors status as a politically engaged official and competent imperial advisor. From the first lines of The History Attaleiates explains to his readers that he will be seeking the causes behind the various historical events presented in his work and this programmatic statement is taken very seriously by the historian throughout his work
Michael Attaleiates
–
Autograph Signature of Michael Attaleiates from the manuscript of the Diataxis.
47.
Michael Psellos
–
This article is about the 11th-century Byzantine historian and philosopher. For the 9th-century Byzantine Emperor with the byname Psellus, see Michael II, Michael Psellus the Elder redirects here and is covered below under Pseudo-Psellus. Michael Psellos or Psellus was a Byzantine Greek monk, writer, philosopher and he was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. The main source of information about Psellos life comes from his own works, Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and his baptismal name was Constantine, Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. Psellos probably was a personal by-name referring to a speech defect, Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, when his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. While studying under John Mauropus, he met the later Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos, for some time, he worked in the provinces again, now serving as a judge himself. Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a position at court as a secretary in the imperial chancellery. From there he began a rapid court career and he became an influential political advisor to emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. During the same time, he became the professor at the University of Constantinople. After Monomachos death, however, he was recalled to court by his successor. Throughout the following years, he remained active in politics, serving as a political advisor to several successive emperors. However, Michael seems to have been inclined towards protecting Psellos. As his own autobiographic accounts cease at this point, there is little information about his later years. Some scholars believe that Psellos had to retreat into a monastery again at some time during the 1070s and it is a history of the Byzantine emperors during the century leading up to Psellos own time. It covers the reigns of fourteen emperors and empresses, beginning with the almost 50-year-long reign of Basil II, the Bulgar-Slayer and it is structured mainly as a series of biographies. Unlike most other works of the period, it places much more emphasis on the description of characters than on details of political
Michael Psellos
–
Michael Psellos (left) with his student, Byzantine Emperor,
Michael VII Doukas.
Michael Psellos
–
Rulers of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. Based on Chronographia
Michael Psellos
–
Compendium mathematicum, 1647
48.
John Skylitzes
–
John Skylitzes, Latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes, was a Greek historian of the late 11th century. Very little is known about his life, the title of his work records him as a kouropalatēs and a former droungarios of the Vigla, whereby he is usually identified with a certain John Thrakesios. There is a continuation of work, known as Scylitzes Continuatus covering 1057 –1079. The most famous manuscript of the Synopsis was produced in Sicily in the 12th century, the Thurn edition supersedes the much older one by Migne, below. A popular edition is being prepared for Kanakis books and an edition of the Madrid is also available from Militos Publishers. AHRB Skylitzes Colloquium, Belfast, 21–22 September 2002, Institute for Byzantine Studies, Queens University, John Wortley, John Scylitzes, a synopsis of histories, a provisional translation, Centre for Hellenic Civilization, University of Manitoba,2000. Cheynet, Jean Skylitzès, Empereurs de Constantinople, Ed, kazhdan, Alexander, ed. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. W. Seibt, Johannes Skylitzes, Zur Person des Chronisten, eirini-Sophia Kiapidou, Ἡ Σύνοψη Ἱστοριῶν τοῦ Ἰωάννη Σκυλίτζη καὶ οἱ πηγές της
John Skylitzes
–
Varangian Guardsmen, an illumination from the 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes.
John Skylitzes
–
Depiction of Greek fire in the Madrid Skylitzes
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Mershman, Francis (1912). "St. Theophanes". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 14. New York: Robert Appleton.
