Translated from Syriac and Arabic sources by Geoffrey Greatrex, Robert R. Phenix and Cornelia B. Horn, with introductory material by Sebastian Brock and Witold Witakowski.
The Chronicle attributed to Zachariah of Mytilene is one of the most important sources for the history of the church from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the early years of the reign of Justinian (527-565). The author who compiled the work in Syriac in A.D. 568/9 drew extensively on the "Ecclesiastical History" of Zachariah the Rhetor, who later became bishop of Mytilene and ended up giving his name to the whole work. But Zachariah's "Ecclesiastical History", which forms books iii to vi of Pseudo-Zachariah's work and covers the period from 451 to 491, is just one of a range of sources cited by this later compiler. For the period that follows, he turned to other well-informed sources, which cover both church and secular affairs. His reporting of the siege of Amida in 502-3 clearly derives from an eye-witness account, while for the reign of the Emperor Justinian he offers not only numerous documents, but also an independent narrative of the Persian war, as well as notices on the Nika riot and events in the West. This translation (of books iii-xii) is the first into a modern language since 1899 and is equipped with a detailed commentary and introduction, along with contributions by two eminent Syriac scholars, Sebastian Brock and Witold Witakowski.
Author(s): Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor, Geoffrey Greatrex, Robert R. Phenix, Cornelia B. Horn (transl.)
Series: Translated Texts for Historians, 55
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: XIV+562
Preface viii
Acknowledgements x
Abbreviations xii
Introduction
A General overview 1
B Zachariah of Mytilene 3
(1) Life and career 3
(2) Works 12
(i) The Life of Isaiah and a Life of Peter the Iberian 13
(ii) A Vita Paralii 14
(iii) Ammonius or De mundi opificio (disputatio) 14
(iv) The Ecclesiastical History [see (3) below] 15
(v) The Life of Severus 15
(vi) Capita vii contra Manichaeos 18
(vii) The Antirrhesis (Adversus Manichaeos) 19
(3) His Ecclesiastical History 19
(i) Introduction 19
(ii) Composition and nature of the work 20
(iii) Sources 23
(iv) The relation between PZ and Zach.'s HE 25
(v) Conclusion 29
C Pseudo-Zachariah of Mytilene 32
(1) Pseudo-Zachariah himself 32
(2) The work of PZ 33
(3) PZ's sources 39
(i) The Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah of Mytilene 39
(ii) A chronicle 40
(iii) Bishop lists 43
(iv) Church historians 45
(v) Written records of church councils 46
(vi) Dossiers of correspondence 46
(vii) Self-standing accounts 47
(viii) An account of the reign of Anastasius 54
(ix) A Justinianic source, covering books viii–x 55
(x) An apocalyptic source 56
(4) The transmission of PZ 57
(5) PZ’s literary style and interests (R.P., C.H.) 60
(6) The manuscript basis of PZ, editions, translations and research to date (W.W., revised by G.G.) 62
(7) Conclusion 65
D Historical introduction 66
E Text and translation 73
F Analysis and partial translation of books i–ii (S.B., with some additions by G.G.) 75
The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor
Book iii 95
Book iv 130
Book v 172
Book vi 210
Book vii 227
Book viii 279
Book ix 313
Book x 397
Book xii 425
Appendices
1 Works circulating in the early sixth century about the council of
Chalcedon 456
2 Emperors and patriarchs, 440–565 459
Glossary 461
Maps
1 Constantinople and its environs 467
2 Osrhoene and Mesopotamia 468
3 The eastern frontier 469
4 The frontier south of the Tur Abdin 47
5 The Near East 471
6 Monasteries of the East (cf. PZ viii.5) 472
7 Peoples of the Caucasus (Hewsen 2001, map 68) 473
8 Peoples of the Caucasus (Land 1887) 474
Acknowledgements for the maps 475
Bibliography 476
Indices
Biblical and apocryphal citations 524
References to CPG 529
Persons and places mentioned in xii.4 530
General index 535
