20
Life of Symeon the Younger
: 57.
21
Novella
30.11.2.
22
John of Ephesus, p. 77.
23
Although only one source, and a late one at that, explicitly states that Alexander was instructed by the oracle to found Alexandria, the circumstantial evidence is strong. See Welles.
24
Ammianus Marcellinus: 16.15.
25
A formula often used by Christians in Alexandria. Cited by Haas, p. 130.
26
Isidore of Pelusium, quoted by Haas, p. 10.
27
Stephen of Herakleopolis: 10–11.
28
John of Nikiu: 92.7.
29
Expositio Totius Mundi et Gentium
: lines 229–30.
30
Joshua the Stylite: 26.
31
John of Ephesus, pp. 74–5.
32
Procopius:
History of the Wars
, 2.23.4.
33
John of Ephesus, p. 87.
34
Procopius:
History of the Wars
, 2.22.7.
35
A 2005 DNA study of two skeletons found in Germany conclusively proved that the pestilence of the 540s was caused by
Yersinia pestis
. In the words of the scientists who conducted it: “The identification of
Y. pestis
–specific DNA sequences in these two skeletons, buried in the second half of the 6th century AD, constitutes molecularly supported evidence for the presence of
Y. pestis
, the causative agent of plague, during the first pandemic recorded” (Wiechmann and Grupe, p. 48). It is worth noting that the prevalence of plague during the winter as well as the summer months and the description in contemporary accounts of some of the symptoms suggest that one of the strains might have been pneumonic, the most deadly and infectious of all.
36
John of Ephesus, p. 75.
37
Procopius:
History of the Wars
, 2.22.9.
38
Ibid.: 2.23.18.
39
Ibid.: 2.22.1.
40
John of Ephesus, p. 95.
41
Paul the Deacon: 2.4. This passage refers to an outbreak of plague in Italy in 565.
42
John of Ephesus, p. 102.
43
Michael Morony (in Little, p. 73) suggests that a mortality rate of a third is “realistic and believable.” Following an influential article by Jean Durliat, estimates of the total death toll were reduced downwards throughout the nineties, but recent DNA studies have reversed that trend. We now know that the sixth-century pestilence was humanity’s first experience of bubonic plague, so it is probable—indeed, almost certain—that its impact (upon a population that had no immunity whatsoever) was even greater than that of the Black Death in the fourteenth century. Historians are still in the process of making their calculations in light of this.
44
Procopius:
History of the Wars
, 2.23.10.
45
Procopius:
The Secret History
, 13.28.
46
Ibid.: 18.29.
47
Ibid.: 18.30.
48
Ibid.: 12.27.
49
For a fascinating analysis of how admirers and opponents of Justinian both put their spin on the selfsame policies of the emperor, see Scott.
50
Procopius:
The Secret History
, 12.26.
51
Gospel of St. Matthew: 24.27.
52
Ibid.: 24.7. Some versions omit the Greek word
loimoi
—“pestilences”—but this seems to have been due to confusion because of its proximity to the very similar word for “famines”—
lomoi
. The similarity of Matthew 24.7 to Luke 21.11 makes it clear that “pestilences” were always on the agenda.
53
Evagrius Scholasticus: 4.29.
54
See Keys for the argument that the proximity of this event to the first coming of the plague to Egypt may not have been coincidental.
55
Agathias: 5.11.6.
56
Ezekieclass="underline" 38.16.
57
Josephus: 7.7.4.
58
Jacob of Serugh, “Metrical Discourse upon Alexander”: line 544, in
The History of Alexander the Great
. The attribution of the poem to Jacob, who died in 521, is no longer generally accepted. The likeliest date of the poem is the early seventh century. See Stoneman, p. 177.
59
Ibid.: line 322.
60
Life of Theodore of Sykeon
: 119, in
Three Byzantine Saints.
61
Hassan ibn Thabit, quoted by Conrad (1994), p. 18, who argues convincingly for its authenticity.
62
Ibid., p. 18.
63
Procopius:
History of the Wars
, 2.27.12.
64
Sozomen: 2.4.
65
Quoted by Conrad (1994), p. 18.
66
From the vision of a monk in Egypt. Quoted by Kelly, p. 232.
67
This phenomenon was not unique to Arabia. As early as the second century AD, pagans across the Roman Empire were interpreting the gods of their various pantheons as the angels of one supreme deity, and by late antiquity this process had become near universal. For a useful survey, see Crone (2010), pp. 185–8.
68
Corippus, p. 108.
69
Hugh Kennedy, in a valuable essay on the impact of the plague on Syria, demonstrates that “the expansion of settlement that had characterised much of rural and urban Syria in the fifth and early sixth centuries came to an abrupt end after the middle of the sixth century” (Little, p. 95).
70
For the impact of the plague on agriculture in central and southern Syria, see Conrad (1994), p. 54.
71
John of Ephesus: p. 81, quoting Isaiah: 24.3.
72
Moses Dasxuranci: 2.11.
73
Menander: 16.1.13.
74
Tabari: Vol. 5, p. 295.
75
The sources for Bahram Chobin’s reign are mostly late and heavily mythologised, yet it appears that his rebellion did indeed embody messianic expectations. See the ground-breaking essay by Czeglédy, and further analysis of the episode by Pourshariati (2008), pp. 397–414.
76
Theophylact Simocatta: 3.1.10.
77
Evagrius Scholasticus: 3.41.
78
Fredegarius: 4.65.
79
The Life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon
: 134, in
Three Byzantine Saints.
80
Theophylact Simocatta: 4.8.
81
For the devastation caused across Anatolia by the Persians, see Foss (1975).
82
For the Mihranid ancestry of Shahrbaraz, see Gyselen, p. 11.
83
Danieclass="underline" 7.23.
84
Ibid.: 7.26.
85
From a
piyyut
, or liturgical poem, convincingly dated by Hagith Sivan (2000) to the period of the Persian occupation of Jerusalem, and quoted by her on p. 295.
86
According to one—later—source (Sebeos, p. 72), the authorities in Jerusalem did negotiate a surrender, but this was followed by rioting, a revolt and then the siege. Eyewitness accounts, however, insist that the city refused to submit from the start.
87
From a second
piyyut
, quoted by Sivan (2000), p. 289.
88
Danieclass="underline" 7.13–14.
89
George of Pisidia: 2.106–7.
90
The History of King Vaxt’ang Gorgasali
, p. 234. The biblical passage paraphrases Danieclass="underline" 8.5–7.
91
Chronicon Paschale
: 725.
92
Sebeos, 72.
93
Theophanes, p. 324.
94
See Kaegi (2003), p. 174.
95
Nikephoros: 15.
96
Ibid.: 17.
97
Theophanes, p. 328.
98
Maximos the Confessor, quoted by Laga, p. 187