Comnenus and Proclus, Ἰστορία Πρελούμπου καὶ ἄλλων διαφόρων Δεσποτῶν τῶν Ἰωαννίνων ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλώσεως αὐτῶν παρὰ τῶν Σέρβων ἕως τῆς παραδόσεως εἰς τοὺς Τούρκους, edited by Andreas Mustoxydes, in his Ἑλληνουμνήμων (Corfu), 1843-1847; edited by G. Destunis, with a Russian translation, St. Petersburg, 1858.
This is a fragment of an alleged history of Epirus.
Constantinus VII, Flavius Porphyrogenitus, Ἱστορικὴ διήγησις τοῦ βίου καί τῶν πράξεων τοῦ Βασιλείου τοῦ βασιλέως (Vita Basilii), edited by Leo Allatius, in his Σύμμικτα, with a Latin translation, Cologne, 1653.
Constantinus VII, Flavius Porphyrogenitus, only son of the emperor Leo (VI) Philosophus, was born in 905. He reigned nominally from 911 to 959, but from 912 to 944 the Eastern Empire was usurped by Lecapenus. In his enforced retirement he devoted himself to scholarship, and became an assiduous writer, compiler, and patron of learning. Besides the Life of Basilius, he wrote works dealing with imperial and provincial government, military and naval warfare, and court ceremonial. His surname, Porphyrogenitus (“born in the purple”), was acquired from πόρφυρα, the name of an apartment in the imperial palace in which he was born, and hence the origin of the expression as applied to royalty.
Corippus, Flavius Cresconius, Corippi Africani fragmentum carminis in laudem imperatoris Justini Minoris; Carmen panegyricum in laudem Anastasii quæstoris et magistri; de laudibus Justini Augusti Minoris heroico carmine libri IV, edited by Michael Ruiz (Madrid, 1579); Antwerp, 1581; Johannis, Milan, 1820.
Flavius Cresconius Corippus, the Latin poet, left two poems which are useful in tracing the history of his times; one, Johannis, reciting the history of the war of Johannes Patricius against the Moors; the other, De Laudibus Justini, an extravagant panegyric of the younger Justin (565-578 A.D.). A remarkable fact about this work is that the identity of its author with that of the Johannis was not established until more than two centuries after its publication, for Ruiz merely asserted that he copied the book from an ancient manuscript, of which he gave no description. Corippus, however, having mentioned in his preface that he had previously composed a poem on the African wars, researches brought the missing Johannis to light in the Royal Library at Buda in 1814, the work having been wrongly catalogued. Of the life of Corippus we know but little, except that he was born in Africa in 530 A.D. and died in 585. His works are found in best form in the Bonn “Corpus.”
Corpus scriptorum historiæ Byzantinæ, Bonn, 1828-1878, 49 vols.
This great work was commenced on the recommendation and under the superintendence of Niebuhr, and after his death continued by the Royal Prussian Academy. The separate volumes have been edited by Bekker, Hase, Dindorf, and other distinguished scholars.
Critobulus of Imbros, Ἱστορία, edited by C. Müller in his Fragmenta Historicorum Græcorum, vol. V, Paris, 1870 (trans. into Hungarian by K. Szabo, in Monumenta Hungariæ Historica, Scriptores, vol. XXII, Budapest, 1875).
Critobulus of Imbros, in about the year 1470, wrote a history of the sultan Mohammed II, covering the period 1457-1467. Diffuse in style, and feebly imitating the manner of Greek classic writers, the only value of Critobulus is that he represents the Greek mind at the period when it became reconciled to the rule of the Turkish conquerors.
Dexippus, P. Herennius, fragments preserved in the Bonn “Corpus.”
Dexippus wrote three historical works, only fragments of which are extant. He was a native of Attica, and distinguished himself in the Gothic invasion of Greece, 262 A.D. His history was continued by Eunapius.
Ducas, Michael, Historia Byzantina, in the Paris, Venice, and Bonn corpora.
Michael Ducas, the historian, lived during the latter part of the fifteenth century. His history embraces the period from 1391 A.D. to the capture of Lesbos in 1462, and is valuable for judicious, prudent, and impartial statement of facts. He wrote however, in most barbarous Greek, using quite a number of foreign phrases, and being seemingly unacquainted with the Greek classics.
Easter Chronicle, Ἐπιτομὴ χρόνων τῶν ἀπο Ἀδὰμ τοῦ προτοπλάστου ἀνθρώπου ἕως κ’ ἔτους τῆς βασιλείας Ἡρακλείου τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου καὶ μετὰ ὑπατείαν ἔτους ιθ’ καὶ ιη’ ἔτους τῆς βασιλείας Ἡρακλείου νέου Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ αὑτοῦ υἱοῦ ἱνδικτίωνος γ’ (Chronicon Paschale), edited by M. Raderi, Munich, 1615.
This is a comprehensive chronological table extending originally from the Creation to 629 A.D. It gets its name from the computation of the Easter canon upon which Christian chronology is based. After Eusebius and Syncellus it is the most important and influential production of Græco-Christian chronography. The compiler of the chronicle, which is largely put together out of earlier works, was a contemporary of the emperor Heraclius (610-641). The text, as it has been preserved, breaks off at 627 A.D.
Ephræm of Constantinople, Ἐφραιμίου χρονικοῦ Καίσαρες, edited by Angelo Mai, in his Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, Rome, 1828.
Ephræm wrote a chronicle in iambic verse, giving Roman-Byzantine history from Julius Cæsar to the reconquest of Constantinople in 1261.
Eunapius, Μετά Δέξιππον χρονική ἱστορία, edited by D. Hoeschel, Augsburg, 1603; by A. Mai, in his Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, Rome, 1828.
Eunapius was born at Sardis in 347 A.D. He wrote a continuation of Dexippus, but most of the work is lost. Eunapius exhibits pagan sympathies, admires Julian, and gives a deal of information on the manners and customs of his age, the period covered being 270-404.
Eustathius of Epiphaneia, Χρονική ἐπιτομή, fragments preserved in the Bonn “Corpus.”
Eustathius lived in the reign of Anastasius (491-521). His history of the world, to 502 A.D., is known only through the portions preserved by Evagrius.
Genesius, Josephus, Βασιλειῶν Βιβλία Δ.
Genesius lived in the middle of the tenth century, and wrote his Greek history by the order of the emperor Constantine VII, Porphyrogenitus, whose literary activities have just been mentioned. His work comprises the histories of Leo V, 813-820, Michael II, 820-829, Theophilus, 829-842, Michael III, 842-867, and Basilius I Macedon, 867-886. The work was first printed in the Venice “corpus.”
Georgius Monachus, Βίοι τῶν Βασιλέων, edited by G. A. Fabricius in volume VII of his Bibliotheca Græca, Hamburg, 1705-1728, 14 vols.
Georgius Monachus (George the Monk), probably lived in the tenth century, and compiled a chronicle which comprehends the period from 813 to 948 A.D., being a continuation of Theophanes Isaurus.
Georgius Syncellus, Ἐκλογὴ Χρονογραφίας συνταγεῖσα ὑπὸ Γεωργίου Μοναχοῦ Συγκέλλου γεγονότος Ταρασίου Πατριάρχου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Διολητιανοῦ, first printed in the Bonn “Corpus.”