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The Chronographia of George the Synkellos and Theophanes
The Ends of Time in Ninth-Century Constantinople
Series: - Brill's Series on the Early Middle Ages, Volume: 28
Author:
The ninth-century Chronographia of George the Synkellos and Theophanes is the most influential historical text ever written in medieval Constantinople. Yet modern historians have never explained its popularity and power. This interdisciplinary study draws on new manuscript evidence to finally animate the Chronographiaâs promise to show attentive readers the present meaning of the past.
Begun by one of the Roman emperorâs most trusted and powerful officials in order to justify a failed revolt, the project became a shockingly ambitious re-writing of time itselfâa synthesis of contemporary history, philosophy, and religious practice into a politicized retelling of the human story. Even through radical upheavals of the Byzantine political landscape, the Chronographiaâs unique historical vision again and again compelled new readers to chase after the elusive Ends of Time.
Begun by one of the Roman emperorâs most trusted and powerful officials in order to justify a failed revolt, the project became a shockingly ambitious re-writing of time itselfâa synthesis of contemporary history, philosophy, and religious practice into a politicized retelling of the human story. Even through radical upheavals of the Byzantine political landscape, the Chronographiaâs unique historical vision again and again compelled new readers to chase after the elusive Ends of Time.
Jesse W. Torgerson, Ph.D., (2013), University of California Berkeley, is Associate Professor of Letters in the College of Letters at Wesleyan University in the Middletown of Connecticut, USA.
"Jesse Torgerson's work is a significant advance in the study of Eastern Roman historical writing and should cause revision to numerous works of scholarship that have relied on faulty interpretations of the text commonly known as the Chronicle of Theophanes." - Leonora Neville, University of Wisconsin, Madison, in: Speculum 99(1) (2024), p. 294
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Two Notes on the Text
Introduction: Reading the Chronographia on Its Own Terms
â1âReconstructing Authors or Re-Reading Manuscripts? A New Approach
â2âEssential Terms and Their Implications for Reading
â3âThe Chronographiaâs Invective against Eusebius as Its Claim to Auctoritas
â4âThe Place of the Chronographia in Byzantine Chronography
â5âThe Argument of This Book
1 Text and Manuscripts: The Imperial Logic of the Chronographia
â1âThe Ninth-Century Form of the Chronographia
â2âThe Structure of the Text: AM 5434 as the Beginning of a New Era
â3âTimeâs Order: A Chronology of Emperors or of Universal Years?
â4âHow the Dating Systems Work in Practice
â5âThe Imperial Time of the Chronographia
2 Author: The Synkellos and His Imperial Critique
â1âThe Significance of Georgeâs Personal History for Reading the Chronographia
â2âWhat Was a synkellos in ca. 800?
â3âThe synkelloi of the Chronographia and the Revolt of AM 6300 (AD 808)
â4âThe Associates of the Synkellos in the Revolt of AD 808
â5âThe Synkellosâ Imperial Critique
3 Thesis: The First-Created Day
â1âWhat Did the First-Created Day Mean? A Reliable Chronology of Empire
â2âTheological Truth in the Chronological Paradox of the First-Created Day
â3âTypology and Chronology: The Past Fulfilled in the Present
â4âThe First-Created Day and the Present Age
â5âThe Thesis of the First Created Day: Chronology and Typology
4 Reader: The Invitation of the Preface of Theophanes
â1âThe Preface: From Authorship to Readership
â2âA Conceptual Map of the Preface
â3âGeorge as Author and Theophanes as His Reader
â4âTheophanes, Author of âthe Same Chronography,â and His Reader
â5âThe Invitation of the Preface
âAppendix: Preface of Theophanes as in Wake Greek 5, Collated with VG 155
5 Imperial Antitypes: Progenitors, Successors, and Greed
â1âThe Imperial Antitype: The Greedy Emperor
â2âThe Progenitor-Successor Type: Constantine-Constantius
â3âThe Corruption of the Progenitor-Successor Type: Herakleios-Constans
â4âThe Antitype of the Progenitor-Successor Type: Leo III to Constantine V
â5âInterpreting the Antitypes in the Readerâs Present
6 Imperial Prototypes: Mothers, Sons, and Repentance
â1âThe Fulfillment of Early Rulersâ Virtues: Constantine I with Helena
â2âThe Paradigm of Good Rule: Theodosios II with Pulcheria
â3âIrene and Constantine VI: From a Holy Beginning to a Failed Joint Reign
â4âFrom Irene the Sinner to Irene the Repentant
â5âIrene the Repentant Martyr
â6âMothers, Sons and Repentance
7 Nikephoros the All-Devourer
â1âThe Transition from Irene to Nikephoros: AM 6295â6296 (AD 802â804)
â2âNikephorosâ Failures and a Growing Opposition: AM 6297â6301 (AD 804â809)
â3âThe Ten Evils of Nikephoros I: An Overview
â4âThe First Five Evils: The Evils of Impiety
â5âThe Last Five Evils: The Evils of Greed
â6âThe Parable of the Keroullarios and the All-Devourer: A Typological Reading
â7âThe First End(ing) of the Chronographia
8 AD 815 and the End of History
â1âWho Was against Nikephoros? The Faction behind the Chronographia Project
â2âWho Is for Leo V? The Entries for AM 6303â6305
â3âAM 6303â6305 and the Community of the Chronographia
â4âThe Second End(ing) of the Chronographia
9 The Pastâs Future: The Chronographia Project in the Mid-Ninth Century
â1âDating the Ninth-Century Recensions of the Chronographia
â2âThe Papal-Carolingian Excursus
â3âThe Chronographia and the Triumph of Orthodoxy: AD 843â847
â4âWriting Time in the Early Middle Ages
Conclusion: Writing Time for an End
â1âThe Past Study
â2âThe Present Discourse
â3âAn End for the Future
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Two Notes on the Text
Introduction: Reading the Chronographia on Its Own Terms
â1âReconstructing Authors or Re-Reading Manuscripts? A New Approach
â2âEssential Terms and Their Implications for Reading
â3âThe Chronographiaâs Invective against Eusebius as Its Claim to Auctoritas
â4âThe Place of the Chronographia in Byzantine Chronography
â5âThe Argument of This Book
Part 1: The Argument of the Chronographia
1 Text and Manuscripts: The Imperial Logic of the Chronographia
â1âThe Ninth-Century Form of the Chronographia
â2âThe Structure of the Text: AM 5434 as the Beginning of a New Era
â3âTimeâs Order: A Chronology of Emperors or of Universal Years?
â4âHow the Dating Systems Work in Practice
â5âThe Imperial Time of the Chronographia
2 Author: The Synkellos and His Imperial Critique
â1âThe Significance of Georgeâs Personal History for Reading the Chronographia
â2âWhat Was a synkellos in ca. 800?
â3âThe synkelloi of the Chronographia and the Revolt of AM 6300 (AD 808)
â4âThe Associates of the Synkellos in the Revolt of AD 808
â5âThe Synkellosâ Imperial Critique
3 Thesis: The First-Created Day
â1âWhat Did the First-Created Day Mean? A Reliable Chronology of Empire
â2âTheological Truth in the Chronological Paradox of the First-Created Day
â3âTypology and Chronology: The Past Fulfilled in the Present
â4âThe First-Created Day and the Present Age
â5âThe Thesis of the First Created Day: Chronology and Typology
4 Reader: The Invitation of the Preface of Theophanes
â1âThe Preface: From Authorship to Readership
â2âA Conceptual Map of the Preface
â3âGeorge as Author and Theophanes as His Reader
â4âTheophanes, Author of âthe Same Chronography,â and His Reader
â5âThe Invitation of the Preface
âAppendix: Preface of Theophanes as in Wake Greek 5, Collated with VG 155
Part 2: The Imperial Types of the Chronicle
5 Imperial Antitypes: Progenitors, Successors, and Greed
â1âThe Imperial Antitype: The Greedy Emperor
â2âThe Progenitor-Successor Type: Constantine-Constantius
â3âThe Corruption of the Progenitor-Successor Type: Herakleios-Constans
â4âThe Antitype of the Progenitor-Successor Type: Leo III to Constantine V
â5âInterpreting the Antitypes in the Readerâs Present
6 Imperial Prototypes: Mothers, Sons, and Repentance
â1âThe Fulfillment of Early Rulersâ Virtues: Constantine I with Helena
â2âThe Paradigm of Good Rule: Theodosios II with Pulcheria
â3âIrene and Constantine VI: From a Holy Beginning to a Failed Joint Reign
â4âFrom Irene the Sinner to Irene the Repentant
â5âIrene the Repentant Martyr
â6âMothers, Sons and Repentance
7 Nikephoros the All-Devourer
â1âThe Transition from Irene to Nikephoros: AM 6295â6296 (AD 802â804)
â2âNikephorosâ Failures and a Growing Opposition: AM 6297â6301 (AD 804â809)
â3âThe Ten Evils of Nikephoros I: An Overview
â4âThe First Five Evils: The Evils of Impiety
â5âThe Last Five Evils: The Evils of Greed
â6âThe Parable of the Keroullarios and the All-Devourer: A Typological Reading
â7âThe First End(ing) of the Chronographia
Part 3: The Ends of the Chronographia
8 AD 815 and the End of History
â1âWho Was against Nikephoros? The Faction behind the Chronographia Project
â2âWho Is for Leo V? The Entries for AM 6303â6305
â3âAM 6303â6305 and the Community of the Chronographia
â4âThe Second End(ing) of the Chronographia
9 The Pastâs Future: The Chronographia Project in the Mid-Ninth Century
â1âDating the Ninth-Century Recensions of the Chronographia
â2âThe Papal-Carolingian Excursus
â3âThe Chronographia and the Triumph of Orthodoxy: AD 843â847
â4âWriting Time in the Early Middle Ages
Conclusion: Writing Time for an End
â1âThe Past Study
â2âThe Present Discourse
â3âAn End for the Future
Bibliography
Index
Scholars and students of Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean, and anyone with interests in early medieval historical texts and Greek historiography.