Geoffrey Greatrex

The chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor : church and war in late antiquity

Preface amd Acknowledgements Abbreviations A General overview B Zachariah of Mytilene (1) Life and career (2) Zachariahs works (i) The Life of Isaiah and a Life of Peter the Iberian (ii) A Vita Paralii (iii) Ammonius or De mundi opificio (disputatio) (iv) The Ecclesiastical History (v) The Life of Severus (vi) Capita vii contra Manichaeos (vii) The Antirrhesis (Adversus Manichaeos) (3) Zachariahs Ecclesiastical History (i) Introduction (ii) Composition and nature of the work (iii) Sources (iv) The relation between PZ and Zach.s HE (v) Conclusion C Pseudo-Zachariah of Mytilene (1) Pseudo-Zachariah himself (2) The work of PZ (3) PZs sources (i) The Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah of Mytilene (ii) A chronicle (iii) Bishop lists (iv) Church historians (v) Written records of church councils (vi) Dossiers of correspondence (vii) Self-standing accounts (viii) An account of the reign of Anastasius (ix) A Justinianic source, covering books viii-x (x) An apocalyptic source (4) The transmission of PZ (5) PZs literary style and interests (R.P., C.H.) (6) The manuscript basis of PZ, editions, translations and research to date (W.W., revised by G.G.) (7) Conclusion D Historical Introduction E Text and translation F Analysis and partial translation of books i-ii (S.B., commentary revised by G.G.) Book iii Book iv Book v Book vi Book vii Book viii Book ix Book x Book xii Appendix 1 Works circulating in the early sixth century about the council of Chalcedon Appendix 2 Patriarchs, 440-570 Glossary Maps (1) Constantinople in the sixth century (2) Amida and its environs (3) The eastern frontier region (4) The Mesopotamian frontier (5) The Arabian peninsula (viii.3) (6) Monasteries of the eastern provinces (viii.5) (7) The Caucasus region (xii.7) (8) The Caucasus region (xii.7) Bibliography Indices (1) Biblical references (2) References to CPG/CPL (3) Persons and places mentioned in xii.7 (4) Persons and places

Byzantium and the East in the Sixth Century

In 551 a Persian ambassador, Yazdgushnasp, travelled to Constantinople. The journey from the Roman frontier at Dara took three months; en route he was entertained and provided for by local officials and envoys of the emperor. Once in the imperial capital, he and his retinue were lodged at imperial expense. Within a few days, he was summoned to the palace to meet Justinian and his counsellors. Once the Persian had prostrated himself several times before the emperor and greeted him in the name of the Persian king, Justinian replied to him, “How fares our brother in God? We rejoice in his good health.” Gifts were then exchanged, and the audience concluded. Detailed negotiations began in earnest a few days later. Here we see one aspect of Romano-Persian relations as they had evolved over three centuries. Diplomatic language permitted the two rulers to address one another as equals, even as brothers. Persian diplomats could claim that the two empires were the “two lamps of the world”; and “as with (two) eyes, each one should be adorned by the brightness of the other.” Later in the sixth century, the emperor Maurice even intervened during a civil war in Persia to restore Khusro II to the throne. His decision flew in the face of the advice of several of his counsellors, however: the polite phrases of diplomats must not be allowed to obscure the abiding mistrust of Persia felt by most Romans.

Deux notes sur Théodose II et les Perses

Two points relating to Theodosius II and relations with Persia are discussed in this article. In the first section the author returns to the subject of the guardianship supposedly exercised by the Sasanian king Yazdgerd I over the young Theodosius through the despatch of a eunuch, Antiochus, to Constantinople. Despite recently expressed doubts as to the reliability of this tradition, he argues that it is credible and notes the publication of recent relevant evidence. In the second section he turns to the much debated question of the date of the foundation of Theodosioupolis (in Armenia), arguing in detail, contrary to recent discussions of the subject, that it was indeed founded in the immediate run-up to the Romano-Persian war of 421-422, rather than during the reign of Theodosius I.