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Justin Martyr

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

St. Ignatius

St. Daniel the Stylite

Introduction

Ch. 1-34

Ch. 35-70

Ch. 71-102

Notes

The Life of
St. Theodore
of Sykeon

Pass. 3-10

Pass. 11-20

Pass. 21-30

Pass. 31-40

Pass. 41-50

Pass. 51-60

Pass. 61-70

Pass. 71-80

Pass. 81-90

Pass. 91-100

Pass. 101-110

Pass. 111-120

Pass. 121-130

Pass. 131-140

Pass. 141-148

Notes

A homily of
St. Gregory Palamas
on Matthew 5:1-12

St. John Chrysostom Letters to Olympias

Letter 1

Letter 2

Letter 3

Letter 4

Letter 5

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF OUR HOLY FATHER,
ST. DANIEL THE STYLITE

NOTES

Introd.

 

For the whole subject of the asceticism of the Stylite Saints see the masterly study of Hippolyte Delehaye, Les Saints stylites (=Subsidia Hagiographica, vol. I4), Brussels, Société des Bollandistes, 1923; the text of the Life of Daniel, pp. I-94. There is a previous publication of the Life in Analecta Bollandiana 32 (19I3), pp. 121-229; this has an index of proper names which is lacking in the later edition. For a study of the new historical material contained in the Vita cf. English Historical Review 40 (1925),pp.397-402.

The reader of the Life of Daniel will naturally be interested in the life of Daniel's master Simeon: for that life the sources are
(i) Theodoret, Historia Religiosa, ch. 26, the account of an eye-witness;
(ii) a Syriac Life of which there is a German translation by Hilgenfeld in H. Lietzmann, Das Leben des heiligen Symeon Stylites (=Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, edd. A. Harnack and C. Schmidt, vol. 32, Heft 4), Hinrichs, Leipzig, 1908;
(iii) a Greek Life-the text in Lietzmann, ibid.;
(iv) Evagrius, Historia Ecclesiastica, Book I, ch. I3; of this there is an English translation in Bohn's Ecclesiastical Library, History of the Church by Theodoret and Evagrius, London, 1854,pp.272-6.

[Note (Halsall): Now also see Robert Doran, trans, The Lives of Simeon Stylites, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1992), for translations of the lives by Theodoret of Cyrrhus, by Antonius, and of the Syriac Life]

Of these sources there is an admirable study by P. Peeters recently published in Analecta Bollandiana 61 (1943), pp. 29-71, S. Syméon Stylite et ses premiers Biographes which shows that our most reliable source is the Syriac Life.

Antioch might share with Constantinople the possession of the saint's relics, but the pillar remained and about the pillar the devotion of Simeon's Syrian admirers raised a majestic church. The remains of that church have been closely studied of recent years and a note of the principal publications may be of interest:

H. W Beyer, Der Syrische Kirchenbau (=Studien zur spätantiken Kunstgeschichte, edd. Richard Delbruck and Hans Lietzmann, vol. I), De Gruyter, Berlin, I925, pp. 69-72: the building of the church dated between A.D.460 and 490.

H. C. Butler, Early Churches in Syria: Fourth to Seventh Centuries, ed. E. Baldwin Smith. Princeton Monographs in Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, I929,pp.97-I09. For Simeon's column see p. 100: height 40 ft.: it is suggested that the summit was 6 ft. square.

Daniel Krencker and Rudolf Naumann, Die Wallfahrtskirche des Simeon Stylites, etc. Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Jahrgang 1938 Philosophisch-historische Klasse Nr.4, De Gruyter, Berlin, 1939-a sumptuous publication: account of excavations in the spring of 1938 with plans and photographs, but see the review by A. M. Schneider in Göttinger Gelehrte Anzeigen for 1939, pp.335-42; G. de Jerphanion, in Voix des Monuments N.S., Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Roma, I938,pp. III-33 and in Orientalia Christiana Periodica 9 (1943),pp. 203-II.

Readers may be glad to have a reference to the French translation of the life of another stylite saint: François Vanderstuyf, Vie de Saint Luc le Stylite (879-979), Patrologia Orientalis, edd. R. Graffin and F. Nau, Tome II, Fasc. 2(1914).

For the history of the period covered by Daniel's life cf. J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, Macmillan, London, 1903, vol. I; Otto Seeck, Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt, vol. 6, Metzler, Stuttgart, I920, with an Anhang of notes, 192I; Ernst Stein, Geschichte des spatromischen Reiches, Vol. I, Seidel, Vienna, 1928. For details of the struggle between the Germans and the Isaurians cf. E. W. Brooks in English Historical Review 8 (1893), pp.209-38.

ch. 2,

'two great lights': for the explanation of the vision see ch. 46.

ch. 4

'When he was twelve years old-' For the admission of children into monasteries at this time cf. the case of Heliodorus who was received into the monastery of Eusebonas when he was only three years old: for sixty-two years he never left the monastery and he told Theodoret that he had no idea what a pig or a cock might look like. Theodoret, Historia religiosa, Migne, Patrologia Graeca. vol. 82.Col 1468.

ch. 7

Telanissae: the Greek text of Theodoret has the form Telanissos or Telanessos: the Syriac form is Telneschin or Telneschil: cf. H. Lietzmann, Das Leben des heiligen Symeon stylites (see above), p. 205.

ch. 7

For the apologetic for St. Simeon's strange form of asceticism see Theodoret, Historia Religiosa, ch. 26, Migne: Patrologia Graeca, vol. 82, col. 1473, and in Hilgenfeld's translation of the Syriac Life in Lietzmann, op. cit., ch. 117, pp. 163-5.

ch. 9

'at last you are free': a surprising consequence of his appointment as abbot.

ch. 10

The revolt of the Samaritans. Hatred of the Christians led to many revolts of the Samaritans: in 484 Zeno took Gerizim from the Samaritans and built there a church dedicated to the Virgin. After the violence of the Samaritan revolution of 529 many of their synagogues were destroyed: some of the Samaritans became Christians, while others escaped into Persia.

ch. 11

For the reappearance of the old man see ch. 53.

ch. 12

On the writer's sources of knowledge see the Introduction, p. 6.

ch. 12

'in the quarter of the city named after Basiliscus': "epano tou propulou tes eisodou tou marturiou ta kata Basilikon. Tà K.B. is curious and we are not sure how the words should be translated.

ch. 13

a place called Anaplus: cf. J. Pargoire, Anaple et Sosthène, Izvyestiya russkago arkheologicheskago Instituta v Konstantinopolye 3 (1898), pp. 60-97. Pargoire has shown that the word Anaplous has many meanings: (i) the navigation of the Bosphorus up against the current from Constantinople to the Black Sea or the whole of the Bosphorus itself; (ii) the S.W. coastline of the Bosphorus from the suburb of Sycae (Galata) to the narrows halfway between Constantinople and the Black Sea; (iii) a specific place (or perhaps to two specific places), as in this Vita, where Anaplus=the modern Roumeli-Hissar.

ch. 14

'Paul his disciple'-a mistake which was corrected by the author of the shorter Life who omits the name of Paul. Antony is, of course, St. Antony, 'the first monk', whose Life was written by Athanasius.

ch. 7

'a small'window': semnen thurida cf. ch. 20 s.f. Thurida; see ch. 20 monasterion semnon, ch. 64 s.f. Kai sustesamenos semnon monasterion hosei andron dodeka. It is not easy to see how semnos comes to mean 'small' .

ch. 17

with nothing to do: umeis adioketoi menete We are not sure of the translation of adioketoi.

ch. 17.

'the blessed Anatolius': Anatolius was Patriarch of Constantinople from 449 to July 3rd, 458. For the date of his death cf. Franz Diekamp, Analecta Patristica (=Orientalia Christiana Analecta, No. 117), Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, Roma, 1938, p. 55 note.

ch. 20

'a small monastery': see note on ch. 15.

ch. 20

'a small window': see note on ch. I5.

ch. 22

St. Simeon's leather tunic: dermokoukoullon. There is a difficulty here, since Simeon's instruction before his death was that the skins which were his only garments should be his sole covering after death. The writer of the Syriac Life says 'and this was done'. Hilgenfeld in Lietzmann, Das Leben, etc., ch. 123, p. 168.-The leather covering may of course have been abstracted after Simeon's death to be presented to the Emperor, as later the Saint's relics were carried to Constantinople. Peeters writes: 'S'il y a contradiction entre les deux textes, on ne la résoudra pas en accordant a priori la préférence au narrateur gree', Analeeta Bollandiana 61 (1943), p. 59. Perhaps dermokoukoullon should be translated 'leather tunic with its cowl', cf. ch. 52 infra.

ch. 22

'the sleepless ones': the monks who sought to maintain prayer both night and day within the monastery: to 'pray without ceasing'. Cf. the article by E. Marin s.v. 'Acémètes' in the Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, edd. A. Vacant and E. Mangenot, vol. ix Paris, 1903, coll. 304-8. The founder of the body of 'sleepless monks' was Alexander, who formed a monastery in Constantinople c. 420. The monks had attacked Nestorius who was at that time supported by the Court; in consequence they were driven from the capital and took refuge in the monastery of Rufinianae of which Hypatius was abbot. Later they moved fifteen miles farther up the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus to Irenaion=the modern village of Tchiboukly opposite Stenia-for the identification of Stenia with Sosthenion of the Byzantines see Pargoire, op. cit. (note on ch. 13) pp. 61-5. At Irenaion the 'sleepless monks' built a large monastery housing some 300 monks: they were divided into separate choirs and thus praise to God was sung continuously without pause night or day. A vivid account of the sufferings of the Akoimetoi before they settled at Irenaion is given in the Life of St. Hypatius by Callinicus of which there is a useful edition, Leipzig [1895], and that story is re-told by J. Pargoire, Les Débuts du Monachisme à Constantinople, Revue des Questions historiques, N.S. 21 (1899), pp. 133-43.

ch. 23

'guardsman': Silentiarius. The silentiarii formed the body of 'ushers who kept guard at the doors during meetings of the Imperial Council and Imperial audiences'. J. B`. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, Macmillan, London, 1923, vol. I, p. 33 note. Cf. ch. 42 infra, and see A. Vogt, Constantin VII Porphyrogénète, Le Livre des Cérémonies, Commentaire, Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1935, pp. 46-7.

ch. 24

'fluttering': Thopeuousan. Topeuein means to 'flatter'. There is apparently no parallel to its meaning in this passage which can be only to 'flutter'. It has been suggested that in English 'flatter' and 'flutter' are forms of the same word and that it has undergone a change in meaning similar to that in the case of the Greek Topeuein, though this differentiation has been marked in English by a vowel change. See Maurice Leroy, Nugulae byzantinae, Annuaire de l'Institut de philologie et d'histoire orientales et slaves 6 (1938), pp 95-9

ch. 25

'steward of the sacred table': kastriesios tes theias trapezes. For the imperial table and its controller o epi tes trapezes, cf. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis (Bonn edition), p. 463 (cf. pp. 70, 484); J. B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century (=British Academy Supplementary Papers I), Oxford University Press, 1911, pp. 125-6. The Castresios (Castrensis) would appear to have been his subordinate; he is mentioned by Constantine VII, ibid., pp. 742, 744.

ch. 27

Anatolius, cf. ch. 17. For a biography of Gennadius see Franz Diekamp, op. cit. (note on ch. 17), pp. 54-70, and see ch. 41-3 infra.

ch. 28

'a Syro-persian from Mesopotamia': 'Syro-persian'= a Persian subject speaking Syriac. Leroy argues that in the case of such compound words the first part describes the country of origin and the second part the habitat. He compares Mark vii. 26. Maurice Leroy, loc. cit. (note on ch. 24), pp. 102-4.

'the last rungs': In the Vienna MS. of the Vita the word 'four' is added here: if this reading were adopted the ladder used for Daniel's first column would have had ten rungs.

ch. 31

Cyrus. For the famous Praefect of Constantinople and Praetorian Praefect of the East cf. J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire (see note on ch.23), vol. l, pp. 227-9. His buildings in the capital caused the crowd in the Hippodrome to shout 'Constantine built the city, but Cyrus renewed it'. See further the article by Otto Seeck in Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, Realencyclopädie der classischen AItertsmswissenschaft, vol. 12, Stuttgart, 1924, coll. 188-90. Cf. ch. 36 infra.

ch. 31

Chrysaphius: the all-powerful eunuch under Theodosius II. See J. B. Bury, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 229, 235-6; Otto Seeck, Realencyclopädie, vol. 3 (1899), coll. 2485-6-'the Spatharius'-see note on ch. 56.

ch. 32

On Gelanius see note on ch. 25.

ch. 35

Eudoxia, the daughter of Theodosius II and Eudocia, married Valentinian III in 437 and in Ravenna was declared Augusta in 439. In 455 her husband died, and in the same year Gaiseric, the Vandal, invaded Italy, sacked Rome and carried off as prisoners Eudoxia and her two daughters, Placidia and Eudocia. In 462, under the terms of a treaty of peace concluded with Gaiseric, Eudoxia and Placidia were restored from captivity and returned to Constantinople. Of her later history we know nothing. See the article by Otto Seeck, Realencyclopädie (see note on ch. 31), vol. 6 (1907), coll. 925-6.

ch. 35

Olybrius, a member of the aristocracy of Rome, escaped from the western capital when it was sacked by Gaiseric and as the present Vita shows reached Constantinople; he had probably been betrothed to Placidia, the daughter of Eudoxia, while in Italy: this would explain his inquiries which Daniel had answered concerning the return from Africa of Eudoxia and her daughtcr. Gaiseric (whose son Huneric had married Placidia's sister Eudocia) desired Olybrius to be declared Emperor in the West. Olybrius was sent to Italy by Leo, and after the death of Anthemius ruled there as emperor for seven months. He died-surprisingly-a natural death. It is doubtful whether he was recognized as Emperor by the East Roman Court; on the circumstantial story given by Malalas of Leo's attempt to procure the assassination of Olybrius see J. B. Bury, English Historical Review, vol. I (1886), pp. 507-9. The story is unsupported by any other authority; how did Malalas learn the details which he gives (Malalas, p. 374, Bonn ed.)? See Ernst Stein, Geschichte des spätramischen Reiches, vol. I (see p. 73), pp. 582-3, and T. Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, vol. 2, ed. 2, Oxford, I 892, index. s.v. 'Olybrius', and probable genealogy, p. 474.

ch. 35

'your angelic presence': para to so angelo i.e. 'with your angel'='with your angelic self'. For this curious use of the word 'angel' see H. Grégoire, 'Ton Ange' et les Anges de Théra", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 30 (1929-30), pp. 641-4. Professor Grégoire thinks that this form went out of use after the seventh century: it was too 'osé de saluer un ange dans un chrétien vivant, fût-il un saint'. 'On se contente d'expressions plus prudentes comme isangelos ['equal to the angels'], angelikos ['angelic']; on parla d'âmes concitoyennes des anges'. Cf. infra, ch. 49, 7 I .

ch. 36

Cyrus. See note p. 77, ch. 31I .

ch. 36

On this epigram cf. Père Delehaye's article Revue des Études grecques 9 (1896), pp. 216-24. Delehaye suggested that the inscription was the work of Cyrus himself: he has contributed several epigrams to the Greek Anthology: cf. vii. 557; ix. s36,623, 808,809; xv. 9.

ch. 38

The Emperor Leo I. For the reign cf. J. B. Bury, op. cit. (see note on ch. 23), vol. I, pp. 314-23; Ensslin in Realencyclopädie (see note on ch.31 ), vol. 12 (1925), coll. 1947-61.

ch. 38

The Empress Verina, cf. the note on ch. 55.

ch. 39

'a certain harlot': the Greek text has an otherwise unknown word tuphas.: Maurice Leroy proposes to read truphas: cf. his study of the Greek words for prostitute, op. cit. (see note on ch. 24), pp. 106-9.

ch. 39

Anaplus: see note on ch. 13.

ch. 41

Gennadius: see note on ch. 27.

ch. 41

'the rnatter was not remembered': see ch. 45.

ch. 42

'guardsman': Silentiarius; see note on ch. 23.

ch. 43

On this remarkable ordination to the priesthood see H. Delehaye, Les Saints stylites, Brussels, 1923, p. lvi.

ch. 45

The great fire (cf. ch . 4 I )-September 2nd, 465 (for references cf. Ensslin, Realencyclopädie -see note on ch. 31-vol. 12, coll. I959). A great part of the capital was destroyed by the conflagration which is probably to be identified with that reported in Chron. Pasch. (Bonn ed.), vol. I, p. 598, which was the greatest ever known: the fire spread from sea to sea. The Emperor fled from Constantinople and crossed to the Asiatic shore where he remained for six months.

ch. 45

'did not keep silence', etc.: or, as in the abbreviated version of the Vita: 'God in His mercy and wishing to spare the people disclosed these things to me and I did not keep silence, but more than once I declared them and besought men that they should repent and my words were counted as idle babbling. You should have obeyed my words and have escaped from such anger. For formerly-the Ninevites . . .'

ch. 46

'the two lights': see ch. 2 supra.

ch. 48

'his chamberlain': see note on ch. 7I.

ch. 49

Jordanes, son of John, the Vandal Master of the Soldiers, who was murdered in Thrace in 44 I . Jordanes was consul in 470. For his appointment as general on the Eastern front see ch. 55 infra.

ch. 49

'your angelic presence': see note on ch. 35.

ch. 51

Gubazius, King of the Lazi: In 456 Marcian had attacked Colchis and had called upon the King of the Lazi to abdicate or to depose his son, as it was against tradition to have two joint rulers. Gubazius abdicated and agreed to come to Constantinople to discuss the relations of his kingdom towards the Empire. In 466 Gabazius pays his visit. Lazica lay at the eastern extremity of the Black Sea. See the sketch-map in V. Chapot, La Frontière de l'Euphrate, Fontemoing, Paris, 1907. On Lazica see ibid., pp. 13-14, and the chapter on L'Extrémité du Pont-Euxin et les Régions caucasiques, ibid., pp. 363-73.

ch. 52

'the Saint's leather tunic': see note on ch. 22.

ch. 53

'the man who met me on the road': cf. ch.10.

ch. 55

This is an important section; it tells us for the first time how Zeno was brought to the notice of the Emperor. For Ardaburius and his father Aspar see Otto Seeck in Realeneyclopadie (see note on ch. 31), vol. 2 (1895), coll. 607-10.

ch. 55

Patricius: not to be identified with Aspar's son of that name (J. B. Bury, op. cit. (see note on ch. 23) vol. I p. 317 note). Later Patricius became the paramour of Verina: she plotted against Zeno in order to raise Patricius to the throne. In this she failed, as her brother Basiliscus was made Emperor and he put Patricius to death (cf. Bury, ibid., pp. 390-1). For Jordanes see note on ch. 49.

ch. 56

So far as we know this is the only place where a threatened Vandal attack upon Egypt is mentioned.

ch. 56

spatharius: spatha = a long sword. Spatharii appear as private soldiers maintained, as were the bucellarii, by generals and other potentiores. Here Hylasius is clearly a member of the troop of imperial guards, cf. R. Grosse, Römische Militärgeschichte, Weidmann, Berlin, 1920, pp. 137-8, 285-6.

ch. 56

The biographer here is very discreet: it is true that Gaiseric did not attack Egypt, but the combined naval expedition of the forces of the East and of the West of the Emperor directed against the Vandal kingdom ended in a complete catastrophe. The expedition was under the command of Basiliscus and it was ruined by his incompetence. It was said that he had been instigated by Aspar to betray the fleet under the promise of empire: Priscus, a contemporary, states that he was bribed by Gaiseric [for sources: E. W. Brooks, English Historical Review 8 (1893), p. 213]. It is not necessary to accept either of these attempts to explain the disastrous failure. For Gaiseric or Genseric see: Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, vol. 2, 2nd ed., Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1892, pp. 227 sqq.; F. Martroye, Genséric, La Conquête vandale en Afrique et la Destruction de l'Empire d'Occident, Hachette, Paris, 1907; E. A. Gautier, Genséric, Roi des Vandales, Payot, Paris, 1932. For the range of Gaiseric's hostile action see the account of his attack on Greece, Gautier, p. 254. For the disastrous attack on Africa by the Empire, Gautier, pp. 255 sqq.; Hodgkin, p. 446; Bury, op. cit. (see note on ch. 23), pp. 335-7.

ch. 57

but no columns: ektos kionon. We do not know how this should be translated: it seems as if ektos must mean 'free from'

ch. 58

The relics of St. Simeon. Since Antioch continued to regard the body of St. Simeon as its great protection we must conclude that a part only of the Saint's remains was brought to Constantinople. 'II n'est pas nécessaire d'admettre, dans un pays où la division des corps saints n'était pas regardée comme un sacrilège, que l'on n'a pu enrichir la capitale sans dépouiller complètement Antioche.' Delehaye, Les Saints stylites, p. Ivi.

ch. 60

'at his endurance': Here we have adopted a change in punctuation.

ch. 60

'to his soldiers': his bucellarii-i.e. soldiers serving under a military commander as his own private troop. The word is said to be derived from bucella = fine white bread as distinguished from the ordinary rations of the common soldier. See Grosse, op. cit. (note on ch. 56), p. 287.

ch. 61

We owe this translation to Professor Dawkins; cf. ch. 49 (short version). Peri de Iordanou kai touto to agathon te se emenen hoioteti.

ch. 64

We know nothing about Idoubingos.

ch. 64

'a small monastery': see note on ch. 15.

ch. 65

Zeno marries Leo's daughter Ariadne. Since Zeno was consul in 469 the marriage presumably was celebrated in the winter of 467-8. Brooks placed it in 466, English Historical Review 8 (1893), p. 212. Leo had previously promised that Patricius, Aspar's son, should marry Ariadne. 'Henceforth there were two factions at the Court of Constantinople, the Isaurian and the barbarian. . . For the next twenty years the history of the Empire turns upon the struggle between these factions.' Brooks.

ch. 65

Apparently in 470 Anagast revolted in Thrace; this would explain Zeno's mission to Thrace. Anagast later claimed that his revolt had been instigated by Ardadurius and produced letters from Ardaburius in support of his assertion (John of Antioch, frag. 206). This revolt may in its turn have led to the murder in the palace in 47 I of both Aspar and Ardaburius (ch. 66 infra).

ch. 65

'came to Pylae': see note to p. 191.[= note to chap 127 in Life of Theodore Sykeon]

ch. 66

Birth of Leo II. Leo was in his seventh year when he died in November 474. He must therefore have been born in 468. Malalas xiv (Bonn ed.), p. 376; Seeck, Regesten der Kaiser und Päpste, Metzler, Stuttgart, 1919, p. 425

ch. 67

Death of Leo I: January 18th, 474.

ch. 67

'went to the land of his fathers': this reads oddly here- eporeuthe en te ge ton pateron. Presumably such texts as 1 Kings viii. 34, 48; 2 Chron. vi. 25, 38 are interpreted as signifying Heaven.

ch. 67

'his father': oikeios has merely the force of the possessive pronoun.

ch. 68

For the plot organized by Verina in concert with her brother Basiliscus with the object of dethroning Zeno, the husband of her daughter Ariadne, see Bury, op. cit. (note on ch. 23), vol. 1, pp. 390-7.

Armatus, nephew of Verina, was the lover of Zenonis, the wife of Basiliscus: he was created a Master of the Soldiers by his uncle and was his colleague in the consulship in 476.

Marcianus, the son of Anthemius, the Roman Emperor in the West, had married Leontia, the second daughter of Leo I. His participation in the revolt of Basiliscus (475) is to be distinguished ffom his later attempt to overthrow Zeno, on which see Bury, op. cit., Vol. l, p. 395. Cf.`the article by Ensslin, Realencyclopädie (see note on ch. 31), vol. 14 (1930), coll. 1529-30. We do not know of any other mention of Zuzus. It is to be noted how carefully the writer shields Verina and puts on others the responsibility for the attack on Zeno.

ch. 69

'and landed': epoiesan hekotabla. We do not know how these words should be translated: is it 'they landed' or does it mean literally 'they took horse'?

ch. 70

' Basiliscus-name of ill omen': Basiliscus-a diminutive of Basileus = 'a little emperor'. For the Monophysitism favoured by Basiliscus see J. B. Bury, op. cit. (note on ch. 23), vol. I, p. 403; Ernst Stein, op. cit. (see p. 73), p. 538; for the Encyclical of Basiliscus anathematizing the Creed of Chalcedon cf. Zechariah of Mitylene, Book V, ch. 2-in the translation of E. W. Brooks (Methuen, 1899), pp. 105-7; in the German translation of K. Ahrens and G. Kruger (Teubner, Leipzig, }899), pp. 60-2.

ch. 70

Acacius: Patriarch of Constantinople, A.D. 471-89.

ch. 71

chamberlain: a cubicularius. On these trusted servants of the Emperor see the article by Rostowzew, Realencyclopädie (see note on ch. 3}), vol. 4, coll. 1734-7.

ch. 71

'your angelic nature': literally 'to your angel'; see note on ch. 35.

ch. 72

The Exakionium, more usually Exokionion or corrupted into Hexakionion = the district outside (exo) the wall of Constantine to the south of the City. Cf. Van Millingen, Byzantine Constantinople (Murray, 1899), pp. 18 sqq. and map opposite p. 19.

The Monastery of Studius. Studius, a patrician from Rome, founded in 463 the famous monastery dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It lay south of the Exokionion (see note supra). Delehaye has shown that the monastery was always known as 'of Studius' and never as 'Studium'. Analecta Bollandiana 52 (1934), pp. 64-5.

Exarch. Probably here = the superintendent of the monasteries of the capital.

ch. 73

The Hebdomon = seven miles from the central milestone in the capital. Its site at Makrikeui on the shore of the Sea of Marmora, three miles to the west of the Golden Gate, was determined by Van Millingen: Byzantine Constantinople, pp. 316-41 and map opposite p. 316. See further Heinrich Gluck, Das Hebdomon und seine Reste in Makrikoi (=Beiträge zur vergleichenden Kunstforschung Heft 1), Vienna, 1920 (illustrated), and for the most recent excavations cf. Échos d'Orient (Bucharest) 38 (1939), 146 sq.

ch. 75

sentinels or the palace guards':phrouroi eitoun phulakes tou palatiou. Of the precise meaning of these terms we are not sure; are they synonymous? Cf. Phrourophulaki in the Lexikon of Sophocles.

ch. 75

'the guards who were on duty': hoi scholarioi hoi ta ekskoubeta poiountes. Cf. J. B. Bury, op. cit. (note on ch. 23), vol. 1, p. 37: 'The Scholarians were picked men and till the middle of the fifth century chiefly Germans, mounted, better equipped and better paid than the ordinary cavalry of the army. There were seven schools at Constantinople each 500 strong.' They were under the control of the Master of the Offices. 'The decline of the Scholarian Guards is attributed by Agathias (v. 15) to Zeno, who bestowed appointments on Isaurian relatives of no valour.' Bury, ibid., p. 401. Cf. R. Grosse, op. cit. (see note on ch. 56), pp 93-6

ch. 76

'two guardsmen': here silentiarii - for these Court ushers see note on ch. 23.

ch. 76

'a legal secretary of the Emperor': raipherendarion, On the Referendarii see J. B. Bury, Magistri Scriniorum, ANTIGRAPHES and REPHERENARIOI, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 21 (1910) (Harvard University), pp.23-9. 'The referendarii, who might be described as legal secretaries of the Emperor . . . acted as bearers of the unwritten answers of the Emperor, in judicial matters, to the persons concerned, and they might be employed on various special missions. From the nature of the case they might possess much influence on the imperial decisions', p. 29.

ch. 76

'against her who is his confederate': presumably Verina.

ch. 78

'monastery of Studius': see note on ch. 72.

ch. 80

Dagalaiphus: son of Areobindus (consul in 434) and married to the daughter of Ardabur. He was consul in 461 .

ch. 80

Forum of the Ox (Bous): at Akserai, not far from the harbour of Eleutherius (see map in Van Millingen, Byzantine Constantinople, at p. 19).

ch. 82

We do not know of any reference to Herais in other sources; cf. ch. 94.

ch. 83

'Basiliscus of ill-omened name': see note on ch. 70.

ch. 83

Theoctistus had been appointed Master of the Offices by Basiliscus; he was a doctor from Alexandria. See Zechariah of Mitylene, translation of Hamilton and Brooks (Methuen, 1899), p. 104. For his part in the religious controversy of the reign, ibid., pp. 104, 110. In the translation of Ahrens and Kruger (Leipzig, 1899), pp. 59, 65

ch. 85

Zeno's return to Constantinople: Armatus, the nephew of Basiliscus, went over to the side of Zeno, cf. E. W. Brooks, English Historical Review 8 (I893), pp. 217-18. Zeno had fled from the capital on January 9th, 475, and the fall of Basiliscus must be placed at the end of August 476; see Seeck, Regesten (note on ch. 66), p. 426.

ch. 86

'The holy relics of Simeon": see ch. 58.

ch. 89

Parthenopolis: where is this place?

ch. 91

Anastasius: Emperor 491-518.

ch. 92

Euphemius: Patriarch of Constantinople, 490-6.

ch. 94

Herais. Cf. ch. 82.

ch. 99

anientes: we have translated as though the text read aniontes.


Source: Three Byzantine Saints: Contemporary Biographies of St. Daniel the Stylite, St. Theodore of Sykeon and St. John the Almsgiver, trans. Elizabeth Dawes, and introductions and notes by Norman H. Baynes, (London: 1948)

The book is currently [1997] published in the US. By St. Vladmir's Seminary Press. Inquiries at SVSP confirmed, however, that the US copyright on this text was allowed to lapse. The text in this case seems to be in the Public Domain in the US, but not necessarily elsewhere.


 

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© Paul Halsall June 1997
halsall@murray.fordham.edu

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