“A Translation and Historical Commentary of Book One and Book Two of the Historia of Geōrgios Pachymerēs” Nathan John Cassidy, BA(Hons) (Canterbury) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Western Australia. School of Humanities Classics and Ancient History 2004 ii iii Abstract A summary of what a historical commentary should aim to do is provided by Gomme and Walbank in the introductions to their famous and magisterial commentaries on Thoukydidēs and Polybios. From Gomme: A historical commentary on an historian must necessarily derive from two sources, a proper understanding of his own words, and what we can learn from other authorities . To see what gaps there are in his narrative [and to] examine the means of filling these gaps. (A. Gomme A Historical Commentary on Thucydides vol. 1 (London, 1959) 1) And from Walbank: I have tried to give full references to other relevant ancient authorities, and where the text raises problems, to define these, even if they could not always be solved. Primarily my concern has been with whatever might help elucidate what Polybius thought and said, and only secondarily with the language in which he said it, and the question whether others subsequently said something identical or similar. (F. Walbank A Historical Commentary on Polybius vol. 1 (London, 1957) vii) Both scholars go on to stress the need for the commentator to stick with the points raised by the text and to avoid the temptation to turn the commentary into a rival narrative. These are the principles which I have endeavoured to follow in my Historical Commentary on Books One and Two of Pachymerēs’ Historia. My focus has been twofold. On the one hand I have highlighted and elucidated the events which Pachymerēs narrates, glossing with prosopographical and topological notes the people, places and things mentioned in the text, and explaining other esoteric details, such as the range of many and varied, ornate Byzantine court honorifics. On the other hand I have made a critical comparison between Pachymerēs and the other important sources for the period, Greek, Western, and Eastern, to provide explanations for differences in the various narratives, to suggest which source is the more accurate for any given event, and to fill up the narrative ‘gaps’ of Gomme. While I have attempted to avoid turning the commentary itself into a narrative, I acknowledge that in some places I have not been completely successful in this aim. However, I believe that every divagation is justified by the arguments I put forward. I must stress that both by training and inclination I am an historian, not a philologist, so the commentary will be historical rather than philological. This is despite the importance Pachymerēs himself places in the clever use of language and his frequent use of allusions to – and quotes from – other works, Classical, Byzantine or biblical. The question of mimēsis, how much Pachymerēs is directly trying to imitate or incorporate older texts, has received limited attention, and only where Pachymerēs’ use of the earlier text is vital to the understanding of his own work. Similarly, questions of language, and the way in which iv Pachymerēs uses it, have not been explored except in those instances where it directly affects the historical point our author is making. Pachymerēs’ Historia is an important source for a pivotal period in Byzantine Imperial history, and many scholars have not used it as efficiently as they could due to the denseness of his prose and his “tortuous syntax” (Bartusis 1992:55). While the situation is changing somewhat, especially through the on-going research of Albert Failler of the Institut Français d’études Byzantines, the Historia still contains many mysteries. It is hoped that this commentary can solve at least a few of these. v This was always going to be for Mrs Pickles, who first introduced me to the Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans. Now it is also for Dad, though he won’t read it; Barbara, because she needs some return on her investment; and for Mike Slackenerny, who showed me the way. vi GEŌRGIOS PACHYMERĒS (Cod. Gr. Monacen. 442. fol. 6vo) vii Contents Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations xi Introduction xiii Geōrgios Pachymerēs: Life and Career Pachymerēs’ Writings The Historia Books One and Two Pachymerēs’ Sources Pachymerēs’ Attitudes Notes on the Translation and Commentary xxiii The Historia of Geōrgios Pachymerēs Translation Book One 1 Book Two 43 Commentary Book One 85 Book Two 203 Appendices A) The Chronological Framework 359 B) The Official Hierarchy of Late Byzantium 363 Bibliography of Works Cited 365 Maps 1) The Thirteenth Century Byzantine World xxvi 2) Nikaian Anatolia 135 3) Epiros and Makedonia 179 4) The Capture of Kōnstantinoupolis, 24-26th July 1261 312 viii ix Acknowledgements The research and writing of this dissertation have occupied too many years. During this time I have received material and moral support from various institutions and individuals, who deserve my gratitude. The University of Western Australia provided me with the doctoral scholarship without which this work could not have been contemplated, and has shown great patience to see the return on its investment. The Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, and its Friends, provided me with funding to advance my research in places that would have been otherwise out of range, and provided me with much appreciated hospitality during my stay in Athens. Dumbarton Oaks in Washington was generous enough to grant me a Short Term Residency during the summer of 2002, and I would especially like to thank the staff of the Fellows building for keeping me well fed during my stay. The librarians at UWA, the Australian National University in Canberra, and at Dumbarton Oaks, have been most helpful in facilitating my work. Special thanks must go to the staff at the Scholars’ Centre in the Reid Library for tracking down some very esoteric articles for me, and to Peter Cobcroft of the National Library for the maps. It has been a pleasure to work in UWA Department of Classics and Ancient History, and the support they have given to a student of an out-of-the-way subject has been greatly appreciated. My supervisor, Assoc. Prof. John Melville-Jones, has been wonderfully supportive throughout. A student could not wish for a better crutch to lean upon. I also wish to thank all of the many scholars whose work I have used and abused in the course of completing this thesis. I cannot pretend to be standing on their shoulders, but they are giants nevertheless. I offer Pachymerēs my apologies for any offence this thesis may cause him. x xi Abbreviations Akrop. Georgii Acropolitae Opera, vol. 1: Historiam, ed. A Heisenberg (Leipzig, 1903) BH Bar Hebraeus, Gregory Abu’l Faraj The Chronography of Gregory Abû’l Faraj, the son of Aaron, the Hebrew Physician commonly known as Bar Hebraeus, Being the First Part of his Political History of the World, vol. 1, tr. E. Wallis-Budge (London, 1932) Chon. Nicetae Choniatae Historia, ed. J-L. van Dieten (Berlin and New York, 1975) CoM Chronicle of the Morea, ed. J. Schmitt (London, 1904; repr. Groningen, 1967) Dölger, Regesten Dölger, F. and P. Wirth Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des oströmischen Reiches von 565-1453, Teil 3: Regesten von 1204- 1282 (Munich, 1982) Festa Theodori Ducae Lascaris Epistulae CCXVII, ed. N. Festa (Florence, 1898) Greg. Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina Historia, ed. L. Schopen, vol. 1 (Bonn, 1829) Kant. Ioannis Cantacuzeni eximperatoris historiarum, 3 vols. ed. L Schopen and B. Niehbuhr (Bonn, 1828-1832) Laurent, Regestes, Laurent, V. Les regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople, I: Les actes des patriarches, fasc. 4: Les regestes de 1208 à 1309 (Paris, 1971) MM Miklosich, F. and Müller, J. Acta et diplomatica Graeca medii aevi sacra et profana, 6 vols. (Vienna, 1860-1890) Pach. Georges Pachymérès. Relations historiques, ed. A. Failler, French tr. V. Laurent, vol. 1, 2 parts (Paris, 1984) Pach (Bonn) Georgii Pachymeris de Michaele et Andronico Palaeologis, ed. I. Bekker, 2 vols. (Bonn, 1835) PK Pseudo-Kodinos Traité des Offices, ed. and tr. J. Verpeaux (Paris, 1976) PLP Trapp, E. et. al. (1976ff.) Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, Vienna xii Skout. Anōnumou Synopsis Chronikē, ed. K. Sathas Bibliotheca Graeca Medii Aevi, VII (Paris, 1894) TT Tafel, G. and G. Thomas Urkunden zur älteren Handels- und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig (Vienna, 1856-57) xiii Introduction1 Geōrgios Pachymerēs: Life and Career The author of the Historia was, as he himself tells us, born in 1241/2, descended from refugees who fled Kōnstantinoupolis in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. Unfortunately we know nothing about his parents or family background beyond this. He may have become interested in joining the clergy at an early date, and some of this interest may have stemmed from growing up in Nikaia, the patriarchal seat. He appears to have held a life-long dedication to the secular clergy, and was proud of being a member of it (Failler 2001:131- 132). After the imperial restoration in Kōnstantinoupolis in 1261, Pachymerēs spent some time as a student in the capital, probably under the megas logothetes Geōrgios Akropolitēs, learning such subjects as logic, rhetoric, Euclidean mathematics and Aristotelian philosophy (Hunger 1978:1.447; Macrides 1978:29-33). How the young Pachymerēs gained access to such high-level education is unknown, but may hint at a familial background of some status. He entered the clergy in the early 1260s, and he states that he was a notarios at the time of Patriarch Arsenios’ second deposition in 1265 (Pach. 34728-29). His steady advancement through the ranks of the church hierarchy indicates that his superiors saw promise and capability in him, and also suggest some element of ambition in the man.