Introduction to the Three Chronicles: Theophanes Continuatus, Symeon the Logothete, and Pseudo-Symeon

Theophanes Continuatus Book 6

Our first chronicle text is the anonymous history known asTheophanes Contin- uatus, a continuation in six books of the Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor (d. ca. 818), the primary source for Byzantine, Arab and Latin speaking worlds in the 7th and 8th centuries, which breaks off in the year 813. The second part of Book 6 covers the sole reign of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (944–959) and extends into the reign of Romanos II up to the capture of Crete in March 961 by the future emperor Nikephoros II Phokas before the manuscript breaks off abruptly.1 In contrast to the first part of Book 6, which is anti-Macedonian in tone, the second part is a virtual eulogy of Constantine VII and perhaps a veiled critique of Romanos II.2 Constantine VII’s first appointee on his accession was Bardas Phokas as domestikos of the scholai, and the military careers of Bardas and his sons, Nikephoros and Leo Phokas, receive considerable attention. Included, for example, is a highly laudatory passage on Nikephoros’s restoration of the cour- age of the army upon becoming domestikos and his direct and highly effective personal participation in battle, specifically against Sayf al-Dawla, the Ham- danid ruler of Aleppo, referred to as Chambdan. Also prominent are passages on the effectiveness of the two brothers in fighting on behalf of the Christians, on Romanos II entrusting all military matters to the brothers, on Leo’s success at Andrassos in Cappadocia against Sayf al-Dawla in 960, and on Nikephoros’s intelligence and leadership in the expedition to Crete and assault on Chan- dax. Somewhat unexpectedly in this context, however, the author notes that on sending out his troops to attack, “The intelligent and courageous domestikos himself was left behind the rear guard,” a statement in line with the military manuals’ instructions to generals,3 but not with the more usual portrayal of Phokas’s personal courage.

1 Ed. Bekker 1838, 436–481. Hereafter I cite Theophanes Continuatus only by name followed by [page:line numbers]. 2 See Treadgold 2013, 215. 3 See, for example, Leo VI, Tak. 14.3 (Dennis 2010, 291).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004382169_002 2 introduction to the three chronicles

This text is thought to have been composed in the reign of Phokas,4 although the high praise it affords to the parakoimomenos Joseph Bringas, who opposed Phokas’s accession and plotted his death, is problematic for this time period. The text is anonymous; Theodore Daphnopates,5 and most recently Basil Leka- penos,6 have been proposed as the author, but the attribution remains an open question. I have begun the translation of this text as well as that of Pseudo- Symeon from December of 944, as the deposition of Romanos I in December of that year and the subsequent accession of Constantine VII are essential for understanding the context of Nikephoros Phokas’s rise.

The Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete (Revised Version)

The second text is the section of the revised version of the Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete as preserved in Vat. gr. 163, folios 1–61, specifically folios 58v–61 for the years 948–963.7 The revision was presumably made by the Logothete himself8 by extending the original version, which ended in 948, to 963 and by adding interpolations into the earlier section. These interpolations, found in Vat. gr. 153, include additions on the career of Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, grandfather of the later emperor Nikephoros II Phokas.9 I include these inter- polations, clearly intended to enhance the reputation of the new emperor,10 as an appendix following the material in Vat. gr. 163 for the years 948–963. The Vat. gr. 163 text includes the appointment of Bardas Phokas as domesti- kos of the scholai and Nikephoros Phokas as strategos of the Anatolikon, the replacement of the aging Bardas in 955 with his son Nikephoros, and the replacement of Nikephoros as strategos with his brother Leo. Nikephoros’s pro- motion to magistros and appointment of the two brothers as domestikoi of the East and West respectively are mentioned, as is Leo Phokas’s major success at Kylindros (Andrassos) in Cappadocia, Nikephoros’s siege and capture of Chan- dax (later Candia, now Herakleion) and Crete in 961, his capture of Aleppo in 962 and subsequent triumph, and the opening scene of the army’s accla- mation of him as emperor in summer of 963. The manuscript then breaks off

4 Markopoulos 2010, 703, Featherstone 2011, 119, Featherstone 2014, 359, and Featherstone and Signes-Codoñer 2015, 18*. 5 Kazhdan 2006, 152–153, but for doubts see Markopoulos 2003, 193. 6 Featherstone 2011 and 2014; for doubts see Treadgold 2013, 211–212 n. 51. 7 Ed. Markopoulos 1979. For the first version of the Chronicle (to 948) see Wahlgren 2006. 8 See Markopoulos 1979, 89–90, Treadgold 2013, 206. 9 See Markopoulos 2009, 704. 10 Ed. Istrin 1922 and see Grégoire 1953.