View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository THE SYNOPSIS CHRONIKE AND ITS PLACE IN THE BYZANTINE CHRONICLE TRADITION : ITS SOURCES (CREATION – 1081 CE) Konstantinos A. Zafeiris A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2007 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/457 This item is protected by original copyright "The Synopsis Chronike and its place in the Byzantine chronicle tradition: its sources (Creation – 1081 CE)" by Konstantinos A. Zafeiris A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 26 March 2007 University of St Andrews ii Declarations I, Konstantinos Zafeiris, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 95000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. Date Signature of candidate I was admitted as a research student in September 2001, and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in September 2002; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2001 and 2007. Date Signature of candidate I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of supervisor iii Copyright notice In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration. Date Signature of candidate © K. Zafeiris iv Abstract The subject of this thesis is the Synopsis Chronike (or Synopsis Sathas), a Byzantine chronicle of the thirteenth century that conveys the history of the world, starting from Adam and concluding with the recapture of Constantinople in 1261. The study focuses on the first part of the text (Adam – Nikephoros Botaneiates), and more specifically on the comprehensive presentation and analysis of the whole corpus of its sources, passage by passage, in order to reconstruct the background of the chronicle and to determine its place in the Byzantine chronicle tradition. Following the introductory first chapter, which sets out the aims of the thesis and establishes its methodology, chapter two offers an overview of the chronicle itself, and a first discussion of the main issues it presents: the key characteristics of its narrative structure, its manuscript tradition, and – mainly – the problem of its authorship, with special reference to the commonly supposed author, Theodore Skoutariotes, bishop of Kyzikos. Chapter three conveys a detailed presentation of the results of our research; following the discussion of the sources and influences of the proem, it attempts to place each passage of the Synopsis Chronike in the context of any related texts, which are then identified as 'main sources', 'other sources' and 'parallel passages', depending on their link to the Synopsis Chronike. Chapter four discusses individually each text that appears as a source of the Synopsis Chronike, and locates its place amongst the whole corpus of the sources. Furthermore, it examines the passages for which we were not able to identify a main source, and suggests possible sources that have not survived. Finally, the concluding chapter of the thesis summarises the earlier discussion, and attempts to combine the different pieces of information, and to provide an overall picture of the background of the Synopsis Chronike in order to establish – to the degree that it is possible – its position in the Byzantine chronicle tradition. v vi "Bond had a nagging headache, brought on by hours of poring over small-print reference books […]" Ian Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret Service vii viii Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................v Table of Contents...................................................................................................................................ix Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................................xv Note on transliteration ........................................................................................................................xvi Chapter One: Introduction....................................................................................................................1 Introduction – Aims of the thesis.........................................................................................................1 Methodology and structure of the thesis..............................................................................................4 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................4 Presentation of the results...............................................................................................................6 Structure of the thesis......................................................................................................................9 Literature review................................................................................................................................11 Chapter Two: The SynChron and its author......................................................................................17 The text..............................................................................................................................................17 Summary of the SynChron.............................................................................................................17 Chronological structure................................................................................................................18 The manuscripts.................................................................................................................................22 The manuscript tradition of the SynChron....................................................................................22 Other relevant manuscripts...........................................................................................................23 The issue of the authorship and Theodore Skoutariotes ....................................................................24 Chapter Three: The sources - Passage by passage ............................................................................33 Proem (3.1-4.18)................................................................................................................................33 First part (4.19-19.16)........................................................................................................................37 Adam – Moses (4.19-8.19) ............................................................................................................37 Judges: Joshua – Samson (8.20-9.26)...........................................................................................41 Eli – Samuel (9.27-10.6) ...............................................................................................................42 Kings: Saul - Mattaniah (10.7-13.18)...........................................................................................43 Under Babylonian rule (13.18-15.2).............................................................................................45 Under Persian rule (15.3-17.26)...................................................................................................46 Under Macedonian rule (17.27-19.16) .........................................................................................47 Second Part (19.17-173.8) .................................................................................................................48 Introduction (19.17-9)...................................................................................................................48 Aeneas (19.19-27).........................................................................................................................48 Ascanius (19.27-31) ......................................................................................................................49 Silvius – Procas (20.1-5)...............................................................................................................49 ix Amulius (20.5-21.2) ......................................................................................................................49