The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of the Past

352 Pages·2018·13.396 MB·English

by  András Németh

the Past
Cambridge University Press
9A7n8d-r1á-s1 0N8é-m42e3th6 3-2 — The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of
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THE EXCERPTA CONSTANTINIANA
AND THE BYZANTINE APPROPRIATION
OF THE PAST
The Excerpta project instigated by the Byzantine emperor
ConstantineVIIturnedtheenormouslyrichexperienceoffered
by Greek historiography into a body of excerpts distributed
across fifty-three distinct thematic collections. In this, the first
sustained analysis, András Németh moves from viewing the
Excerpta only as a collection of textual fragments to focusing
on its dependence from and impact on the surrounding
Byzantinecultureinthetenthcentury.Heintroducesthecon-
cept of appropriation and also uses it to study some other key
textscreatedundertheExcerpta’sinfluence(Dethematibus,De
administrandoimperioandDeceremoniis).Unlikeworldchroni-
cles,theExcerptaignoredthechronologicaldimensionofhistory
andfosteredthebiographicalturninByzantinehistoriography.
By exploring theoretical questions, such as classification and
retrievalofhistoricalinformationandtherelationshipbetween
knowledge and political power, this book provides powerful
new ways for exploring the Excerpta in Byzantine studies and
beyond.
András Németh is one of the two curators of Greek manu-
scriptsattheBibliotecaApostolicaVaticana.Previously,hewas
aresearchscholarattheMaxPlanckInstitutefortheHistoryof
Science in Berlin and a research librarian at the National
SzéchényiLibrary,Budapest.Hecoordinatesvariousactivities
concerningpalimpsestsattheVaticanLibraryandispreparing
the catalogue of a select group of Greek manuscripts housed
there. He is also studying the cultural history of the Middle
Byzantine period and the reception of Greek manuscripts in
RenaissancelibrariesinEuropeandispreparingamonograph
ontheGreekmanuscriptsoftheBibliothecaCorviniana.
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9A7n8d-r1á-s1 0N8é-m42e3th6 3-2 — The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of
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© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
the Past
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9A7n8d-r1á-s1 0N8é-m42e3th6 3-2 — The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of
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THE EXCERPTA
CONSTANTINIANA AND
THE BYZANTINE
APPROPRIATION OF
THE PAST
ANDRÁS NÉMETH
BibliotecaApostolicaVaticana
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9A7n8d-r1á-s1 0N8é-m42e3th6 3-2 — The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine Appropriation of
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108423632
doi:10.1017/9781108529068
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
names:Németh,András,1978–author.
title:TheExcerptaConstantinianaandtheByzantineappropriationof
thepast/AndrásNémeth.
description:Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2018.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2018011092|isbn9781108423632
subjects:lcsh:ConstantineVIIPorphyrogenitus,EmperoroftheEast,905–959.
ExcerptaConstantiniana.|ByzantineEmpire–Historiography.
classification:lccdf505.n4542018|ddc949.5/02072–dc23
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Contents
ListofIllustrations pageviii
ListofTablesandMaps x
Acknowledgements xi
ANoteonText xiii
ListofAbbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
1 ImperialCourtandKnowledgeProduction 20
1.1 MacedonianEmperorsandtheSystematisationofKnowledge 23
1.2 ConstantineVII 30
1.3 BasilLecapenusandtheCompetingClans 36
1.4 TheByzantineCourt’sForeignPolicy 46
2 AppropriationofthePast:TheoryandPracticeofExcerpting
Historiography 54
2.1 AppropriationinTheory 54
2.2 TheProemandtheDedicatoryPoem 60
2.3 AnalysisoftheProemandthePoem 64
2.4 TheChoiceofNumberFifty-Three 71
2.5 AppropriationinPractice 77
3 ConstructingaResearchEngineofthePast 88
3.1 CollectingHistoricalManuscripts 91
3.2 TimeandMoneyBehindTextualProduction 95
3.3 TeamworkfromLooseFascicules:DraftCopies 102
3.4 AssemblingtheDrafts:DeluxeCopiesbySingleScribes 109
3.5 TheExcerptor:ACaseStudy 115
4 InformationManagementinConstantineVII’sTreatises 121
4.1 DeThematibus 124
4.2 DeAdministrandoImperio 130
4.3 DeCeremoniis 137
v
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vi Contents
5 RenewalofHistoriographyunderConstantineVII 145
5.1 TheShiftfromChronicletoBiography 147
5.2 TheophanesContinuatus 151
5.3 GenesiusandLeotheDeacon 156
5.4 TheUseoftheExcerptaintheLifeofBasil 161
6 DistortionandExpansionofthePastintheExcerpta 165
6.1 PreoccupationsintheSelection 165
6.2 FavouredPeriods 171
6.3 PreferredHistoricalGenres 178
7 ClassificationofthePastintheExcerpta 185
7.1 ImperialBiographies 187
7.2 MilitaryTopics 189
7.3 DiplomaticRelationsandConflictManagement 193
7.4 MoralandLeisureReading 196
7.5 HistoricalEpigrams 199
7.6 HistoricalLettersandSpeeches 204
7.7 GnomicStatements 209
8 TheReadingoftheExcerpta 212
8.1 AGeneralisationTool 214
8.2 AMultivolumeBookofHistory:AuxiliaryTexts 219
8.2.1 Contents,ImperialTopicTitlesandPositionNumbers 220
8.2.2 ReferencetoHistorians 224
8.2.3 ReferencestoImperialTopics 226
8.2.4 Indices 228
8.3 InformationRetrievalintheExcerpta 231
9 TheSuda:TheLexicographerandtheExcerptor 238
9.1 TheCreationofSudaandtheExcerpta 239
9.2 LexicalHeadwordsfromtheExcerpta 245
9.3 BiographicalHeadwordsfromtheExcerpta 248
Conclusions 256
Appendices 266
AEditionoftheProemandthePoem 266
A.1 TheProemtoELr 267
A.2 ThePoemPraisingConstantinefortheExcerpta 268
BTheImperialManuscriptsoftheExcerpta 270
B.1 ExcerptadeVirtutibusetVitiis 270
B.2 ExcerptadeSententiis 271
B.3 ExcerptadeInsidiis 272
B.4 ExcerptadeLegationibus 273
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Contents vii
Bibliography 278
EditedSources 278
SecondaryLiterature 287
ManuscriptsIndex 322
NamesIndex 324
SubjectIndex 336
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Illustrations
1.1 FamilytreeoftheMacedoniandynastyinthetenth page22
century,drawnbytheauthor
1.2 ConstantineVIIisportrayedasAbgar,KingofEdessa, 33
holdingtheMandylion(theholyfaceofChristimpressed
onacloth).DetailfromaByzantinePanelfromthe
mid-tenthcentury,depictingtheAbgarlegend,now
conservedinSaintCatherineMonasteryofSinai(Egypt).
Source:GettyImages:142085006/DeAgostiniPicture
Library
2.1 ReconstructionofaByzantinesundialmechanism 74
(c.400–600AD).Theouterscalelistsmajor
geographicalreferencepointsstartingfromConstantinople.
Thegearsanddialsenabletheusertosynchronisetime
withthedayoftheweek,withthemonthsandwith
themooncycles.Likethismechanism,thesystematic
articulationoftheExcerptareflectsacircularconcept
oftimeandaccommodatesinformationretrievaltothe
actualreader’sreferencepoint.Source:GettyImages:
90738296/ScienceandSocietyPictureLibrary
3.1 SchoolatthetimeofConstantineVII,anenvironment 104
wherestudentsandmastersprobablyparticipatedinthe
productionoftheExcerpta.MiniaturefromtheMadrid
Scylitzes(CodexMatritensisgr.Vitr.26–2,f.134r).Source:
GettyImages:486777255/HeritageImages
6.1 Timeconcept:twoclocksspirallingwithvertigoeffect. 167
Whilewideningthehorizonofthepastandcreating
distortions,thestructureoftheExcerptahighlightsthe
cyclicalmovementoftimethatrepeatedlyproduces
similareventsandhelpsinanticipatingfutureones.
Source:GettyImages:501203794/Maxiphoto
viii
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ListofIllustrations ix
7.1 AmbrosianIliad(F205inf.,MiniaturesXX–XXI 192
basedonv.765–81).Theideatodepicttwosuccessive
battlesscenesintwoconsecutiveminiaturesresemblesthe
Excerpta’sprincipleofdividinghistoricalnarratives
(Constantinople,around500AD).Milan,Biblioteca
Ambrosiana.Source:GettyImages:113635587/Universal
ImagesGroup
8.1 Turonensis980,f.101r,displayingthevisualhierarchy 221
oftheauxiliarytexts:(1)thetopictitleOnVirtuesandVices
(περὶἀρετῆςκαὶκακίας)andthepositionnumber5(ε´)
copiedinepigraphicmajusculeunderadecorativeband;
(2)areferencetoDiodorusofSicilyinthemargin(ἐκτῆς
ἱστορίαςΔιοδώρουΣικελιώτου);(3)across-referencetoOn
PoliticalAffairs(ζήτειἐντῷπερὶπολιτικῶνδιοικήσεως);
and(4)anindexword‘virtue’(ἀρ<ετή>).Tours,Municipal
Library
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Tables and Maps
Tables
1.1 ThestructureofBasilLecapenus’militaryhandbook page43
(AmbrosianusB119sup.)
2.1 PassagesomittedfromProcopius’PersianWars(B.2) 80
intheExcerpta(ELr)
3.1 PassagesomittedfromtheexcerptonthesiegeofTyrein 119
Parisinussuppl.gr.607,ff.94v–7r
7.1 OraclesexcerptedfromHerodotusinthePalatine 203
Anthology
7.2 MilitaryspeechesinAmbrosianusB119sup 208
Maps
1.1 ThediplomaticworldofByzantiumin963 47
2.1 Arab-Byzantinefrontierinthetenthcenturywith 85
siegesoftownsassembledintheExcerpta
4.1 ByzantineprovincesunderJohnITzimisces 127
x
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