The description of a city siege is a traditional stock element of classical Greek and Roman historiography since its beginnings. We often encounter such narrations as digressions from the main storyline to give additional information on military tactics, technical aspects, or the geographical conditions of the besieged area. Descriptions of sieges can be found not…
Georgios Kedrenos was a Byzantine chronicler who lived in the 11th century. He authored a universal chronicle (Compendium historiarum) that spans from the Creation of the world to the year 811 AD. His goal was to “complete in reverse” the chronicle of the highly esteemed historian John Skylitzes. Kedrenos stands out among Byzantine chroniclers as…
The Byzantine historians Nikephoros Gregoras and John Kantakouzenos have left detailed accounts of the events that shaped the history of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century. Their narratives are mutually complementary, as they occasionally present divergent interpretations of specific events, while at other times they enrich one another by supplying missing details. Nonetheless, both…
Historia Tripartita of Theodore Anagnostes was the first attempt to create a complete history of the Church from the reign of emperor Constantine to the reign of Theodosius II. For this purpose, Theodore put together information included in the three Church Histories by Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus and Theodoret of Cyrus. From the parallel narratives of…