Byzantinische Zeitschrift, volume 116, issue 1 (April 2023).
CONTENTS INCLUDE
The reconquest of Dacia by Constantine the Great
Jakub Hendzel
The article discusses some particulars of Constantine the Great’s campaigns waged in the years 329–336 in the Danube area against the Goths and the Sarmatians, with a special focus on the Roman reconquest of Dacia,a former province abandoned during the reign of Aurelian. The corpus of analysed sources encompasses a selection of relevant literary and historical sources, supplemented with archaeological, numismatic and epigraphic sources. One of the aims of this article is to improve our understanding of Constantine’s reconquest of Dacia, an event hitherto insufficiently explored by modern historians.In the aftermath of these military operations, the Romans recovered areas of former Dacia Malvensis and Dacia Apulensis, lost half a century earlier; however, most of these ephemeral gains were lost a mered ecade(at the very latest) after the death of Constantine the Great.
The newly discovered paintings in the dome over the sanctuary in Deir al-Surian
Karel C. Innemée
The church of the Holy Virgin in the Coptic monastery Deir al-Surian was constructed in the middle of the seventh century andits sanctuary was refurbished in the early tenth century under abbot Moses of Nisibis. The paintings in the dome over the altar from that time were covered by plaster in the eightheenth century and came back to light again in 2017.
Stasiôtai into stratiôtai: the Nika Riot revisited
Clemens Koehn
In this paper, a reassessment of the events during the famous Nika riot in Constantinople in 532 CE is attempted by focusing on three hitherto neglected aspects; firstly, the efforts of the demes to ‘militarise’ their behaviour in actively seeking to source heavy arms and to engage with the military and their infrastructure; secondly, the strong likelihood that Justinian withdrew from the palace when the demes acclaimed Hypatius as new emperor; and finally the obvious incompatibility of Procopius’ version of thee vents with the Malalas tradition. It will be argued that the imperial authorities were somehow disconcerted by the agressiveness of the demes, and rather reluctant in striking back; that Justinian at one point did indeed leave the palace, and that the initial attack on the crowd gathered in the Hippodrome was carried out by the military he had entrusted with securing the palace. The infamous slaughter at the Hippodrome, which posterity primarily connects with the events, appears to have been an ad hoc action to prevent the imminent storming of the deserted palace rather than a carefully planned and concerted counter-strike.
The earlier wall paintings of the south apse in the church of Hagios Panteleemon at Lakkomersina, Naxos. A neglected example of Early Byzantine art from the Aegean
Theodora Konstantellou
In this article, I examine the first two wall painting layers of a neglected apsidal decoration which are still visible in the church of Hagios Panteleemon at Lakkomersina, Naxos. Α monogrammatic(?) cross combined with a Chi in a medallion, painted in reddish brown on a thin off-white layer of plaster, survives from the first layer. This rudimentary non-figural decoration was covered by a figural composition (second layer) depicting Christ in the middle, flanked by the titular saint of the church, St. Panteleemon and St. Isidore of Chios, a martyr widely venerated locally. I discuss the imagery of the apse as well as the stylistic features of the paintings in the context of Early Byzantine culture. I offer a new dating of the frescoes of the second layer to approximately the early seventh century. There construction of this apsidal composition contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the themes employed in apses in the Early Byzantine period. Additionally, it sheds new light on the visual and devotional culture of Naxos and the wider Aegean, a subject that has not yet been systematically studied and assessed.
The early history of the thema of the Boukellarioi (8th century)
Christos Malatras
In light of some unpublished sigillographical material, this paper revisits the foundation of the thema of the Boukellarioi and places it in its historical context. Based on an unpublishedlead seal, the paper proposes a somehow earlier date than the middle of the eighth century accepted so far. This dat seems to accord with an number of reforms undertaken during the reign of Leon III (717–741) and the early reign of Konstantinos V (741–775) which effectively founded the institution of the themata Moreover, building upon a Catalogue of 19 officials from the eighth century (of which six were unknown so far), this study analyses the early history and the administrative structure of the thema of theBoukellarioi. The Catalogue includes the pertaining sigillographical evidence (in total 22 seals are being published – plus three in the Appendix–, of which 15 had not been properly published) and includes a historical and/or sigillographical commentary.
The Lord’s gift transformed into a tiger. A hypothesis regarding the fate of the Empress Theodora of Khazaria (705–711)
Andrey Mitrofanov
This article investigates the political biography of the Empress Theodora of Khazaria, the second wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II Rhinotmetos (685–695, 705–711), who married the Emperor during his exile in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and became the mothe rof his heir, Augustus Tiberius.The reports of Nikephoros and Theophanes about the Empress Theodora of Khazaria are examined and their sources reconstructed on the basis of Dmitry Afinogenov’s research. John Zonaras’s information about Theodora’s death before 711 is refuted, and events related to the history of Byzantine-Khazar relations in 720–730 are compared. The hypothesis emerges that Empress Theodora of Khazaria and the Khazar ruler Princess P’arsbit’(Tiger) from the Armenian history of Ĺevond are the sameperson.
Manuel Moschopulos, Maximos Planudes und die Entstehung der Sylloga vocum Atticarum
Klaus Nickau
The Sylloga vocum Atticarum is composed, on the one hand, of the Technologies of the Scholastic Anthology and Manuel Moschopulos’ scholia to the poets, on the other, of the Epimerisms of Maximos Planudes. The present essay identifies, in its first part, two important unidentified preliminary stages of the Sylloga, which were formed from Moschopulos’s materials ,and clarifies the structure of the Planudean Epimerisms.This allow san almost complete analysis of the Sylloga’s content.The second part links these results to the life of Moschopulos with the help of the letters of both scholars. The aim of this paper is to avoid misidentifications of the texts in question and to contribute to the material basis of recent research on intellectual life in the early Paleologan period
Una Confessio ad angelum custodem pseudomauropodea in dodecasillabi
Federica Scognamiglio
This paper is the editio princeps with a brief introduction, a metrical and stylistic survey and a translation with minima critica of the Confessio ad angelum custodem, a dodecasyllable poem preserved in ms. Laur. Plut.9.18. The poem is ascribed to John Mauropous, although its lack of prosodic accuracy in some lines makes this attribution unlikely. It is a long prayer (456 lines) dedicated to the guardian angel, inspired by Mauropous’ own hymn to his holy angel. Yet the Confessio is not a strictly liturgical work, nor a mere rearrangement of that hymn. The metrical survey offers some remarks on metrical technique in Mauropous’ works and in other poems attributed to him, especially on caesura and rhythmical patterns, about which the Confessio proves consistent with the standards of Mauropodean dodecasyllables. Besides, it is worth noting the high frequency of three-word dodecasyllables,the incidence of caesura C7 and the syntactical-rhetorical fixed structures within the lines.
Ein Streiflicht auf die militärische Logistik der Byzantiner im späten 7. Jahrhundert
Werner Seibt
A new Byzantine seal in the collection Wassiliou-Seibt mentions a Theodosios patrikios, who was responsible in 695/96 AD for the apotheke of Syke near Amorion, Antiocheia, and probably Suëtion, a port of Antiocheia. Theodosios does not mention the office of a kommerkiarios, but hadsimila rduties; primarily he had to acquire and prepare subsidies for planned Byzantine attacks against the Arabs i a logistical way.
Once again on the original name of Emperor Zeno of Isauria
Zsolt Simon
This paper argues that Harrison’ sanalysis of Tarasikodissa as a combination of Zeno’s original personal name and his patronym is the correct one, but it is to be modified as Tarasis, son of Kodios. The paper also provides a new piece of evidence that Isaurian was still a spoken language in the 5th c. AD.
Das trapezuntinische Horoskop des Jahres 1336. Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung des mittelalterlichen pontischen Dialekts
Rudolf S. Stefec
The present article offers a new critical edition of the so-called Trebizond horoscope (a. 1336/37), transmitted by codex Monac. gr.525 (ff.155r–17 2r). The text, penned by an anonymous author originating from the Empire of Trebizond, shows several traits of the Pontic dialect of Greek which are briefly commented upon. The text contains valuable information on the social structure, economy and everyday life in the city of Trebizond which is also explored and contextualized.