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Conor Whately, Procopius on Soldiers and Military Institutions in the Sixth-Century Roman Empire (History of Warfare 134). Leiden ��� Boston: Brill 2021. XI, 299 S. ��� ISBN 978-90-04-38044-8 (��� 104.00), The Byzantine Review, Bd. 4 (2022)

The aim of the article is to analyse the extant fragments of the works of classicizing historians Priscus of Panium, Malchus of Philadelphia and Candidus of Isauria and to answer the question, how they presented and interpreted the reign of the emperor Leon I. It is obvious that all these authors, as far as we can recognise it in the extant fragments of their works or in later historians (Procopius, Evagrius, Theophanes, Zonaras, Xanthopoulos) deemed the reign of Leon I as a period of an internal struggle for power between the emperor and other mighty personalities. Priscus seems to create a multifaceted picture, while his interpretations are not limited to the purely personal explanatory models, but sometimes point to the structural political factors. Malchus tends to attribute all problems of this government to the emperor’s moral deficiencies. Candidus writes with an apologetic intention: he wants to justify the political rise of the Isaurians. One can conclude that these three classicizing historians saw the deepest reasons for the destabilization of the empire under Leon I in his individual failure as a politician. Keywords · Classicizing Historians of Late Antiquity, Priscus of Panium, Malchus of Philadelphia, Candidus of Isauria, Emperor Leon I.

The aim of the article is to analyse the sources of the black legend of the eunuch Chrysaphius, the powerful minister of the emperor Theodosius II. Unquestionably, in most sources (e.g. Suda, John of Antioch, Theophanes, Malalas, Evagrius Scholasticus, Theodor Lector) biased reporting and introduction of fabricated and exaggerated facts are found, directed against Chrysaphius with the intention of creating a distorted and negative image of him as a powerful eunuch. These historical texts present him as a wicked creature that controlled everything, seizing everyone’s possessions and being hated by everyone. It is generally accepted that this historiographical tradition originated mainly from the historian Priscus of Panium. However, the careful analysis of Priscus’ extant fragments shows that this view cannot be correct. From the famous account of the failed assassination attempt against Attila one can conclude that Priscus deemed Chrysaphius as a far-sighted politician who could count on strong support by his friends and other important figures of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The aim of the article is to identify some of the main characteristics of the lost "Chronike Epitome" by Eustathius of Epiphaneia and to discuss the relationship between it and the chronicle of John Malalas. From the nature of the important fragments of Eustathius drawn mainly from Flavius Josephus and published by Pauline Allen we can conclude that the "Chronike Epitome" was a Christian World Chronicle based on an original chronological system which dated the Incarnation to Annus Mundi 4350/4351. The second part of the article tries to identify those entries in John Malalas which may be based on Eustathius. It is argued that the traces of Eustathius are found mainly in the books XIV and XV of Malalas’ chronicle, especially in the section concerning the rule of Zeno and Anastasius. However, the analysis of corresponding passages in Malalas, Theophanes and Evagrius Scholasticus shows that Malalas likely gained only few items for the 5th century from Eustathius. Therefore, we can conclude that for this period Malalas drew on more than one source.

This article discusses the relationship between the Chronicle of John Malalas and the Church History of late medieval writer Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus. It argues that John Malalasis the direct source for a number of entries in the Church History of Nicephorus. It seems the five passages of the Church History drew in all certainty on Malalas and three other passages may contain some elements of Malalas' work. One can conclude that Nicephorus had at his disposal a copy of John Malalas' Chronicle which was identical to the extant one. It is shown that the Church History of Nicephorus is under strong influence of Malalas' tradition, i.e. of authors who used directlor indirectly Malalas' work. Therefore, there are numerous indirect parallels betwe enthose two texts. It is important to note that Malalas and Nicephorus may have shared common sources that are now los and for this reason, a careful analysis of the Church History may provide some insight into lost sources of John Malalas.