Back to Search Start Over

Revisiting the sources of leo the deacon the case of the excerpta constantiniana

Authors :
Markopoulos Athanasios
Source :
Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta, Vol 2023, Iss 60-1, Pp 61-73 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2023.

Abstract

This paper takes a fresh look at the sources of Leo the Deacon and comments on what has been written about them by other Byzantinists. It will also study Leo the Deacon’s style of writing, which is certainly innovative, since the History he authored stands apart from the historiographical works that preceded it, as it seeks to meld the new historiography that had emerged from the circle of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos with the classical tradition. And Leo blazes new trails by praising specific individuals, the vast majority of them military men, around whose actions and achievements - on the field of battle, in the main - his narrative near exclusively revolves. The paper then goes on to indicate that one of the most important texts that has been identified as a source of Leo’s History is the Pophyrogennetos’ vast collection conventionally labelled the Excerpta Constantiniana; the Excerpta are then re-evaluated, particularly in terms of their links to Leo, which turn out to be close, as a number of examples illustrate.

Details

Language :
Bulgarian, German, English, French, Russian, Serbian
ISSN :
05849888 and 24060917
Volume :
2023
Issue :
60-1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.01c8f23fa6ca4741b990003e3726dd6f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.2298/ZRVI2360061M