The Historians' History of the World 06

Theophilus Abbas was cited by N. Allemannus, in his Anecdota, published in 1623, as the author of a life of Justinian. Nothing, however, was known of the work or of the author until 1887, when Mr. Bryce discovered the work in manuscript in the Barberini Library, Rome. The manuscript purports to be extracted from an original Slavonic manuscript, but the work appears to be of such a legendary character as not to be of much historical value. This Theophilus is not at all to be identified with the jurist Theophilus, who aided Justinian in the drawing up of his Code.

Theophylactus Simocatta, Ἱστορία οἰκουμενή, edited by B. Vulcanius, Leyden, 1596; by Jacob Pontanus, with a Latin version, Ingolstadt, 1604; translated into French by F. Morel, Paris, 1603, 1608.

Theophylactus Simocatta was of Egyptian descent, but was born in Locria. He is known to have held public office under Heraclius about 610-629 A.D. His history, in continuation of Menander’s, deals with the life of the emperor Maurice, who reigned from 582 to 602, and is the oldest and best authority on the period. It is related that when the author read a passage from his work after the death of the emperor, the audience was moved to tears.

Xiphilinus, Joannes, Ἐπιτωμή, edited by Leunclavius, Frankfort, 1592; (see also Dion-Cassius, whose works were abridged by Xiphilinus).

Xiphilinus of Trapezus, the historian, was a nephew of the patriarch of the same name, and lived in the second half of the 11th century. He made, at the command of Michael VII Ducas (1071-1078), an epitome of Dion-Cassius, which unfortunately includes only books 61-80, because the earlier ones were lacking in the copy of Dion used by Xiphilinus. His copy was incomplete in other places also. The work is of value as preserving the main facts of the original, the greater part of which is lost, for from book 61-80 of the History of Rome of Dion-Cassius we have only the abridgment made by Xiphilinus, and some other epitomes which were probably made by the same person who epitomised the portion from the 55th to the 60th book.

Zonaras, Joannes, Χρονικόν (Annales), edited by H. Wolf, Basel, 1557, 3 vols.

Joannes Zonaras lived in the twelfth century under the emperors Alexis I Comnenus and Calo-Joannes. His Chronicle is in eighteen books, and extends from the creation of the world to the death of Alexis in A.D. 1118. It is compiled from various Greek authors, such as Josephus and Dion-Cassius. Of the first twenty books of Dion-Cassius we have nothing but the abstract of Zonaras. In the latter part of his work Zonaras wrote as an eye-witness of the events which he describes. Zonaras, who also wrote a lexicon and other works, was continued by Nicetas Acominatus.

Zosimus, Ἱστορία νεα, edited by F. Sylberg, in his Scriptores Historiæ Romanæ Minores, Frankfort, 1590; by Ludwig Mendelssohn Dorpat, 1887; Latin translation by Leunclavius, Basel, 1756; English translation, The History of Count Zosimus, London, 1814.

Zosimus lived in the age of Theodosius the Younger (408-450), and probably resided at Constantinople. His history of the Roman empire, in six books, must have been written after the year 425, as appears from a record of that year, although the period actually covered by the history is from the death of Commodus (192 A.D.) to 410. It is mainly a compilation from previous historians, but when giving judgment he is strongly biased in favour of Paganism and against Constantine, Theodosius, and other champions of Christianity. He has a great love of the marvellous and his chronology is confused.

C. Modern Works

Abel, Sigurd, Der Untergang des Langobardenreichs in Italien, Göttingen, 1859.—Adams, W. H. D., Remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum, London, 1868; 2nd edition, 1878.—Allcroft, A. H., The Making of the Monarchy, London, 1893; (in collaboration with W. F. Masom), Rome under the Oligarchs, London, 1892; Tutorial History of Rome to 14 A.D., London, 1895.—Aly, F., Cicero, sein Leben und seine Schriften, Berlin, 1891.—Alzog, J. B., Lehrbuch der Universalgeschichte der christlichen Kirche, Mayence, 1840.—Ampère, J. J. A., L’histoire romaine à Rome, Paris, 1861-1864; L’empire romaine à Rome, Paris, 1867, 4 vols.

Jean Jacques Antoine Ampère, French historian, born at Lyons, August 12th, 1800, died at Pau, March 27th, 1864. He was professor in the College of France and a member of the French Academy. In his book Ampère has tried to reconstruct Roman history from Roman monuments, and the first half is given up to the period of the kings. The work is rather ingenious than convincing, being based largely on conjecture, but it is full of scholarship and artistic enthusiasm.