John Zonaras' Epitome of Histories

A Compendium of Jewish-Roman History and Its Reception
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-0-19-286510-6
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 164 mm x 237 mm, Gewicht: 513 g

The twelfth-century chronicle of John Zonaras, which begins with the biblical Creation and ends in 1118, is one of the longest historical accounts written in Greek that has come down to us. It was also one of the most popular historical works of the Greek-speaking world during the Middle Ages, with a remarkably large number of manuscripts preserving the entire text or parts of it.

John Zonaras' Epitome of Histories: A Compendium of Jewish-Roman History and Its Reception analyses Zonaras' chronicle as both a literary composition and a historical account. It concentrates on its composition, sources, and political, ideological, and literary background. It also includes discussions that go beyond the text, such as on the intellectual networks surrounding Zonaras, and the anticipated audience and the reception of the chronicle. By examining such issues, Theofili Kampianaki aims to present Zonaras' chronicle as a product which emerged from a milieu characterized by the increased contacts with Western people and the Komnenian style of rulership in the imperial bureaucracy, and as a work which seamlessly merges the traditions of chronicle writing and classicizing historiography.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kampianaki, Theofili

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Preface and acknowledgements

- Note on transliteration, citations, and quotations

- List of abbreviations

- Introduction

- 1: John Zonaras: biography and oeuvre

- 2: The composition of the Epitome

- 3: Zonaras' working method and treatment of his sources

- 4: The political and ideological context of the Epitome

- 5: Zonaras' keen interest in Roman antiquity

- 6: Intellectual networks and intended readers

- 7: Readers' responses and the reception of the Epitome

- Overall conclusions

- Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Theofili Kampianaki is an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of History and Cultures, University of Birmingham. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures. She holds a doctorate and a Master's from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Athens. She has written on the reception of Plutarch in Byzantium, and on the reception of Flavius Josephus in Medieval Greek and Latin literature. She has received scholarships from the University of Athens, the Alexander Onassis Foundation, and the A.G. Leventis Foundation.