ByzReview: Theophanes Continuatus and Genesios

Following the end of the first Iconoclastic period, the Byzantine empire fell into a period of political upheaval matched by a series of invasions from neighbouring peoples – most notably the Bulgarians. A line of short-lived emperors, brought down by several defeats from a particularly fearsome Bulgarian khan (one who memorably turned a defeated Byzantine emperor’s skull into a drinking goblet), gave way to a new wave of Iconoclasts, who will be the subject of this month’s Byzantine Book Review.

                The chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, which I looked at in the last primary sources review, proved to be such an enduring work of history in the highest levels of Byzantine society that its most avid fan was none-other than the emperor himself. When the 10^th century emperor Constantine VII (r.913-959) wished to record the rise of his family to greatness and power, he

An Icon of the Virgin Mary. This is what all the fuss was about

requested his court-historians to continue the thread of Byzantine historical narrative from where Theophanes left off. The result was a peculiar series of historical texts authored for Constantine VII anonymously, a collection known today as Theophanes Continuatus. Unlike the chronicle of Theophanes which it purports to continue, this text is not a rigidly laid-out year-by-year account of everything that occurred in and around the empire, but is instead a series of histories each concerned with the reign and character of the five main emperors of the 9^th century: Leo V the Armenian (r.813-820), the three Amorian emperors Michael II ‘the Stammerer’ (r. 820-829), Theophilos (r.829-842), and Michael III ‘the Drunkard’ (842-867), and the renowned Basil I the Macedonian (867-886), the founder of Byzantium’s longest-lived dynasty. A further chunk of this Theophanes Continuatus takes the narrative into the middle of the 10^th century, but for the purposes of this review I shall be treating that as a separate text, to be examined at a later time.

                The first portion of Theophanes Continuatus covers the reigns of Leo V, Michael II, Theophilos and Michael III. It tells the story of three prominent men; Leo the Armenian, Michael the Amorian, and Thomas the Slav, and how they would all vie for the throne duing the early 9^th century. Leo the Armenian seizes the throne first, deposing the previous emperor Michael I Rhangabe after this emperor was defeated by the Bulgarians. Leo, in imitation of his namesake Leo III the Isaurian, is convinced to restart the persecution of image-worshippers, thereby undoing all of the hard work performed by the empress Irene and the Patriarchs Tarasios and Nikephoros decades before. Fearing for his life from his powerful friend Michael the Armorian, Leo has this man imprisoned, only to end up forcing his enemies to act against him – resulting in his own assassination. Michael, still wearing chains, is elevated to the throne just in time to find himself embroiled in a civil war with his old ally Thomas the Slav, who has raised a massive army and is now stamping around Anatolia. Eventually Thomas’ rebellion collapses and Michael II is able to stabilize the empire, though he is unwilling to lift the ban on images instituted by his predecessor. He dies and is succeeded by his son Theophilos, a vehement iconoclast – though one who is very keen on justice, and whose beautification and extension of the palace provokes a detailed comment from the writer of the text. When Theophilos dies at last, his young son Michael III succeeds him as emperor, though due to his youth, power is exercised by Michael’s mother Theodora and her relatives. As in the previous case of Iconoclasm, the ban on image-worship is put to an end by an empress mother acting on behalf of her young son, and the empire seemingly breathes a sigh of relief now that the controversy has finally been settled after another thirty years of unpleasantness. Unfortunately Michael proves to be an incapable ruler, frivolous and unsuited to power, and always under the shadow of more powerful people – most notably his uncle, the caesar Bardas. Both are to be murdered during the ascension of a particularly noteworthy figure; a horse-tamer from Macedonia by the name of Basil.

Here is a timeline of the emperors of the 9^th century, after Eirene and up to the start of the Macedonian dynasty:

Nikephoros I                (802 – 811)

           

Staurakios                   (811) – Son of Nikephoros I. Ruled as a paralytic for two months

Michael I Rhangabe     (811 – 813) – Son-in-law of Nikephoros I, brother-in-law of Staurakios

Leo V the Armenian     (813 – 820) – Overthrew Michael I, restarted Iconoclasm

           

*Michael II the Amorian (820 – 829) – Assassinated Leo V. Civil war with Thomas the Slav
*Theophilos                   (829 – 842) – Son of Michael II

           

*Michael III                 (842 – 867) – Son of Theophilos

           

Basil I the Macedonian             (867 – 886) – Murdered Michael III. Founder of the Macedonian dynasty

                                [* Amorian Dynasty]

The Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy; an Icon celebrating the right to have Icons

Section two of Theophanes Continuatus – also known as Book 5 (Books 1-4 having covered the reigns of the previous four emperors) – is generally known as the Vita Basilii, the Life of Basil, and is longer than all of the previous chapters of Theophanes Continuatus put together. Assembled by his adoring grandson and bookworm Constantine VII, this account of the life and reign of the emperor Basil I is an attempt to write a full and glowing history of this one emperor – his meteoric rise to power, his military successes, his extensive building projects, and his general good works. In many ways this ‘historical’ text has more in common with a piece of hagiography, describing his birth in messianic terms, how the young Basil the Macedonian was descended from Armenian princes, Constantine the Great and Alexander the Great, how he was repeatedly offered a sun-shade in his crib by a friendly eagle, and how he was prophesied to take the throne and accomplish great things (easy to write about prophesied events when writing in hindsight, isn’t it?)

                Whilst almost cringe-worthy in its praising of everything Basil did, the great and holy emperor who could do no wrong, the Vita Basilii is nevertheless a fascinating text packed with intriguing detail. Basil I’s campaigns in the east and his foreign policy issues in the west take up a huge section of the narrative, while the last third of the text describes in overwhelming minutiae all the building operations, restorations and donations which were made on the churches and palace of the capital. In terms of historical objectivity however, this is one text that very much wears its heart on its sleeve. Constantine VII, under whose direct authorization it was written – with the preface having been actually written by him, apparently – was very much producing a piece of propaganda in favour of his own family. The previous regime was weak and corrupt, and Basil was God-sent to claim the throne. Basil’s murder of the Caesar Bardas and Michael III was perfectly justified, and any wrong-doing by this man is brushed-off as the work of bad-advisors. The chaos of Iconoclasm and bad rulership is put to an end once and for all by the great, holy and decent emperor, Basil the Macedonian.

                It is now time to look at another historical narrative for the 9th century, and alongside the five books of Theophanes Continuatus one will be able to see a number parallels. Just like the previous source, this one was also compiled in the court of Constantine VII, and again it covers the reigns of these same five emperors. The history of Genesios – sometimes believed to be named Joseph Genesios – is a fairly concise history of the reigns of Leo V, Michael II, Theophilos, Michael III and Basil I, and for the most part reproduces information found in Theophanes Continuatus. Just like the other historical accounts of this period, Genesios appears to have undertaken his project to write a pleasing and flattering diatribe against the Amorian emperors, under the instruction of Constantine VII. One might ask why our beloved imperial bookworm would have needed two different historical accounts of the same period, and in all honesty I don't think anyone has a convincing answer for this. When reading both, it is not unusual to read sections that you feel you’ve already read in the other book, because most likely you have. It’s a similar feeling one gets when comparing Theophanes the Confessor with the Short History of the Patriarch Nikephoros; both men lived at the same time, hung out in the same circles, and used the same sources to write about the same period of history. With Genesios and the anonymous author of Theophanes Continuatus you might get a very similar feeling.

                Genesios however is not quite a pure reproduction of Theophanes Continuatus, or vice versa. Genesios seems to devote a little less space to the reigns of Leo V and Michael the Stammerer, while his short book on Theophilos is less concerned with the character and reign of Theophilos himself, but rather with the stories of two generals in his service. This peculiar and chronologically wayward account of events which occurred during Theophilos’ reign then leads into to the reign of Michael III, and his befriending of and replacement by our friend Basil the Macedonian. Whereas Theophanes Continuatus devotes a massive book to Basil alone, which takes on a very different style to the preceding section, in Genesios we find Basil’s reign simply continues on from Michael’s with no clear change in tone, albeit that he is much nicer about this emperor than the others. This is not to say that Genesios is any more objective in his writing of Basil’s history; Basil is still portrayed as a great and holy emperor who brings wicked little Michael III’s regime to an end, saves the empire, and dies having done many good works. The same silly little 'messianic' anecdotes are reproduced, just in a shorter, chattier and less preachy fashion. In many ways Genesios seems to be a leaner, stripped-out version of Theophanes Continuatus.

                Overall then, as long as one takes into account the biases against and for this group of emperors, we have here a very interesting and amusing couple of historical sources for 9^th century Byzantium. Leo V’s Iconoclasm, Michael II’s struggle with Thomas the Slav, Theophilos’ eastern wars and building projects, and Michael III’s misguided, drunken rule are described in a fair amount of detail, while the hero-worshipping accounts of Basil I’s reign can actually supply a decent amount of fairly useful information. As this was the period of the Second Iconoclasm, one can also expect to find a few relatively useful hagiographical sources which describe the ‘brave’ resistance by the Iconophiles against the wicked and evil Iconoclastic emperors and their supporters. This is only to be expected, as at the end of the day the Iconophiles won, and history is more often than not written by the victors. Anyway, good hagiographies that are currently available in English translation include the Life of Michael the Synkellos, the Life of the Patriarch Nikephoros (the same one who wrote the Short History reviewed last time, and who lost his job at the resurrection of Iconoclasm), the Life of the empress Theodora, who was Michael III’s mother and who turned out to be a bit better than Eirene at putting an end to Iconoclasm, and finally the Life of the Patriarch Ignatios, who spent most of his time battling against the famous Patriarch Photios. If you’ve read one hagiography, then you’ve pretty much read them all – although the incidental historical details within the narrative are never the same, and they are always a good window into non-elite perspectives on contemporary issues. In particular the famous incident of Michael the Synkellos' mates having insulting verses tattooed on their foreheads by Theophilos is worth a read, and Ignatios' battle with Photios is a very important event in Byzantine history. At the end of the day they aren’t usually that long, and if you want to get deeper into a particular issue such as Iconoclasm, then hagiographies such as these can occasionally offer some useful insights.

Bibliozantium 9

Theophanes Continuatus: Chronographia, I. Bekker (ed). Bonn. [Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae], 45, (1838).

Theophylactus Simocatta et Genesius. Theophylacti Simmocattae Historiarum Libri Octo. I. Bekker (ed). Bonn. [Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae], 46, (1834).

Chronographiae Quae Theophanis Continuati Nomine Fertur Libri  I-IV. M. Featherstone and J. Signes Codoner (eds). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae], 53, (2015).

Chronographiae Quae Theophanis Continuati Nomine Fertur Libri  Quo; Vita Basilii Imperatoris Amplectitur. Ihor Ševčenko (ed). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae], 42, (2011).

Iosephi Genesii regum libri quattuor. A. Lesmueller-Werner and I. Thurn (eds). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae], 14, (1978).

Genesios: On the Reigns of the Emperors. A. Kaldellis (trans). Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies. [Byzantina Australiensa], 11, (1998).

David, Niketas. The Life of Patriarch Ignatius. A. Smithies (ed). Washington D.C: Dumbarton Oaks. [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae], 51, (2013).

The Life of Michael the Synkellos. M.B. Cunningham (ed). Belfast: Belfast Byzantine Enterprises. [Belfast Byzantine Texts and Translations], 1, (1991).

Talbot, AM. (ed). Byzantine Defenders of Images – Eight Saints’ Lives in English Translation. Washington D.C: Dumbarton Oaks. [Byzantine Saints’ Lives in Translation], 2, (1998).

                [Helpful Gnotation: Okay, this bibliography is an actual bibliography this time, and may require a bit of interpretation. The first two entries are the 19^th century Bonn Greek editions of Theophanes Continuatus and Genesios, and whilst being freely available on Google Books are of no use to anyone who can’t read the slightest bit of archaic Greek or Latin. They are also lumped in with a number of other Byzantine historical texts which have little relation to them. The ones underneath them, with the long Latin titles, are the latest scholarly editions of both texts. Books 1-4 of Theophanes Continuatus are in one volume, while Book 5 the so called Vita Basilii are in a separate one. Both of these have facing-page English translation, and so are brilliant for laymen like me. The latest edition of Genesios underneath that does not have an English translation, but thankfully a separate translation of the text was prepared in Australia, so that’s the one you probably want. The two entries underneath that are English editions and translations of the Lives of Michael the Synkellos and Ignatios, while the final entry is a collection of translations of Byzantine Saints’ Lives, including amongst them the Lives of Patriarch Nikephoros and the empress Theodora, as well as a couple of others from this period. Take your pick; they’re all fascinating].