The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity (Translated Texts for Historians LUP)

Among the most important sources for the history of the church from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the early years of the reign of Justinian is the chronicle attributed to Zachariah of Mytilene. Though Zachariah’s__Ecclesiastical History__was just one of a range of sources cited by this later compiler, so great was its influence thatthe resultant text bears his name. The chronicle covers both church and secular affairs and includes a wealth of important information about the fifth and sixth centuries, including a history of theological controversies, a catalog of the world’s regions based on Ptolemy’s__Geography__, and many eyewitness accounts of key historical events. __The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor__is the first translation of this seminal text to a modern language in over one hundred years, and the new edition benefits from improvements in Syriac lexicography and expanded research on the source. Contributions from two eminent Syriac scholars—Sebastian P. Brock and Witold Witakowski—and a detailed commentary further enhance the value of this book, as does the substantial bibliography. Beyond a mere translation, this book is a key resource for understanding the development of the modern dynamics of Christianity in Turkey, Iraq, and the Near East. Among the most important sources for the history of the church from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the early years of the reign of Justinian is the chronicle attributed to Zachariah of Mytilene. Though Zachariah’s Ecclesiastical History was just one of a range of sources cited by this later compiler, so great was its influence that the resultant text bears his name. The chronicle covers both church and secular affairs and includes a wealth of important information about the fifth and sixth centuries, including a history of theological controversies, a catalog of the world’s regions based on Ptolemy’s Geography , and many eyewitness accounts of key historical events. The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor is the first translation of this seminal text to a modern language in over one hundred years, and the new edition benefits from improvements in Syriac lexicography and expanded research on the source. Contributions from two eminent Syriac scholars—Sebastian P. Brock and Witold Witakowski—and a detailed commentary further enhance the value of this book, as does the substantial bibliography. Beyond a mere translation, this book is a key resource for understanding the development of the modern dynamics of Christianity in Turkey, Iraq, and the Near East. The Chronicle attributed to Zachariah of Mytilene is one of the most important sources for the history of the church from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the early years of the reign of Justinian (527-565). The author who compiled the work in Syriac in A.D. 568/9 drew extensively on the Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah the Rhetor, who later became bishop of Mytilene and ended up giving his name to the whole work. But Zachariah's Ecclesiastical History, which forms books iii to vi of Pseudo-Zachariah's work and covers the period from 451 to 491, is just one of a range of sources cited by this later compiler. For the period that follows, he turned to other well-informed sources, which cover both church and secular affairs. His reporting of the siege of Amida in 502-3 clearly derives from an eye-witness account, while for the reign of the Emperor Justinian he offers not only numerous documents, but also an independent narrative of the Persian war, as well as notices on the Nika riot and events in the West. This translation (of books iii-xii) is the first into a modern language since 1899 and is equipped with a detailed commentary and introduction, along with contributions by two eminent Syriac scholars, Sebastian Brock and Witold Witakowski. The Chronicle was written in Syriac in the second half of the 6th century by an author designated here as Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor. It draws heavily on the Historia ecclesiastica of Zacharias, Bishop of Mytilene, with whom the Chronicle's author became conflated