Philip Rance
Freie Universität Berlin, Friedrich-Meinecke Institut, Department Member
- Centre for Advanced Study Sofia, History, Department Memberadd
- Greek Literature, Greek Philology, Byzantine philology, Greek manuscripts, Late Antiquity, Roman History, and 74 moreLate Antique and Byzantine History, Classics, Byzantine Studies, Ancient Greek Language, Byzantine Literature, Late Roman Army, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Humanism (15th-17th c.), Latin Language and Literature, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin Literature, Late Antique Literature, Medieval and Neolatin Texts, Roman Army, Roman military history, Greek codicology, Greek Lexicography, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, Latin philology, Ancient Greek Historiography, Roman Historiography, Late Roman Historiography, Byzantine historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Classical Reception Studies, Ancient Science, Late Roman Britain, Post-Roman Britain, Early Medieval Ireland, Early Medieval Scotland, Picts, Early Medieval History, Avars, Slavs, Sasanian History, Constantinople, Istanbul, History of Istanbul, Old Germanic Languages, Gothic Language, Elephants, Asian Elephants in Culture and History, Modern Greek History, Modern Greek literature, Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Procopius, Classical reception, Palaeography, Byzantine Medicine, Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Ammianus Marcellinus, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Poetry, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Late Byzantine history, Byzantine Army, Notitia Dignitatum, Byzantine Warfare, Greek, Latin Literature, Latin Language, Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine epistolography, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical philology, Late Latin, Greek Palaeography, De Rebus Bellicis, Vegetius, Byzantine monasticism, and Ancient History(Late Antique and Byzantine History, Classics, Byzantine Studies, Ancient Greek Language, Byzantine Literature, Late Roman Army, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Humanism (15th-17th c.), Latin Language and Literature, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin Literature, Late Antique Literature, Medieval and Neolatin Texts, Roman Army, Roman military history, Greek codicology, Greek Lexicography, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, Latin philology, Ancient Greek Historiography, Roman Historiography, Late Roman Historiography, Byzantine historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Classical Reception Studies, Ancient Science, Late Roman Britain, Post-Roman Britain, Early Medieval Ireland, Early Medieval Scotland, Picts, Early Medieval History, Avars, Slavs, Sasanian History, Constantinople, Istanbul, History of Istanbul, Old Germanic Languages, Gothic Language, Elephants, Asian Elephants in Culture and History, Modern Greek History, Modern Greek literature, Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Procopius, Classical reception, Palaeography, Byzantine Medicine, Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Ammianus Marcellinus, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Poetry, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Late Byzantine history, Byzantine Army, Notitia Dignitatum, Byzantine Warfare, Greek, Latin Literature, Latin Language, Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine epistolography, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical philology, Late Latin, Greek Palaeography, De Rebus Bellicis, Vegetius, Byzantine monasticism, and Ancient History)edit
- https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6678 PhD, University of St Andrews, School of Classics (supervisor Michael Whitby).... morehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6678
PhD, University of St Andrews, School of Classics (supervisor Michael Whitby).
MA Hons. in History (Ancient/Mediaeval) and Classics (1st class), University of St Andrews, Scotland.
PHILIP RANCE has taught ancient and medieval history and/or Greek language and literature at universities in the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. He has been a visiting scholar at universities in Heidelberg (2005-6), Thessaloniki (2011-12) and Berlin (2016-19), and has been awarded senior research fellowships at universities and research institutes in Munich (2009-11), Istanbul (2013-14), Berlin (2015), Wolfenbüttel (2016), Gotha/Erfurt (2017) and Sofia (2019-).
His research interests include late Roman and Byzantine history, historiography and literature; warfare and martial culture; Byzantine codicology and book culture; the manuscript transmission and reception of Greco-Roman technical and scientific literature; Byzantine Greek philology; Vulgar and Late Latin .
Some Recent Projects: https://fu-berlin.academia.edu/PhilipRance/RESEARCH-PROJECTS(https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6678<br /><br />PhD, University of St Andrews, School of Classics (supervisor Michael Whitby).<br />MA Hons. in History (Ancient/Mediaeval) and Classics (1st class), University of St Andrews, Scotland.<br /><br />PHILIP RANCE has taught ancient and medieval history and/or Greek language and literature at universities in the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. He has been a visiting scholar at universities in Heidelberg (2005-6), Thessaloniki (2011-12) and Berlin (2016-19), and has been awarded senior research fellowships at universities and research institutes in Munich (2009-11), Istanbul (2013-14), Berlin (2015), Wolfenbüttel (2016), Gotha/Erfurt (2017) and Sofia (2019-).<br /><br />His research interests include late Roman and Byzantine history, historiography and literature; warfare and martial culture; Byzantine codicology and book culture; the manuscript transmission and reception of Greco-Roman technical and scientific literature; Byzantine Greek philology; Vulgar and Late Latin .<br /><br />Some Recent Projects: https://fu-berlin.academia.edu/PhilipRance/RESEARCH-PROJECTS)edit
(Proceedings of the International Conference on Greek Taktika held at the University of Toruń, 7-11 April 2005) Contributors: Wojciech Brillowski (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań); Bogdan Burliga (University of Gdańsk); Radosław A.... more
(Proceedings of the International Conference on Greek Taktika held at the University of Toruń, 7-11 April 2005)
Contributors: Wojciech Brillowski (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań); Bogdan Burliga (University of Gdańsk); Radosław A. Gawroński (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw); Pierre O. Juhel; Burkhard Meißner (Helmut Schmidt-Universität / Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg); Alexander Nefedkin (St. Petersburg State University); Philip Rance (Freie Universität Berlin); Keith Roberts; Jacek Rzepka (University of Warsaw); Hans Michael Schellenberg (Heinrich Heine-Universität Düsseldorf); Nicholas Sekunda (University of Gdańsk); Sławomir Sprawski (Jagiellonian University, Kraków)
Reviews:
Sears in BMCR: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2019/2019-04-32.html
Price in CR: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X20000438
Turner in AHB: https://ancienthistorybulletin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AHBOnlineReviews2019.22.TurnerOnRanceSekunda.pdf
Contributors: Wojciech Brillowski (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań); Bogdan Burliga (University of Gdańsk); Radosław A. Gawroński (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw); Pierre O. Juhel; Burkhard Meißner (Helmut Schmidt-Universität / Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg); Alexander Nefedkin (St. Petersburg State University); Philip Rance (Freie Universität Berlin); Keith Roberts; Jacek Rzepka (University of Warsaw); Hans Michael Schellenberg (Heinrich Heine-Universität Düsseldorf); Nicholas Sekunda (University of Gdańsk); Sławomir Sprawski (Jagiellonian University, Kraków)
Reviews:
Sears in BMCR: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2019/2019-04-32.html
Price in CR: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X20000438
Turner in AHB: https://ancienthistorybulletin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AHBOnlineReviews2019.22.TurnerOnRanceSekunda.pdf
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Greek Literature, Byzantine Literature, and 13 moreRoman military history, Roman Army, Classical Reception Studies, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Roman military history, Roman Army, Classical Reception Studies, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Roman military history, Roman Army, Classical Reception Studies, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Late Antique Archaeology, Early Medieval Archaeology, Early Medieval History, and 12 moreLate Antiquity, Early Medieval And Medieval Settlement (Archaeology), Death and Burial (Archaeology), Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Late Roman Archaeology, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Goths, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, and Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans(Late Antiquity, Early Medieval And Medieval Settlement (Archaeology), Death and Burial (Archaeology), Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Late Roman Archaeology, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Goths, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, and Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans)
(Late Antiquity, Early Medieval And Medieval Settlement (Archaeology), Death and Burial (Archaeology), Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Late Roman Archaeology, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Goths, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, and Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans)
ABSTRACT: This paper concerns the content, character and transmission of Menander Protector’s History, a fragmentary work of classicizing historiography written in the later sixth century. Investigation of a previously unexamined scholion... more
ABSTRACT: This paper concerns the content, character and transmission of Menander Protector’s History, a fragmentary work of classicizing historiography written in the later sixth century. Investigation of a previously unexamined scholion to Strabo’s Geography, which recommends Menander’s History as an especially accurate source on “Persian customs”, establishes the provenance, context and significance of this rare testimonium and questions why the ninth-century scholiast directed readers of Strabo to this late antique text in preference to well-established classical authorities on ancient Persia. As the scholion responds to Strabo’s uniquely detailed treatment of Persian religion, particularly magi and Zoroastrian sacrificial rituals, it becomes necessary to reconsider evidence for this subject in Menander’s extant writings, notably those fragments of his History, together with a separately transmitted epigram (Palatine Anthology I 101), that concern the martyrdom of Isbozetes (Yazdbōzēd), a Persian magus who converted to Christianity (AD 553). Widening the inquiry to include largely overlooked martyrial acta, particularly an Armenian Passio S. Isbozetae, reveals an early textual tradition characterized by accurate and precise information about magian practices and paraphernalia, which closely and exclusively corresponds to Strabo’s account of Zoroastrian fire-cult. Menander’s interest in this story of an apostate magus both explains the scholiast’s recommendation and casts new light on Menander’s aims and sources, including East Syriac hagiographical tradition. In line with recent scholarship, a more variegated picture of Menander’s historical writing emerges, beyond the focus on diplomacy imposed by the thematically determined transmission of surviving fragments in the Constantinian Excerpta.
Research Interests:
This study concerns an inventory of books, dated 1428/9, inscribed in Sofia, Dujčev gr. 253 (olim Kosinitsa 265), fol. 290r. Although the text was obscurely published in 1886, the vicissitudes of this codex over the following century... more
This study concerns an inventory of books, dated 1428/9, inscribed in Sofia, Dujčev gr. 253 (olim Kosinitsa 265), fol. 290r. Although the text was obscurely published in 1886, the vicissitudes of this codex over the following century impeded further research and the inventory continues to be overlooked in studies of Byzantine libraries, books and reading. A new edition, furnishing corrections and filling lacunae, together with a first translation and palaeographical analysis, provide a foundation for introducing this rare document and re-evaluating its context and significance. While the limited prior scholarship generally presumed compilation in a monastic library in 1428/9 and pursued inquiries based on that surmise, examination of Dujčev gr. 253 draws attention to annotations by a member of the Laskaris Leontares family, dated 1431-37, which place the codex in private possession during this period. A survey of 13 extant codices variously connected to this distinguished aristocratic dynasty, c.1400-1455, elucidates acquisition, ownership and use of books in this socio-cultural milieu, with particular reference to this family’s history and social networks. Comparative assessment of this sample of 13 codices and the 21 items recorded in the book-list of 1428/9 affirms the view that it relates to a private rather than an institutional library and distinguishes its potential value for investigating aristocratic book culture in the late Byzantine era.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In an epilogue to his Res gestae, Ammianus declares that he has written “as a former soldier and a Greek (ut miles quondam et graecus)”, a rare self-definition, indicating how he viewed himself and/or wished readers to view him, and... more
In an epilogue to his Res gestae, Ammianus declares that he has written “as a former soldier and a Greek (ut miles quondam et graecus)”, a rare self-definition, indicating how he viewed himself and/or wished readers to view him, and raising the question: what does Ammianus’ “militia” bring to this literary composition? As the only substantial sample of Roman historical writing by an ex-soldier of relatively junior rank, albeit a privileged young staff officer who self-consciously differentiates himself from rank-and-file milites, Ammianus’ fusion of historiography and memoirism is of value not only for its historical insights into the contemporary Roman army and its operations but also as a resource for philological research into the “real-world” language and linguistic practices of fourth-century soldiers. This paper investigates Ammianus’ knowledge and use of so-called “sermo castrensis”, the demotic idiom coined and used by ordinary Roman milites, and seeks to explain its occurrence in a work of classicizing historiography, in light of stylistic conventions prohibiting vulgarisms, termini technici and foreign usages. A review of prior scholarship acknowledges persistent difficulties in defining “sermo castrensis” as a lexical subspecies of Vulgar Latin particular to military personnel, comprising institutional jargon, loanwords and alternative slang, which can variously express shared socio-linguistic community and professional identity. The paper analyses specimens of this occupational idiolect found in the Res gestae, relating to tactical deployments, army hierarchies and assignments, poliorcetic machinery, recruiting and logistical practices, and nicknames, both for their intrinsic historical-linguistic interest, and for what they might reveal about Ammianus and his conception of his work, in terms of his professional environment, Latinity and bilingualism, authorial persona and literary artistry. This paper is intended as both a self-contained study of an aspect of Ammianus and a contribution to a planned monograph on “sermo castrensis”.
Research Interests:
This study of Kraków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Ms. graec. fol. 22, a 16th-century copy of Leo VI’s Tactica, establishes its significance in the transmission and reception of ancient and Byzantine military literature in Late Humanism.... more
This study of Kraków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Ms. graec. fol. 22, a 16th-century copy of Leo VI’s Tactica, establishes its significance in the transmission and reception of ancient and Byzantine military literature in Late Humanism. Investigation of the provenance and early history of this codex locates its crucial position in the wide diffusion of Leo’s treatise in the Early Modern period, initially via intellectual and commercial networks linking copyists, bookdealers and elite patron-readers in Venice and Castile in the 1560s. The subsequent book-trading enterprise of Andreas Darmarios relocated this volume to the library of Johann Pistorius in Heidelberg, where it became accessible to German and Dutch scholars. Largely unrecognised in prior studies, the codex thence played a particular role in pioneering scholarship as one of the sources of Johannes Meursius’ editio princeps of Leo’s Tactica (Leiden 1612), which, with successive revisions, remained the textual basis of inquiry into the early 20th century.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper examines Justinian’s Novel 130 and associated documents with a view to elucidating aspects of military food supply in the sixth century, particularly from the perspective of interaction between military institutions and... more
This paper examines Justinian’s Novel 130 and associated documents with a view to elucidating aspects of military food supply in the sixth century, particularly from the perspective of interaction between military institutions and civilian communities. Issued in 545, this enactment specifies comprehensive procedural regulations for provisioning troops in transit within the empire, principally by means of compulsory purchase (coemptio), recognizing that such transient circumstances posed peculiar challenges of control, scrutiny, documentation, and accountability. An assessment of procedures, personnel, and implementation, in light of the recent legislative background and operational practicalities, reveals remedial innovations designed to protect rural taxpayers and food-producers from loss, damage, and intimidation but also to safeguard soldiers against exploitation and corruption. Investigation of historical contexts — fiscal, military, and agrarian — in the early to mid-540s finds general and specific motives for government intervention in this sphere, while the fragmentary epigraphic record preserves imperial responses to appeals by agricultural communities in Asia Minor afflicted by the passage of soldiers in the 520s or 530s, illustrating processes of complaint and redress, and, more generally, modes of communication between periphery and center. Ultimately, principles and practices prescribed in Novel 130, even if products of a specific time and place, exercised enduring legislative force, inasmuch as military logistical arrangements of the Middle Byzantine period have a discernible Justinianic pedigree.
Full text available: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/41501
Homepage: https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal-late-antiquity
Full text available: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/41501
Homepage: https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal-late-antiquity
Research Interests: Roman History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Roman Law, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, and 15 moreByzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Roman Economy, Byzantine Epigraphy, Procopius, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman social and economic history, Byzantine Law, Justinian I, Emperor, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, and Byzantine Warfare
ABSTRACT: Cassius Dio’s fragmentary Roman History 15 contains an account of Archimedes’ role in defending Syracuse during the Roman siege of 213–212 B.C., incorporating a legendary tale about a solar reflector he constructed to burn Roman... more
ABSTRACT: Cassius Dio’s fragmentary Roman History 15 contains an account of Archimedes’ role in defending Syracuse during the Roman siege of 213–212 B.C., incorporating a legendary tale about a solar reflector he constructed to burn Roman warships, and including details of his death when the city fell. The textual basis of this famous episode depends on two derivative twelfth-century works: Zonaras’ Epitome of Histories (9.4–5) and Tzetzes’ Chiliades (2.35). After clarifying the present state of inquiry, this paper introduces two new witnesses, overlooked by editors of Dio and extensive scholarship on Archimedes, and assesses their value for reconstructing Dio’s text. Comparative analysis of corresponding Dio-derived material in Tzetzes’ Carmina Iliaca and Hypomnema in S. Luciam, especially verbal correspondences with Zonaras’ Epitome, demonstrates that they are independent and, sometimes, superior witnesses to Dio’s wording and content, reflecting Tzetzes’ selective use of the Roman History in different verse and prose compositions over several decades. The study considers editorial implications for this section of Dio’s work and general characteristics of Tzetzes’ writings as repositories of testimonia and fragments.
Research Interests:
This paper examines annotations inscribed in three manuscripts by Demetrios Laskaris Leontares (1418 – post-1475), an aristocrat whose possession or use of a dozen codices is documented. Palaeographic and historical criteria place all... more
This paper examines annotations inscribed in three manuscripts by Demetrios Laskaris Leontares (1418 – post-1475), an aristocrat whose possession or use of a dozen codices is documented. Palaeographic and historical criteria place all three texts in his adolescence around the 1430s. The primary focus is tenth-century Laur. gr. 55.4, a well-known collection of military treatises, in which successive generations of the Laskaris Leontares family inserted notices on personal and imperial events (1408-50). Overlooked by previous scholarship, on blank folio 197v Demetrios Leontares penned and signed a short letter addressed to an emperor, which constitutes a rare autograph specimen of Byzantine epistolography. This item was previously transcribed by Bandini (1768), who declined to edit and interpret its ‘barbaric and utterly illiterate’ script. Providing a new edition and first translation, this study situates the text within the evolution of epistolographic conventions in the early fifteenth century, as evidenced in contemporary letters and/or prescribed in letter-writing manuals. Whether interpreted as a draft or copy of an actual letter or a classroom exercise, this short private text adds uncommon ‘domestic’ and documentary dimensions to the study of Late Byzantine rhetoric, ideology and epistolary culture. The investigation widens to include two other undated annotations that can likewise be assigned to Demetrios Leontares’ youth: a co-ownership notice in recently commissioned Marc. gr. Z. 399 (5r) and a previously unpublished missive to an unnamed relative in twelfth-century Vat. gr. 586 (429v). Collective consideration of these three modest informal texts assists in clarifying their contexts and chronology, while elucidating broader themes of children, education, language and books in an aristocratic household.
Research Interests:
One of the better-known episodes in the life of John Tzetzes is his complaint that during a period of poverty in the 1130s he had been forced to sell off his books until only two remained in his possession – a copy of Plutarch’s Lives and... more
One of the better-known episodes in the life of John Tzetzes is his complaint that during a period of poverty in the 1130s he had been forced to sell off his books until only two remained in his possession – a copy of Plutarch’s Lives and a collection of “various mathematical morsels”. While Tzetzes’ historical, allegorical and exegetical writings do not otherwise display an exceptional passion for or expertise in mathematics, he names numerous “scientific” authors and cites their texts to elucidate, enliven or verify historical events, literary meanings and natural phenomena. Investigation of Tzetzes’ citations and terminology in this sphere indicates that his interests lay not in mathematical theory but in practical applications and demonstrations, consistent with his fascination for celebrated achievements in mechanical technology and military engineering. He also extols the sciences of classical antiquity and compiles lists of writers and works on geometry, mechanics, hydraulics, optics, pneumatics and poliorcetics. This paper concerning interaction between Tzetzes’ oeuvre and scientific literature has three objectives. First, evaluation of Tzetzes’ references to mathematical- technological authors (mechanographoi), including works that are otherwise unattested or lost, attempts to distinguish first-hand knowledge of texts from mere literary posturing, and to examine how Tzetzes’ citations relate to the known textual traditions, manuscript transmission and scholarly reception of classical science in Byzantium. This investigation demonstrates Tzetzes’ familiarity with two late antique works: Pappus’ Synagogue, a mathematical compendium (c.340), and Anthemius’ Περὶ παραδόξων μηχανημάτων, a treatise on geometrical optics (c.520-530s). Second, analysis of Tzetzes’ use of extant scientific texts, and in particular his efforts to combine historical narrative and technical exposition (e.g. his fusion of Cassius Dio’s Roman History and Anthemius’ Περὶ παραδόξων μηχανημάτων in reporting the legendary tale of Archimedes’ burning-mirrors [Hist. 2.112-31]), supply a methodological template for studying other cases where his technical source is uncertain or lost (e.g. his account of Apollodorus of Damascus’ bridge over the Danube [Hist. 2.65-97]). Third, striking parallels with the writings of Tzetzes’ near-contemporaries, notably Zonaras and Eustathius of Thessalonica, point to intertextuality and/or common source material, and suggest that Tzetzes’ “mathematical” interests were not entirely idiosyncratic or pedantic but shared and reflect a broader intellectual climate in twelfth-century Byzantium.
Research Interests:
This chapter examines the place of soldiers in the society, economy and culture of civilian communities during the Middle Byzantine period, and the implications for the ‘militarisation’ of social relationships. It explores how the... more
This chapter examines the place of soldiers in the society, economy and culture of civilian communities during the Middle Byzantine period, and the implications for the ‘militarisation’ of social relationships. It explores how the localisation and integration of provincial soldiers in towns and villages of Anatolia from the mid-seventh century, through kinship, personal associations, landownership/-holding and communal tax liabilities, affected the dynamics of soldier–civilian interactions and socio-cultural homogeneity. While legal distinctions between soldier and civilian remained clearly demarcated, insofar as military status accorded judicial privileges and fiscal immunities upon a soldier’s person, family and household, the intricacies of the Byzantine military-fiscal apparatus created significant ambiguities. In particular, the rootedness of soldiers’ in village communities, together with soldiers’ partial dependence on private or familial resources to fulfil their military service, created circumstances in which military-fiscal obligations could be transferred directly and personally onto civilian neighbours. Correspondingly, the very presence of soldiers in rural society, and especially the vulnerability of poorer soldiers to exploitation or coercion by provincial elites, could draw soldiers away from official duties and shape local power relationships.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, and 8 moreLate Antiquity, Byzantine History, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Byzantine economy, Medieval Military History, Byzantine Military History, and Byzantine Army
This paper investigates a lexical gloss in the final recension of Photios’ Amphilochia (880s), in which the ‘barbarian’ word τῶγα is inserted into excerpts from John Lydos’ De magistratibus (c.550) as an alternative contemporary term for... more
This paper investigates a lexical gloss in the final recension of Photios’ Amphilochia (880s), in which the ‘barbarian’ word τῶγα is inserted into excerpts from John Lydos’ De magistratibus (c.550) as an alternative contemporary term for an animal-hair crest or tassel on a royal standard. Examination of the terminological meaning and currency takes into account also τόγα found twice in De ceremoniis (c.963–969) in reference to an elaborately crested imperial diadem. In both cases, τῶγα/τόγα is explicitly synonymous with τοῦφα (Late Latin tufa), a plume, crest, tuft or tassel. Exposing misconceptions in older scholarship, analysis of τῶγα/τόγα adduces semantic and morphological criteria in favour of the Turkic etymon tuğ (tūɣ), a royal battle standard distinguished by a horse- or yak-hair tassel(s), as widely documented among martial population-groups of the Eurasian steppe. Historical and cultural contexts tentatively point to a loanword from Danubian Bulgar, the élite linguistic superstratum of the Bulgar Khaganate, and thus a rare specimen of lexical interaction between medieval Greek and an Oğuric Turkic language in a Balkan setting.
Research Interests:
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greco-Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, a legacy manifest in both the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and the... more
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greco-Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, a legacy manifest in both the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and the composition of new military treatises. This broad genre always exhibited diversity of content, style, language and approach reflective of different categories of author and audience. Among Byzantine readers, writers and editor-copyists, one of the most popular, influential and fashionable ancient military works was Onasander’s Strategikos (Στρατηγικός), a treatise on generalship written by a Platonic philosopher in the 50s AD. Onasander presents a wide-ranging evaluation of the qualities, duties and conduct of an ideal general, while his abstractive analysis of the Roman military leadership is notable for its sensibility towards ethical aspects of war and modern-seeming psychological insights. Accordingly, the Strategikos is often characterized as a “philosophical” discourse addressed to well-born aspirants to high command, distinct from specimens of “scientific” military literature. The currency and reputation of Onasander’s work as a military “classic” in Byzantium may be gauged by its ample manuscript transmission and abundant evidence for late antique/Byzantine interest in the text, as witnessed by editorial interpolations and frequent citations, adaptations and paraphrases. This paper charts how Onasander’s text was successively modified by Byzantine writers/editors from the sixth to eleventh centuries and influenced the form and content of Byzantine military writing. Investigation of the Byzantine reception of the Strategikos aims to account for the enduring popularity, authority and relevance of the treatise, and to identify its potential readership and impact, highlighting the socio-cultural, intellectual, didactic and literary functions of this genre as a component of the education, outlook and “Roman” identity of military and civilian élites.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT: Although the medical services of the Roman army have long attracted scholarly interest, all previous studies terminate in the mid/late third century, partly owing to conventional periodizations of Roman military history, but... more
ABSTRACT: Although the medical services of the Roman army have long attracted scholarly interest, all previous studies terminate in the mid/late third century, partly owing to conventional periodizations of Roman military history, but primarily in response to a drastic diminution in the epigraphic and archaeological record. This chapter assembles the evidence relating to health and medicine in the late Roman army (AD 250-600) and identifies interpretive challenges posed by different categories of literary and documentary source material. Where possible, analysis extends beyond medical personnel, facilities and procedures to examine broader medico-historical perspectives, including vulnerability to disease, cultural attitudes to soldiers’ health, especially combat wounds, and arrangements for invalided servicemen. Contrary to traditional notions of ‘decline and fall’, the evidence points to substantial continuity in institutional approaches to safeguarding soldiers’ health and treating those who became sick, injured or wounded, despite changes in the nature and expectations of military service in Late Antiquity.
FULL TEXT: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119248514.ch14
FULL TEXT: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119248514.ch14
Research Interests: Military History, Military Medicine, Roman History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, and 14 moreHistory of Medicine, Late Antiquity, History Of Disease, Roman military history, Ancient Medicine, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Social History of Medicine, Procopius, Late Roman Army, Byzantine Medicine, Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman Medicine, and War Wounds
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greek and Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, which was manifest both in the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and in the... more
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greek and Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, which was manifest both in the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and in the composition of numerous new treatises devoted to warfare on land and sea. This broad genre always exhibited a diversity of content, style, language and approach, reflective of different categories of author and reader. Originating in a research project to prepare a full critical edition of Nikephoros Ouranos’ Taktika (c.1000), conventionally acknowledged as the longest and last representative of this literary and intellectual tradition, this paper explores the subsequent and more obscure history of this genre in the Late Byzantine period. Aspects of continuity are discernible in isolated instances of military writing, specifically a tactical opusculum by the scholar-courtier Michael Psellos (c.1050s-70s) and evidence for a lost work by the general Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes (c.1297-1305/8), and in a partially overlapping but distinct genre of advisory literature (Kekaumenos, c.1075-8; Theodore Palaiologos, c.1326/7). The investigation addresses the more difficult question of the Late Byzantine audience(s) of military treatises, as reflected in evidence for aristocratic education and literary culture and in what can be inferred from manuscript production and ownership. In particular, these criteria show the continued esteem accorded to Greco-Roman ‘classics’, notably Ailianos’ Taktika Theoria (c.106-13 AD). More generally, they highlight the socio-cultural function of this genre as a component of the schooling, identity and perspectives of Late Byzantine military and civilian elites, over and above whatever practical utility these texts might (or might not) have possessed as ‘technical’ or ‘scientific’ literature. The discussion introduces some hitherto unexploited manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace Library (TSMK G.İ. 19 and 36).
(This paper was originally presented at the First International Conference on the Military History of the Mediterranean Sea, Fatih Üniversitesi, Istanbul, 26-28 June, 2015).
(This paper was originally presented at the First International Conference on the Military History of the Mediterranean Sea, Fatih Üniversitesi, Istanbul, 26-28 June, 2015).
Research Interests: Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine History, Late Byzantine history, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, and 8 moreMedieval Warfare, Michael Psellos, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine aristocracy, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals
This study of the status and peace-time functions of Byzantine soldiers (300-1200) examines diverse interactions between military personnel and civilian society. Acknowledging various categories and shifting contemporary definitions of... more
This study of the status and peace-time functions of Byzantine soldiers (300-1200) examines diverse interactions between military personnel and civilian society. Acknowledging various categories and shifting contemporary definitions of “soldier”, a survey of socio-cultural backgrounds, modes of recruitment, terms of service and institutional environments distinguishes differences in rates and methods of remuneration, fiscal-legal privileges, socio-economic standing and professional identities. The vexed question of military landholdings becomes of pivotal significance for locating soldiers in agrarian society. Official spheres of military-civilian relations include policing and internal security, enforcement of religious policies, interventions in imperial politics and regional economic impact. Broader consideration of military sociology explores how the presence and behaviour of soldiers, on and off duty, affected the socio-economic patterns, cultural complexion and power relationships of urban and rural communities, and reflected soldiers’ varying levels of integration into civilian society, through origin, kinship, property and culture, mirroring longer-term changes in the composition of Byzantine armies.
Research Interests: Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, and 13 moreLate Antiquity, Byzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Byzantine economy, Medieval Military History, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, Byzantine Warfare, and Roman and Byzantine Social and Economic History
Research Interests: Greek Literature, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Greek Language, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, and 15 moreByzantine Paleography and codicology, Ancient Warfare, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Greek Military Architecture, Byzantine Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Weaponry and Warfare, and Syrianus Magister(Byzantine Paleography and codicology, Ancient Warfare, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Greek Military Architecture, Byzantine Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Weaponry and Warfare, and Syrianus Magister)
(Byzantine Paleography and codicology, Ancient Warfare, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Greek Military Architecture, Byzantine Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Weaponry and Warfare, and Syrianus Magister)
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Greek Literature, Byzantine Literature, and 19 moreByzantine Studies, Roman military history, Xenophon, Roman Army, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Warfare in the Ancient World, Greek manuscripts, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Byzantine Studies, Roman military history, Xenophon, Roman Army, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Warfare in the Ancient World, Greek manuscripts, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Byzantine Studies, Roman military history, Xenophon, Roman Army, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Warfare in the Ancient World, Greek manuscripts, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Ancient Greek Warfare, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Arrian of Nicomedia, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
ABSTRACT: This chapter addresses the textual relationship between Maurice's Strategicon and its classical antecedents, a largely unexplored question, given that this late sixth-century military treatise has been studied primarily by... more
ABSTRACT: This chapter addresses the textual relationship between Maurice's Strategicon and its classical antecedents, a largely unexplored question, given that this late sixth-century military treatise has been studied primarily by Byzantine historians and as a foundational document of Byzantine military theory. While the unprecedented vernacular idiom, institutional jargon, technical content and documentary source-material of the Strategicon are consistent with Maurice’s professed intention to write a non-literary elementary compendium, his familiarity with examples of classical military writing is evident in explicit references to ‘the Ancients’, his adherence to the conventions and rhetorical repertoire of the genre and a self-conscious positioning of his treatise in relation to this literary tradition, as well as in conceptual and structural parallelism and similarities of language and/or substance. Without claims to exhaustive Quellenforschung, the paper examines the extent and nature of Maurice’s interaction with ‘the Ancients’ in general, and Aelian’s Tactica theoria and Arrian’s Acies contra Alanos in particular, with a view to differentiating the various ways in which Maurice exploited this classical heritage, whether as conceptual models, sources of technical content, validatory antique authority or allusive literary ornament. Greater clarity in this regard sheds light on the Nachleben of these two classical treatises, Maurice’s methodology, authorial credentials and literary-cultural milieu, and the transmission and reception of Greco-Roman military literature in late antiquity.
KEYWORDS: Maurice’s Strategikon / Strategicon, Aelian / Ailianos, Arrian, Greco-Roman military literature, Late Antiquity, Classical Reception, Late Roman army.
KEYWORDS: Maurice’s Strategikon / Strategicon, Aelian / Ailianos, Arrian, Greco-Roman military literature, Late Antiquity, Classical Reception, Late Roman army.
Research Interests: Military History, Greek Literature, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, and 19 moreLate Antiquity, Byzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Greek military history, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Greek military history, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Hellenistic Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Greek military history, Byzantine Military History, Ancient Greek Literature, Classical Greek Military History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Arrian of Nicomedia, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to introduce, edit and translate an unpublished fragment of Byzantine medical writing. Parisinus suppl. gr. 607 preserves a short and seemingly acephalous anthology of pharmaceutical remedies. A... more
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, edit and translate an unpublished fragment of Byzantine medical writing. Parisinus suppl. gr. 607 preserves a short and seemingly acephalous anthology of pharmaceutical remedies. A consideration of recipe collections as a distinctive but hard-to-define species of Byzantine Fachliteratur seeks to integrate this text into recent scholarship concerning a broad category of informal therapeutic writings, which testify to Byzantine drug lore, clinical practice and medicinal book culture. Investigation of the codicological structure clarifies that a secondary hand copied the fragment onto a blank folio in the mid-tenth century, contemporary with the compilation of this manuscript in a high socio-cultural and intellectual milieu in Constantinople. Examination of compositional contexts, embracing philological, textual, literary-historical and medical dimensions, suggests a ‘private’ remedy collection indicative of the use of texts in ‘household medicine’. This fragment draws particular attention as one of the earliest surviving specimens, while the codex has escaped the notice of previous inventories of Greek manuscripts with medical content.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, edit and translate an unpublished fragment of Byzantine medical writing. Parisinus suppl. gr. 607 preserves a short and seemingly acephalous anthology of pharmaceutical remedies. A consideration of recipe collections as a distinctive but hard-to-define species of Byzantine Fachliteratur seeks to integrate this text into recent scholarship concerning a broad category of informal therapeutic writings, which testify to Byzantine drug lore, clinical practice and medicinal book culture. Investigation of the codicological structure clarifies that a secondary hand copied the fragment onto a blank folio in the mid-tenth century, contemporary with the compilation of this manuscript in a high socio-cultural and intellectual milieu in Constantinople. Examination of compositional contexts, embracing philological, textual, literary-historical and medical dimensions, suggests a ‘private’ remedy collection indicative of the use of texts in ‘household medicine’. This fragment draws particular attention as one of the earliest surviving specimens, while the codex has escaped the notice of previous inventories of Greek manuscripts with medical content.
Research Interests: Greek Literature, Byzantine Literature, Codicology, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine History, and 15 moreAncient Medicine, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, History of Byzantine Education and Culture, Codicology of medieval manuscripts, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Medicine, History of Pharmacology, World History of Pharmacy, Roman Medicine, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Medicine, Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Ancient Greek Medicine, History of pharmacy, Social History of Pharmacy, and Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission)(Ancient Medicine, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, History of Byzantine Education and Culture, Codicology of medieval manuscripts, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Medicine, History of Pharmacology, World History of Pharmacy, Roman Medicine, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Medicine, Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Ancient Greek Medicine, History of pharmacy, Social History of Pharmacy, and Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission))
(Ancient Medicine, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, History of Byzantine Education and Culture, Codicology of medieval manuscripts, Greek manuscripts, Byzantine Medicine, History of Pharmacology, World History of Pharmacy, Roman Medicine, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Medicine, Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Ancient Greek Medicine, History of pharmacy, Social History of Pharmacy, and Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission))
‘quam gentilitate appellant. The Philological Evidence for Barbarians in the Late Roman Army: Germanic Loanwords in Roman Military Vocabulary’ in: Tivadar VIDA (ed.), with Philip RANCE (Eng. ed.), Romania Gothica II. The Frontier World: Romans, Barbarians and Military Culture (Budapest 2015) 51-94more
This paper examines the number, sources, etymology and chronology of Germanic loanwords in Roman military vocabulary with a view to establishing what these lexical influences can reveal about intercultural contact in this sphere during... more
This paper examines the number, sources, etymology and chronology of Germanic loanwords in Roman military vocabulary with a view to establishing what these lexical influences can reveal about intercultural contact in this sphere during Late Antiquity. While loanwords have long been recognised as a fertile source of cultural information, the purpose here is to chart the linguistic impact of Germani within one particular Roman institution. Most of the linguistic borrowings examined occurred originally in Vulgar Latin, or specifically its lexical subset “sermo castrensis”, the sociolect of Roman soldiers, but they are often documented primarily or solely as transliterations or secondary loans into Greek. Specimens are categorised according to the dynamics of loanword traffic: 1. borrowed names for borrowed things (tufa/toupha,-ion, carrago, armilaus(i)a/armilausion); 2. nominal borrowings (framea, *fulcum/phoulkon); 3. uncertain loan-object or nominal borrowing (bandum/bandon, punga/poungion, phlaskion); 4. uncertain Germanic derivation (burgus, barritus, *cautia, hornatores, touldos,-on, caput porci(num)); 5. demonstrably erroneous Germanic derivation (drungus/droungos, chouzion, sculca/skoulka). Concluding remarks attempt a periodization and consider the overall character and motivation of these loanwords as ingredients of the institutional Mischkultur of the Late Roman army.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Late Latin Literature, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, and 30 moreCeltic Philology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Latin Language, Gothic Language, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Barbarians, Ancient Greek Language, Early Medieval Warfare, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Loanwords(Celtic Philology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Latin Language, Gothic Language, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Barbarians, Ancient Greek Language, Early Medieval Warfare, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Loanwords)
(Celtic Philology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Latin Language, Gothic Language, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Barbarians, Ancient Greek Language, Early Medieval Warfare, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Loanwords)
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Roman Historiography, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, and 24 moreArmenian Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Armenian History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek and Roman historiography, South Caucasus, Black Sea ancient history and archaeology, Greek Lexicography, Georgian Studies, History of Georgia, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Roman-sassanid wars and diplomacy, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, and Suda - Suidas - Souda(Armenian Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Armenian History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek and Roman historiography, South Caucasus, Black Sea ancient history and archaeology, Greek Lexicography, Georgian Studies, History of Georgia, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Roman-sassanid wars and diplomacy, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
(Armenian Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Armenian History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek and Roman historiography, South Caucasus, Black Sea ancient history and archaeology, Greek Lexicography, Georgian Studies, History of Georgia, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Roman-sassanid wars and diplomacy, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
This paper examines a species of Latin technical terms formulated and employed in the late Roman army, some directly attested in Late Latin sources, others witnessed only as transliterations or loanwords in Greek. The cognates sculca... more
This paper examines a species of Latin technical terms formulated and employed in the late Roman army, some directly attested in Late Latin sources, others witnessed only as transliterations or loanwords in Greek. The cognates sculca (σκοῦλκα), sculcatorius, σκουλκεύειν and σκουλκάτωρ first emerge in the early sixth century, but clearly have a longer pedigree. They relate to a variety of military operations concerned with intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and defensive surveillance. For the most part these terms occur in non-literary Greek texts, which afford a clearer understanding of their usage, development and currency than do the scantier and generally later Latin sources, which have hitherto been the primary or exclusive focus of interest. Scholarship has long acknowledged an etymological connection with Late Latin exculcator, documented in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, while largely overlooking the significance of analogous proculcator, formerly a hapax but now corroborated by epigraphic discoveries. Since the seventeenth century, conflicting opinions on the etymology of sculca, often marred by erroneous statements and invalid deductions based on incomplete and/or defective evidence, have generated widespread confusion in lexical literature. One school of thought, popularised in the 1930s, endorses a Germanic or specifically Gothic derivation from posited *skulkan, *skulka. This influential thesis, frequently rehearsed uncritically, has sustained preconceptions about the ‘Germanization’ of the late Roman army and contributed to studies of the philological influence of the Goths, particularly on the language and toponymy of early medieval Italy. The following re-evaluation of the evidence and literature exposes the intrinsic tenuity of the Germanic derivation, while demonstrating the cogency of a Latin etymology, which finds direct parallels in phonological and orthographic developments in Late and Vulgar Latin (e.g. excubitor > scubitor/σκουβίτωρ). This case study enhances our understanding of the modality of loans from Late Latin into Greek, specifically in the sphere of technical jargon, and has historical implications for the perceived linguistic and cultural impact of Germanic peoples in Late Antiquity.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Classics, Latin Literature, Roman History, Late Latin Literature, and 32 moreLate Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Italian (Languages And Linguistics), Gothic Language, Toponymy, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Language, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Cassiodorus, Greek Philology, Byzantine Italy, Ancient Greek Literature, Lombard Italy, Roman cavalry, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Early Medieval Italy, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Ostrogothic Italy(Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Italian (Languages And Linguistics), Gothic Language, Toponymy, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Language, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Cassiodorus, Greek Philology, Byzantine Italy, Ancient Greek Literature, Lombard Italy, Roman cavalry, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Early Medieval Italy, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Ostrogothic Italy)
(Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Old Germanic Languages, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Germanic Philology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Italian (Languages And Linguistics), Gothic Language, Toponymy, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Ancient Greek Language, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Cassiodorus, Greek Philology, Byzantine Italy, Ancient Greek Literature, Lombard Italy, Roman cavalry, Lombard Language and personal names, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Early Medieval Italy, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Ostrogothic Italy)
This short article examines the textual transmission of a letter written by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, in 432/3, in which he remarks that a member of a locally based cavalry unit, the equites tertii stablesiani, had previously... more
This short article examines the textual transmission of a letter written by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, in 432/3, in which he remarks that a member of a locally based cavalry unit, the equites tertii stablesiani, had previously delivered his correspondence to an episcopal colleague. Successive modern editors, puzzled by the term "diaconum" in the unique manuscript, proposed the emendations "decanum" or "decurionem". The latter conjecture is found, unacknowledged, in the most recent critical edition of Theodoret's letters. Textual, historical and linguistic criteria corroborate the received reading and reveal that, as a result of these editorial interventions, an early reference to a "diaconus" or deacon serving as a regimental chaplain has been overlooked. Correctly identified and contextualised, Theodoret's courier can take his place in future discussions of Christian clergy within the late Roman army.
Research Interests:
A survey of the written evidence for attacks by Scotti on fourth-century Roman Britain provides a historical context for the introduction of two hitherto overlooked references to Scotti in the works of Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis on... more
A survey of the written evidence for attacks by Scotti on fourth-century Roman Britain provides a historical context for the introduction of two hitherto overlooked references to Scotti in the works of Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis on Cyprus (c. A.D. 315–403). Examination of Epiphanius’ Ancoratus and Panarion confirms that he inserted the ethnonym Σκόττοι into patristic source-material in the early 370s. These passages claim attention as unique testimony to the Scotti in Greek literature and the second earliest witness to this term in Roman sources. Their date prompts the conjecture that the barbarica conspiratio that beset Britain in A.D. 367–68/9 was a widely reported event even before its significance was magnified by Theodosian dynastic propaganda.
Keywords: Late Roman; Scotti; Irish; Epiphanius; Theodosius; Barbarian Conspiracy
Keywords: Late Roman; Scotti; Irish; Epiphanius; Theodosius; Barbarian Conspiracy
Research Interests: Irish Studies, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Celtic Studies, Patristics, Scottish History, and 21 moreEarly Medieval Ireland, Post-Roman Britain, Old Irish Language and Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Iron Age Ireland (Archaeology), Roman Britain, Late Roman Empire, Late Antique Literature, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Late Roman Britain, Great Migration period, Epiphanius of Salamis, Ammianus Marcellinus, Early Christian Ireland, Theodosius, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Pictish History and Scottish Early Medieval History, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Roman Britain and Gaul(Early Medieval Ireland, Post-Roman Britain, Old Irish Language and Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Iron Age Ireland (Archaeology), Roman Britain, Late Roman Empire, Late Antique Literature, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Late Roman Britain, Great Migration period, Epiphanius of Salamis, Ammianus Marcellinus, Early Christian Ireland, Theodosius, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Pictish History and Scottish Early Medieval History, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Roman Britain and Gaul)
(Early Medieval Ireland, Post-Roman Britain, Old Irish Language and Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Iron Age Ireland (Archaeology), Roman Britain, Late Roman Empire, Late Antique Literature, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Late Roman Britain, Great Migration period, Epiphanius of Salamis, Ammianus Marcellinus, Early Christian Ireland, Theodosius, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Pictish History and Scottish Early Medieval History, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, and Roman Britain and Gaul)
ABSTRACT: Following a preliminary survey of what is known (or believed) about equites stablesiani, a class of late Roman cavalry unit, this paper introduces two previously unexamined sources: first, a letter of Theodoret, Bishop of... more
ABSTRACT: Following a preliminary survey of what is known (or believed) about equites stablesiani, a class of late Roman cavalry unit, this paper introduces two previously unexamined sources: first, a letter of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, dated 432-3, of which the historical context, textual transmission and editorial history require clarification; second, a letter written by Emperor Justin I to Hypatius, magister militum per Orientem, in 520, as preserved in the Acta of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553). Despite problems of transmission and/or translation, these two texts contain valuable information about the late Roman army in Oriens. In particular, they both locate personnel of the same unit, equites tertii stablesiani, at Cyrrhus in Euphratensia. The implication that Cyrrhus was the regular station of this regiment during the fifth and early sixth centuries is consistent with other evidence for the dispersal and localisation of “mobile” units of comitatenses in urban garrisons during this period, in contrast to the conventional view that comitatenses lacked permanent stations and led a peripatetic existence of temporary billets and encampments.
KEYWORDS: Late Roman army, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Oriens, Justin I, military chaplains
KEYWORDS: Late Roman army, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Oriens, Justin I, military chaplains
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT: The continued use of Latin as the official Heeressprache of the East Roman Empire up to the 630s supplies the context for an examination of a text virtually unknown to classical scholarship. Mediceo-Laurentianus graecus LV-4... more
ABSTRACT: The continued use of Latin as the official Heeressprache of the East Roman Empire up to the 630s supplies the context for an examination of a text virtually unknown to classical scholarship. Mediceo-Laurentianus graecus LV-4 contains an anonymous and mutilated Greek military treatise, published by Karl Müller in 1880 and subsequently styled De Militari Scientia. Its character, date and textual affinities are briefly considered, concluding that it is an informal epitome or ‘working copy’ of Maurice’s Strategicon (ca. 590s), possibly compiled ca. 630s–640s as an aide-mémoire for a senior officer. This treatise is a unique witness to two loanwords from Latin – παλμάριον (palmarium) and ῥέκαλα (*recala), neither previously documented in lexica, and the latter not directly attested in Latin. The author’s usage of the construction ῥέκαλα δίδωμι ῥέκαλα ποιέω, with the sense ‘to make a withdrawal’, now permits recognition of the corresponding expression recala facio in the highly corrupted text of a Latin speech preserved in the Strategicon.
KEYWORDS: Maurice’s Strategikon / Strategicon, Müller Fragment, De Militari Scientia, Late Roman army, Latin Language, Vulgar Latin
KEYWORDS: Maurice’s Strategikon / Strategicon, Müller Fragment, De Militari Scientia, Late Roman army, Latin Language, Vulgar Latin
Research Interests: Military History, Strategy (Military Science), Tactics (Military Science), Greek Literature, Late Antique and Byzantine History, and 26 moreLate Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, History of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Latin, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, History of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Latin, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, History of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Latin, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, Byzantine philology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Research Interests: Ancient History, Greek Literature, Roman Historiography, Hellenistic History, Polybius, and 21 moreHellenistic Historiography, Lexicography, Roman military history, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Diodorus Siculus, Ancient Warfare, Greek Grammar, Greek and Roman historiography, Elephants, Punic Wars, Carthaginian Army, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Dictionaries, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, DIccionarios De Griego Antiguo, and Suda - Suidas - Souda(Hellenistic Historiography, Lexicography, Roman military history, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Diodorus Siculus, Ancient Warfare, Greek Grammar, Greek and Roman historiography, Elephants, Punic Wars, Carthaginian Army, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Dictionaries, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, DIccionarios De Griego Antiguo, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
(Hellenistic Historiography, Lexicography, Roman military history, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Diodorus Siculus, Ancient Warfare, Greek Grammar, Greek and Roman historiography, Elephants, Punic Wars, Carthaginian Army, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Dictionaries, Lexicografía Griega, Suidae Lexicon, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, DIccionarios De Griego Antiguo, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
Research Interests:
Keywords: Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus / Porphyrogennetos, De Cerimoniis, Maurice / Maurikios, Strategikon, Noumera, Latin in Byzantium, Byzantine Greek philology.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, and 9 moreByzantine History, Late Antique Literature, Late Roman Army, Byzantine ceremonial, Byzantine Army, Byzantine philology, Latin philology, Byzantine and Early Modern Greek Language, and Greek (Byzantine) Texts
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, and 9 moreLate Antique Literature, Late Roman Army, Byzantine arms and armors, Byzantine Army, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, and Syrianus Magister
Research Interests: Classics, Greek Literature, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, and 15 moreLexicography, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek Grammar, Greek Philology, Arrian, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Greek Literature, Byzantine philology, Greek etymology, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Lexicography, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek Grammar, Greek Philology, Arrian, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Greek Literature, Byzantine philology, Greek etymology, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Lexicography, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Greek Grammar, Greek Philology, Arrian, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Greek Literature, Byzantine philology, Greek etymology, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Ancient History, Roman History, Late Antiquity, Roman military history, Roman Army, and 13 moreLate Roman Empire, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman Warfare, Byzantine Military History, Later Roman Empire, Roman military equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Late Roman Empire, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman Warfare, Byzantine Military History, Later Roman Empire, Roman military equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Late Roman Empire, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman Warfare, Byzantine Military History, Later Roman Empire, Roman military equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Research Interests: Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Roman military history, Ancient Military History, Byzantine historiography, and 9 moreProcopius, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Late Roman Historiography, Byzantine Military History, Byzantine Army, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Late Antique and Medieval Historiography, and Narses the Eunuch
KEYWORDS: Late Roman army, cavalry, Vegetius, Maurice / Maurikios, Strategicon / Strategikon, Gaulish, Celtic loanwords, Late Latin, Vulgar Latin
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Greek Language, Celtic Philology, and 19 moreHistory of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Roman cavalry, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Roman Cavalry Tactics, and Late Roman Cavalry(History of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Roman cavalry, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Roman Cavalry Tactics, and Late Roman Cavalry)
(History of Latin Language, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Latin Language and Literature, Roman military history, Roman Army, Latin Language, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Celtic Languages, Late Roman Army, Vulgar Latin, Greek Philology, Byzantine Army, Roman cavalry, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Latin philology, Roman Cavalry Tactics, and Late Roman Cavalry)
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, and 11 moreByzantine History, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Byzantine arms and armors, Byzantine Army, and Ancient Weapons and Warfare
Research Interests: Military History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Roman military history, Sasanian History, and 11 moreRoman Army, Late Roman Empire, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Elephants, Byzantine Military History, Asian Elephants in Culture and History, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Sasanian Warfare, and Sasanian Army
Research Interests: Celtic Studies, Early Medieval Ireland, Post-Roman Britain, Late Antiquity, Roman Britain, and 14 moreRoman military history, Roman Army, The end of Roman Britain, Irish Archaeology, Late Roman Army, Late Roman Britain, Picts, Magnus Maximus, Roman Limes, Early Christian Ireland, Ancient Ireland, Old and Middle Irish Literature, Early Medieval Wales, and Roman Wales
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, and 11 moreRoman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Late Antique Literature, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Byzantine Army, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Byzantine Warfare, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals
In Preparation: a preliminary sample of the critical text, with apparatus, on fol. 273r.
Questions and comments welcome.
Questions and comments welcome.
Research Interests:
Published in: P. Rance, ‘A Late Byzantine Book Inventory in Sofia, Dujčev gr. 253 (olim Kosinitsa 265) – a monastic or private Library?’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 115.3 (2022) 977-1029 at 979-986.
Research Interests:
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘An Unpublished Byzantine Medical Fragment (Parisinus suppl. gr. 607): Pharmaceutical Knowledge and Practice in Tenth-Century Constantinople’, Παρεκβολαί / Parekbolai 7 (2017) 69-95 at 85-86
Research Interests:
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘Finding the Right Words: a Letter to the Emperor (Laur. Plut. 55.4, f. 197v) – Books, Education and Rhetoric in a Late Byzantine Household [with Corrigenda to Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit]’,... more
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘Finding the Right Words: a Letter to the Emperor (Laur. Plut. 55.4, f. 197v) – Books, Education and Rhetoric in a Late Byzantine Household [with Corrigenda to Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit]’, Παρεκβολαί / Parekbolai 12 (2022) 27-56 at 33-35
Research Interests:
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘Finding the Right Words: a Letter to the Emperor (Laur. Plut. 55.4, f. 197v) – Books, Education and Rhetoric in a Late Byzantine Household [with Corrigenda to Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit]’,... more
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘Finding the Right Words: a Letter to the Emperor (Laur. Plut. 55.4, f. 197v) – Books, Education and Rhetoric in a Late Byzantine Household [with Corrigenda to Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit]’, Παρεκβολαί / Parekbolai 12 (2022) 27-56 at 47-50
Research Interests:
Published in: P. RANCE, ‘The Reception of Aineias’ Poliorketika in Byzantine Military Literature’ in: Maria PRETZLER and Nick BARLEY (eds.), Brill's Companion to Aineias Tacticus (Leiden/Boston 2017) 290-374 at 361-363.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
See: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ejournals/index.php/byzrev/index
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6678
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6678
Research Interests:
FULL ACCESS via link provided
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Ancient History, Classics, Hellenistic Literature, Hellenistic History, Hellenistic and Roman Fortifications, and 15 moreClassical philology, Ancient Warfare, Greek Fortifications, Ancient Greek technology, Ancient Greek Literature, Siege Warfare, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Greek and Roman siege warfare, Ancient artillery, Ancient Greek Fortification, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Technical Literature, and Hellenistic science and technology(Classical philology, Ancient Warfare, Greek Fortifications, Ancient Greek technology, Ancient Greek Literature, Siege Warfare, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Greek and Roman siege warfare, Ancient artillery, Ancient Greek Fortification, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Technical Literature, and Hellenistic science and technology)
(Classical philology, Ancient Warfare, Greek Fortifications, Ancient Greek technology, Ancient Greek Literature, Siege Warfare, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Greek and Roman siege warfare, Ancient artillery, Ancient Greek Fortification, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, Ancient Greek Technical Literature, and Hellenistic science and technology)
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Military History, Military Science, Strategy (Military Science), Roman History, Hellenistic and Roman Fortifications, and 24 moreRoman military archaeology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Roman Empire, Roman Frontiers (Archaeology), Roman imperial history, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman provinces, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Roman imperialism, Grand Strategy, Roman Warfare, Later Roman Empire, Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Roman Military Architecture, Roman Army Studies, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Defence and Strategic Studies, Defense and Strategic Studies, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Roman Archaeology, and Roman Strategy(Roman military archaeology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Roman Empire, Roman Frontiers (Archaeology), Roman imperial history, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman provinces, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Roman imperialism, Grand Strategy, Roman Warfare, Later Roman Empire, Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Roman Military Architecture, Roman Army Studies, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Defence and Strategic Studies, Defense and Strategic Studies, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Roman Archaeology, and Roman Strategy)
(Roman military archaeology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Late Roman Empire, Roman Empire, Roman Frontiers (Archaeology), Roman imperial history, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Roman provinces, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Roman imperialism, Grand Strategy, Roman Warfare, Later Roman Empire, Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Roman Military Architecture, Roman Army Studies, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Defence and Strategic Studies, Defense and Strategic Studies, Ancient Greek and Roman Military History, Roman Archaeology, and Roman Strategy)
Research Interests: Classics, Greek Literature, Roman History, Roman Historiography, Late Antiquity, and 12 moreFragmentary Historiography, Roman military history, Late Roman Empire, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Late Antique Literature, Roman Empire, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Greek Literature, Roman Literature, Roman Crisis of the Third Century, and roman empire, Third Century crisis(Fragmentary Historiography, Roman military history, Late Roman Empire, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Late Antique Literature, Roman Empire, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Greek Literature, Roman Literature, Roman Crisis of the Third Century, and roman empire, Third Century crisis)
(Fragmentary Historiography, Roman military history, Late Roman Empire, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Late Antique Literature, Roman Empire, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Greek Literature, Roman Literature, Roman Crisis of the Third Century, and roman empire, Third Century crisis)
Research Interests: Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Early Medieval History, and 14 moreByzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Medieval Military History, Siege Warfare, Medieval Weapons and Equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Late roman and early byzantine warfare(Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Medieval Military History, Siege Warfare, Medieval Weapons and Equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Late roman and early byzantine warfare)
(Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, Medieval Military History, Siege Warfare, Medieval Weapons and Equipment, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Early Medieval Weapons and Warfare, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Late roman and early byzantine warfare)
Research Interests: Classics, Roman Historiography, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Early Medieval History, and 9 moreLate Antiquity, Byzantine History, Late Roman Empire, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Late Antique Literature, Byzantine historiography, Late Roman Army, Huns, and Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
Research Interests: Ancient History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Horse culture, and 20 moreEarly Medieval Archaeology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Chivalry (Medieval Studies), Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, The military religious orders of the Middle Ages : the Hospitallers, the Templars, the Teutonic knights, and others, Horses, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Horse Harnessing, History of Horse Riding, Knighthood, History of horse breeding and training, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, History of horse bits, and Archaeology of Horse and Riders(Early Medieval Archaeology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Chivalry (Medieval Studies), Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, The military religious orders of the Middle Ages : the Hospitallers, the Templars, the Teutonic knights, and others, Horses, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Horse Harnessing, History of Horse Riding, Knighthood, History of horse breeding and training, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, History of horse bits, and Archaeology of Horse and Riders)
(Early Medieval Archaeology, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Chivalry (Medieval Studies), Ancient Warfare, Late Roman Army, Medieval Warfare, The military religious orders of the Middle Ages : the Hospitallers, the Templars, the Teutonic knights, and others, Horses, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Ancient Horse Harnessing, History of Horse Riding, Knighthood, History of horse breeding and training, Byzantine Warfare, Late roman and early byzantine warfare, History of horse bits, and Archaeology of Horse and Riders)
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Greek Literature, Second Sophistic, and 11 moreRoman military history, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals(Roman military history, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
(Roman military history, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Ancient Military History, Ancient Warfare, Greek and Roman historiography, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Polyaenus, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals)
Research Interests: Roman History, Roman military archaeology, Roman military history, Roman Army, Roman Empire, and 13 moreRoman Frontiers (Archaeology), Late Roman Army, Roman Provincial Archaeology, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Fortresses, Roman Limes, Roman Military Architecture, Roman Archaeology, Forts, Auxiliaries, Units, Legions, and Garrisoning
Research Interests: Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, War Studies, Byzantine Studies, and 8 moreLate Antiquity, Byzantine History, Late Roman Army, Grand Strategy, Byzantine Army, Byzantine Warfare, Military Literature in the Byzantine period, and Greek and Roman Military Manuals
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Classics, Greek Literature, Roman Historiography, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, and 12 moreLexicography, Greek Historiography, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Greek Historiography, Fragmentary Greek Historiography, Greek Grammar, Greek and Roman historiography, Greek Philology, Greek Lexicography, Byzantine philology, Dictionaries, and Ancient Greek Vocabulary
Research Interests: Near Eastern Archaeology, Classics, Greek Literature, Second Sophistic, Byzantine Studies, and 15 moreLate Antiquity, Late Antique Magic, Late Antique Literature, Contextualizing Ancient Magic, Ancient Agriculture & Farming (Archaeology), Ancient Warfare, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Ancient magic, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Byzantine arms and armors, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Greek and Roman Social History, Suidae Lexicon, Graeco-Roman Religion, and Suda - Suidas - Souda(Late Antiquity, Late Antique Magic, Late Antique Literature, Contextualizing Ancient Magic, Ancient Agriculture & Farming (Archaeology), Ancient Warfare, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Ancient magic, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Byzantine arms and armors, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Greek and Roman Social History, Suidae Lexicon, Graeco-Roman Religion, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
(Late Antiquity, Late Antique Magic, Late Antique Literature, Contextualizing Ancient Magic, Ancient Agriculture & Farming (Archaeology), Ancient Warfare, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Ancient magic, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Byzantine arms and armors, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Greek and Roman Social History, Suidae Lexicon, Graeco-Roman Religion, and Suda - Suidas - Souda)
Research Interests: Classics, Greek Literature, Second Sophistic, Lexicography, Greek Grammar, and 11 moreAncient Greek Language, Greek Philology, Greek Lexicography, Ancient Greek Literature, Dictionaries, Greek Scholia and History of Scholarship, Lexicografía Griega, Ancient Greek Scholarship, Ancient Greek Vocabulary, DIccionarios De Griego Antiguo, and Ancient Greek Language and Literature
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Greco-Roman Science, Hellenistic and Roman Fortifications, Roman military history, Ptolemaic Egyptian History, History of Military Technology, and 9 moreAncient Warfare, Greek Fortifications, Ptolemaic Egypt, Ancient Greek technology, Ancient Weapons and Warfare, Hellenistic warfare, Ancient artillery, Greek and Roman Military Manuals, and History of Ancient Greek Mathematics
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Military History, Ottoman History, World War I, First World War, Ottoman Historiography, and 14 moreOttoman-Turkish Westernization, Memoir and Autobiography, Ottoman Military History, Turkish-German Studies, Gallipoli, Late Ottoman Military History, Cultural History of the First World War, Osmanlı Tarihi, Balkan Wars 1912-1913, çanakkale, First World War Literature, Turkish military history, ÇAnakkale Savaşı, and Turkish Military Students in Germany(Ottoman-Turkish Westernization, Memoir and Autobiography, Ottoman Military History, Turkish-German Studies, Gallipoli, Late Ottoman Military History, Cultural History of the First World War, Osmanlı Tarihi, Balkan Wars 1912-1913, çanakkale, First World War Literature, Turkish military history, ÇAnakkale Savaşı, and Turkish Military Students in Germany)
(Ottoman-Turkish Westernization, Memoir and Autobiography, Ottoman Military History, Turkish-German Studies, Gallipoli, Late Ottoman Military History, Cultural History of the First World War, Osmanlı Tarihi, Balkan Wars 1912-1913, çanakkale, First World War Literature, Turkish military history, ÇAnakkale Savaşı, and Turkish Military Students in Germany)
ABSTRACT: Among the Greco-Roman texts that exercised a formative influence on the military culture and literature of Early Modern Europe, by far the most popular Greek military “classic” was Onasander’s Strategicus (Στρατηγικός), an... more
ABSTRACT: Among the Greco-Roman texts that exercised a formative influence on the military culture and literature of Early Modern Europe, by far the most popular Greek military “classic” was Onasander’s Strategicus (Στρατηγικός), an ethical-philosophical treatise on the qualities, education and conduct of an ideal general, written by a Platonic philosopher in the 1st century AD. One of the first Ancient Greek military handbooks to be made accessible to a western readership from c.1455, by the mid-18th century Onasander had become the most often printed, most widely translated and most extensively commented-upon Greek military author. The project examines the reception of Onasander’s Strategicus c.1500 – c.1750, primarily in Germany and France, but also in Italy, the Netherlands and England. Using the exceptional collection of early editions, translations and commentaries at the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, the project aims to explain how and why this work gained such popularity and authority, and remained relevant to readers within diverse and shifting literary, intellectual, didactic, socio-cultural and military contexts of Late Humanism and the Enlightenment. The study encompasses the transmission and collecting of manuscripts; printing and book culture; translational methodologies and translations as a medium of cultural transfer; strategies of patronage and promotion; the interaction between classical texts and contemporary discourse on war.
KEY WORDS: Reception of ancient literature; codicology; printing and book culture in the Early Modern period; Ancient Greek military literature; Early Modern military culture(s)
KEY WORDS: Reception of ancient literature; codicology; printing and book culture in the Early Modern period; Ancient Greek military literature; Early Modern military culture(s)
ABSTRACT: Modern scholarship has long acknowledged the popularity and influence of Greco-Roman military literature in the early modern period, both within the intellectual, educational and cultural currents of late humanist scholarship,... more
ABSTRACT: Modern scholarship has long acknowledged the popularity and influence of Greco-Roman military literature in the early modern period, both within the intellectual, educational and cultural currents of late humanist scholarship, and in relation to the “military revolution” in northern Europe. While previous research has mainly focused on better-known classical authors, the corresponding significance of Byzantine military texts, which first began to be studied, translated and printed from the mid-16th century, has been largely neglected. The research project examines the reception of Byzantine military literature c.1550-c.1700, primarily in the Dutch Republic, Germany, England and Scandinavia, but also in France, Italy and Russia. This multidimensional study encompasses the transmission and collection of Greek manuscripts; developments in editorial principles, printing and book culture; Latin and vernacular translations as a medium of cultural transfer; the implications of the “barbarous” post-classical idiom, technical content and cultural provenance of Byzantine texts with respect to strategies of patronage and promotion; their contribution to the creation of the first modern lexica of medieval Greek and to defining “Byzantium” as a newly emergent field of scholarly enquiry; and the influence of this corpus of Byzantine military treatises on contemporary military theory and practice in northern Europe. The primary objective is a monograph that will be of interest across disciplinary specialisms, including early modern literary and intellectual history, Byzantine studies, military history and the history of ideas.
KEY WORDS: Classical and Byzantine technical literature, codicology, printing and book culture, literary reception, lexicography, warfare, Byzantine studies
KEY WORDS: Classical and Byzantine technical literature, codicology, printing and book culture, literary reception, lexicography, warfare, Byzantine studies
ABSTRACT: This research project aims to assemble, study and publish the surviving fragments of a Greek work on cryptography or specifically steganography, the science and practice of transmitting information in secret, primarily for the... more
ABSTRACT: This research project aims to assemble, study and publish the surviving fragments of a Greek work on cryptography or specifically steganography, the science and practice of transmitting information in secret, primarily for the purposes of war and espionage, both crucial elements of ancient and medieval statecraft. These fragments are preserved as discrete collections of excerpts incorporated into two Byzantine military treatises, the so-called Sylloge Tacticorum (c.950) and the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos (c.1000). These two works derive in part from a common source, a lost military compendium or ‘Corpus Perditum’, in which this cryptographic material formed a self-contained component of undetermined date and authorship. The two partially overlapping excerpt collections broadly coincide in sequence, structure and content, but differ substantially in form, style, idiom and editorial methodology. The relevant chapters of the Taktika, the more authoritative and complete witness, have not previously been published. The original text prescribed diverse methods of secret correspondence, ranging from simple concealment to ingenious contrivances. The content encompasses modified extracts from extant classical military and historical literature and otherwise unknown material of unidentified provenance. The research objective is to prepare a first critical edition of all the fragments with an English translation; to analyse their complex textual transmission, compositional history, sources and literary affinities; and to attempt to reconstruct the multi-layered cultural milieu and historical contexts of these cryptographic fragments, both as a rare specimen of a poorly attested (sub)genre of Greek technical literature and in relation to the reception of Greco-Roman texts in Byzantium. The project builds on preliminary textual and codicological studies undertaken during a Humboldt-Forschungsstipendium für erfahrene Wissen-schaftler (Institut für Byzantinistik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2009-11) and subsequent research in the Greek manuscripts collection of the Topkapı Palace Library, Istanbul (Senior Research Fellowship, RCAC, Koç University, 2013-14).
KEYWORDS: Nikephoros Ouranos, Taktika, Sylloge Tacticorum, classical Greek and Byzantine technical literature, classical reception, military science, Byzantine codicology, Byzantine philology
KEYWORDS: Nikephoros Ouranos, Taktika, Sylloge Tacticorum, classical Greek and Byzantine technical literature, classical reception, military science, Byzantine codicology, Byzantine philology
ABSTRACT: The Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos is a vast compendium of military science compiled by a distinguished Byzantine general, courtier and man of letters in c.1000. The last and longest treatise written in a self-conscious genre of... more
ABSTRACT: The Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos is a vast compendium of military science compiled by a distinguished Byzantine general, courtier and man of letters in c.1000. The last and longest treatise written in a self-conscious genre of Greek tactical manuals that stretches back fourteen centuries, the Taktika incorporates material from classical Greek, Roman and Byzantine military literature, ranging from the fourth century BC to the tenth century AD, modified and/or supplemented by Nikephoros’ observations on contemporary practices. Today sections of the Taktika are preserved in three manuscript prototypes, in Munich, Istanbul and Oxford, none containing the whole work, but from which collectively the text can be reconstituted almost in its entirety. At the time of application, just 21 of 178 chapters are available in modern critical editions. The proposed research project has three main objectives:
1. to edit a substantial section of the Taktika that has never been published (chs. 75-178). The edition will be based on a collation of two codices, Monacensis gr. 452 (158 folios) (c.1350-60), in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and Oxoniensis Baroccianus 131 (262r-288v) (c.1250-80), in the Bodleian Library, which represent two different recensions of the text.
2. to identify extant Greek, Roman and Byzantine sources used by Nikephoros for which he had access to better and/or fuller manuscripts than those that survive today, and thus where his Taktika potentially represents a more accurate and/or complete indirect textual tradition, overlooked in modern critical editions of those sources (e.g. Onasander, Aelian, Arrian).
3. to identify fragments of ‘lost’ works embedded in the Taktika that have not otherwise survived in a direct tradition (e.g. excerpts from a work on cryptography).
This study represents the first stage of a longer-term, multiphase project to produce an editio princeps of the complete text of the Taktika, which will be of intrinsic value and allow a better appreciation of this soldier-scholar, and his methodologies as a compilator, editor, paraphrast and author.
KEYWORDS: Nikephoros Ouranos, Taktika, classical Greek and Byzantine technical literature, classical reception, military science, Byzantine codicology, Byzantine philology
1. to edit a substantial section of the Taktika that has never been published (chs. 75-178). The edition will be based on a collation of two codices, Monacensis gr. 452 (158 folios) (c.1350-60), in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and Oxoniensis Baroccianus 131 (262r-288v) (c.1250-80), in the Bodleian Library, which represent two different recensions of the text.
2. to identify extant Greek, Roman and Byzantine sources used by Nikephoros for which he had access to better and/or fuller manuscripts than those that survive today, and thus where his Taktika potentially represents a more accurate and/or complete indirect textual tradition, overlooked in modern critical editions of those sources (e.g. Onasander, Aelian, Arrian).
3. to identify fragments of ‘lost’ works embedded in the Taktika that have not otherwise survived in a direct tradition (e.g. excerpts from a work on cryptography).
This study represents the first stage of a longer-term, multiphase project to produce an editio princeps of the complete text of the Taktika, which will be of intrinsic value and allow a better appreciation of this soldier-scholar, and his methodologies as a compilator, editor, paraphrast and author.
KEYWORDS: Nikephoros Ouranos, Taktika, classical Greek and Byzantine technical literature, classical reception, military science, Byzantine codicology, Byzantine philology
Among the earliest travellers to and within Ottoman territory after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 were members of the former Byzantine élite hoping to liberate captured wives, children and relatives. This process involved tracing the... more
Among the earliest travellers to and within Ottoman territory after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 were members of the former Byzantine élite hoping to liberate captured wives, children and relatives. This process involved tracing the fate and location of survivors and negotiating a price with their current Ottoman owners. This paper examines two better-documented cases in 1454-55. First, the formal historical memoir of the courtier and diplomat George Sphrantzes (1401–c.1478) narrates how he travelled from the residual Palaiologan realm in the southern Peloponnese to the Ottoman capital at Edirne/Adrianople to secure the release of his wife and daughter. Second, the aristocrat Demetrios Laskaris Leontares (1418–post-1475), in an episodic series of annotations to manuscripts that he owned or borrowed, records a journey from the Danubian fortress of Smederevo, in the Despotate of Serbia, to Edirne to redeem his wife and four children. Although reported in differing formats and with different outcomes, these two journeys, from opposite ends of the Balkans, share the same purpose, circumstances and destination. In addition to individual historical details, the study considers common factors governing the nature of travel in this period and context, including pervasive insecurity, ongoing military operations, and Byzantine-Ottoman interaction, just when the sultan’s capital was shifting from Edirne to Constantinople.
Conveners: Ekaterina NECHAEVA & Leif Inge Ree PETERSEN
This paper offers a close investigation of annotated manuscript fragments found pasted into Parisinus graecus 1635 (f. IIv), a fifteenth-century Greek codex containing classical texts, held in the Bibliothèque nationale. These cut paper... more
This paper offers a close investigation of annotated manuscript fragments found pasted into Parisinus graecus 1635 (f. IIv), a fifteenth-century Greek codex containing classical texts, held in the Bibliothèque nationale. These cut paper fragments have been periodically mentioned in scholarship over the last 150 years, but they have never been properly studied and remain a source of misunderstanding. The objective is to clarify the textual content and provenance of the fragments and to establish their relationship to this particular codex. An integrated exploration of socio-cultural and intellectual contexts explores their value for elucidating the production, ownership and use of Greek books in Byzantine émigré communities in southern Italy in the generation following the Ottoman conquest.
In many societies, past and present, a visible wound sustained in battle can variously signify heroism, masculinity, sacrifice, authority or entitlement. This paper seeks to elucidate conceptions and perceptions of late antique warfare,... more
In many societies, past and present, a visible wound sustained in battle can variously signify heroism, masculinity, sacrifice, authority or entitlement. This paper seeks to elucidate conceptions and perceptions of late antique warfare, warriorhood and military historiography in light of a growing body of medico-historical scholarship devoted to “traumatology” in other periods and/or cultures over the last 20 years. The focus of previous research lies in the identification of types of combat injury and the study of medical, surgical and pharmacological texts and practices relating to their treatment. This enquiry explores various non-medical dimensions of and attitudes to military injuries, wounds, disabilities, disfigurements and scars, including literary, socio-cultural, moral, rhetorical, remunerative and legal perspectives, as portrayed or expressed in, for example, historical literature, epic poetry, law codes, oratory and military treatises. The paper focuses primarily on Late Roman/Early Byzantine sources concerning war in the Mediterranean basin and Near East between the 4th and 7th centuries, partly with the aim of identifying common traits of a late antique “aesthetic” in the conception and depiction of combat injuries, but also with a view to encouraging consideration of similar themes in the study of neighbouring martial cultures.
One of the better-known episodes in the life of John Tzetzes is his complaint that during a period of poverty in the 1130s he had been forced to sell off his books until only two remained in his possession – a copy of Plutarch’s Lives and... more
One of the better-known episodes in the life of John Tzetzes is his complaint that during a period of poverty in the 1130s he had been forced to sell off his books until only two remained in his possession – a copy of Plutarch’s Lives and a collection of “various mathematical morsels”. While Tzetzes’ historical, allegorical and exegetical writings do not otherwise display an exceptional passion for or expertise in mathematics, he names numerous “scientific” authors and cites their texts to elucidate, enliven or verify historical events, literary meanings and natural phenomena. Investigation of Tzetzes’ citations and terminology in this sphere indicates that his interests lay not in mathematical theory but in practical applications and demonstrations, consistent with his fascination for celebrated achievements in mechanical technology and military engineering. He also extols the sciences of classical antiquity and compiles lists of writers and works on geometry, mechanics, hydraulics, optics, pneumatics and poliorcetics. This paper concerning interaction between Tzetzes’ oeuvre and scientific literature has three objectives. First, evaluation of Tzetzes’ references to mathematical- technological authors (mechanographoi), including works that are otherwise unattested or lost, attempts to distinguish first-hand knowledge of texts from mere literary posturing, and to examine how Tzetzes’ citations relate to the known textual traditions, manuscript transmission and scholarly reception of classical science in Byzantium. This investigation demonstrates Tzetzes’ familiarity with two late antique works: Pappus’ Synagogue, a mathematical compendium (c.340), and Anthemius’ Περὶ παραδόξων μηχανημάτων, a treatise on geometrical optics (c.520-530s). Second, analysis of Tzetzes’ use of extant scientific texts, and in particular his efforts to combine historical narrative and technical exposition (e.g. his fusion of Cassius Dio’s Roman History and Anthemius’ Περὶ παραδόξων μηχανημάτων in reporting the legendary tale of Archimedes’ burning-mirrors [Hist. 2.112-31]), supply a methodological template for studying other cases where his technical source is uncertain or lost (e.g. his account of Apollodorus of Damascus’ bridge over the Danube [Hist. 2.65-97]). Third, striking parallels with the writings of Tzetzes’ near-contemporaries, notably Zonaras and Eustathius of Thessalonica, point to intertextuality and/or common source material, and suggest that Tzetzes’ “mathematical” interests were not entirely idiosyncratic or pedantic but shared and reflect a broader intellectual climate in twelfth-century Byzantium.
‘“Displaying Many Wounds”: the Portrayal and Symbolism of Combat Injuries in Early Medieval Warfare (4th-7th Centuries)’ at: “Reflections of a Militarised World? Perceptions and Conceptions of War and the Military in the Early Middle Ages (ca 500–1000)”, Freie Universität Berlin (19-21 Sept. 2017)more
This paper examines Justinian’s Novel 130 and associated documents with a view to elucidating aspects of military food supply in the sixth century, particularly from the perspective of interaction between military institutions and... more
This paper examines Justinian’s Novel 130 and associated documents with a view to elucidating aspects of military food supply in the sixth century, particularly from the perspective of interaction between military institutions and civilian communities. Issued in 545, this enactment specifies comprehensive procedural regulations for provisioning troops in transit within the empire, principally by means of compulsory purchase (coemptio), recognising that such transient circumstances posed peculiar challenges of control, scrutiny, documentation and accountability. An assessment of procedures, personnel and implementation, in light of the recent legislative background and operational practicalities, discerns remedial innovations designed to protect rural taxpayers/food-producers from loss, damage and intimidation but also to safeguard soldiers against exploitation and corruption. Investigation of historical contexts – fiscal, military and agrarian – in the early/mid-540s finds general and specific motives for government intervention in this sphere, while the fragmentary epigraphic record preserves imperial responses to appeals by agricultural communities in Asia Minor afflicted by the passage of soldiers in the 520s/530s, illustrating processes of complaint and redress, and, more generally, modes of communication between periphery and centre. Ultimately, principles and practices prescribed in Novel 130, even if products of a specific time and place, exercised enduring legislative force, inasmuch as military logistical arrangements of the Middle Byzantine period have a discernible Justinianic pedigree.
This paper examines the place of soldiers in provincial society during the Middle Byzantine period and the implications for “militarisation” of social relationships. Following Islamic invasions c.637-641, Byzantine forces were withdrawn... more
This paper examines the place of soldiers in provincial society during the Middle Byzantine period and the implications for “militarisation” of social relationships. Following Islamic invasions c.637-641, Byzantine forces were withdrawn from the ancient, relatively urbanised Mesopotamia-Syria-Palestine frontier zone and stationed across Anatolia, where cities were sparser, military infrastructure deficient and landowning magnates dominant. Against a background of civic shrinkage, the dispersal of armies throughout Asia Minor reflected a wider “provincialisation” of Byzantine government, society and culture that had important consequences for soldier-civilian interaction and the dynamics of village life. The paper focuses on a broad category of “farmer-soldiers”, peasant freeholders registered in the military district in which they resided and performing mostly seasonal/regional military obligations in return for service-related income and fiscal-juridical privileges. Embedded in the Anatolian countryside and products of localised recruitment, these soldiers and their families were integrated into rural communities by kinship, personal associations and property, and exhibit a high degree of socio-cultural homogeneity with civilian neighbours. While legal distinctions between soldier and civilian remained clearly demarcated, the intricacies of the Byzantine military-fiscal apparatus created ambiguities. The paper singles out two developments. First, by the mid-8th century soldiers were expected to meet the cost of weaponry, equipment and horses from their own or family’s resources. Second, soldiers’ landholdings, gradually and privately acquired by diverse means as a natural consequence of their permanent localisation in rural society, were territorially, fiscally and familially interlinked with neighbouring civilian properties. Although the evidence suggests that, overall, “military households” were better-off peasantry, or even lesser "gentry", a significant proportion periodically lacked sufficient means to fulfil their military obligations. Correspondingly, while some soldiers used their status, wealth and monopoly of legally-sanctioned violence to dominate rural society, more striking are the ways in which the poverty of less well-off peasant-soldiers affected social relationships. First, from c.800, civilian landowners could become directly and personally responsible for funding soldiers through mandatory assignment as “contributors” to insolvent soldiers in their community. Second, impoverished soldiers became vulnerable to coercion or exploitation by local élites, manifest in the unlawful employment of soldiers on private estates as dependent tenants, stewards or retainers. Ultimately, the emergence of aristocratic clans, whose members combined regional landownership with military office-holding, led to a proliferation of armed retinues that blurred the boundaries between official army structures and patronal-cliental networks. The rootedness of soldiers in village communities thus led to a partial extension of military obligations to their civilian neighbours and affected local power-relationships – two manifestations of “militarisation”. Conversely, with an emerging “professionalisation” of Byzantine armies from the 9th/10th century, one can discern the origin of a policy of fiscalizing the military obligations of farmer-soldiers in order to fund full-time “professional” soldiers and/or foreign mercenaries, which in the longer term would lead to a “demilitarisation” of the empire’s indigenous manpower.
PHILIP RANCE (FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN) The “barbarica conspiratio” of 367-9: Barbarian Threats to Britannia in the Reign of Valentinian I ABSTRACT: During the reign of Valentinian I, in 367-9, Britannia was beset by a period of... more
PHILIP RANCE (FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN)
The “barbarica conspiratio” of 367-9: Barbarian Threats to Britannia in the Reign of Valentinian I
ABSTRACT:
During the reign of Valentinian I, in 367-9, Britannia was beset by a period of turmoil conventionally termed the “barbarica conspiratio”, during which various hostile barbarians – Picts in northern Britain, Scotti and Atecotti from Ireland, and Saxons from the continent – appeared to co-ordinate assaults on several fronts and threatened to overwhelm the military and civil administration of the diocese. Although one of the better-documented episodes in fourth-century Britannia, scholarship has long acknowledged the shortcomings and possible distorting bias of the surviving sources, particularly inasmuch as all explicit testimony dates to or immediately after the reign of Theodosius I (379-95), whose father, comes Theodosius, had been responsible for restoring order in Britannia in 368-9. Accepting that barbarian invasion was one element of a multifaceted crisis, this paper aims to clarify the nature of the external threat to Britannia in terms of the scale and locations of incursions and the aims and identities of the perpetrators. It also assesses the imperial response and subsequent defensive measures implemented in Britannia in relation to Valentinian’s military policies on other frontiers of the western Roman Empire. In addition, a chronologically sensitive re-evaluation of the textual evidence attempts to discern how this emergency might have been perceived and portrayed during Valentinian’s reign, before it acquired enhanced significance in Theodosian dynastic image making after 379.
The “barbarica conspiratio” of 367-9: Barbarian Threats to Britannia in the Reign of Valentinian I
ABSTRACT:
During the reign of Valentinian I, in 367-9, Britannia was beset by a period of turmoil conventionally termed the “barbarica conspiratio”, during which various hostile barbarians – Picts in northern Britain, Scotti and Atecotti from Ireland, and Saxons from the continent – appeared to co-ordinate assaults on several fronts and threatened to overwhelm the military and civil administration of the diocese. Although one of the better-documented episodes in fourth-century Britannia, scholarship has long acknowledged the shortcomings and possible distorting bias of the surviving sources, particularly inasmuch as all explicit testimony dates to or immediately after the reign of Theodosius I (379-95), whose father, comes Theodosius, had been responsible for restoring order in Britannia in 368-9. Accepting that barbarian invasion was one element of a multifaceted crisis, this paper aims to clarify the nature of the external threat to Britannia in terms of the scale and locations of incursions and the aims and identities of the perpetrators. It also assesses the imperial response and subsequent defensive measures implemented in Britannia in relation to Valentinian’s military policies on other frontiers of the western Roman Empire. In addition, a chronologically sensitive re-evaluation of the textual evidence attempts to discern how this emergency might have been perceived and portrayed during Valentinian’s reign, before it acquired enhanced significance in Theodosian dynastic image making after 379.
Research Interests:
PHILIP RANCE (FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN) ‘Late Byzantine Elites and Military Literature: Authors, Readers and Manuscripts (11th-15th Centuries)’ ABSTRACT: Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greek and Roman military literature... more
PHILIP RANCE (FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN)
‘Late Byzantine Elites and Military Literature: Authors, Readers and Manuscripts (11th-15th Centuries)’
ABSTRACT:
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greek and Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, which was manifest both in the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and in the composition of numerous new treatises devoted to warfare on land and sea. This broad genre always exhibited a diversity of content, style, language and approach, reflective of different categories of author and reader. Originating in a research project to prepare a full critical edition of Nikephoros Ouranos’ Taktika (c.1000), conventionally acknowledged as the longest and last representative of this literary and intellectual tradition, this paper explores the subsequent and more obscure history of this genre in the Late Byzantine period. Aspects of continuity are discernible in isolated instances of military writing, specifically a tactical opusculum by the scholar-courtier Michael Psellos (c.1050s-70s) and evidence for a lost work by the general Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes (c.1297-1305/8), and in a partially overlapping but distinct genre of advisory literature (Kekaumenos, c.1075-8; Theodore Palaiologos, c.1326/7). The investigation addresses the more difficult question of the Late Byzantine audience(s) of military treatises, as reflected in evidence for aristocratic education and literary culture and in what can be inferred from manuscript production and ownership. In particular, these criteria show the continued esteem accorded to Greco-Roman ‘classics’, notably Ailianos’ Taktika Theoria (c.106-13 AD). More generally, they highlight the socio-cultural function of this genre as a component of the schooling, identity and perspectives of Late Byzantine military and civilian elites, over and above whatever practical utility these texts might (or might not) have possessed as ‘technical’ or ‘scientific’ literature. The discussion introduces some hitherto unexploited manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace Library (TSMK G.İ. 19 and 36).
‘Late Byzantine Elites and Military Literature: Authors, Readers and Manuscripts (11th-15th Centuries)’
ABSTRACT:
Byzantium was heir to a tradition of Greek and Roman military literature stretching back to the fourth century BC, which was manifest both in the collection, editing and adaptation of surviving texts from classical antiquity and in the composition of numerous new treatises devoted to warfare on land and sea. This broad genre always exhibited a diversity of content, style, language and approach, reflective of different categories of author and reader. Originating in a research project to prepare a full critical edition of Nikephoros Ouranos’ Taktika (c.1000), conventionally acknowledged as the longest and last representative of this literary and intellectual tradition, this paper explores the subsequent and more obscure history of this genre in the Late Byzantine period. Aspects of continuity are discernible in isolated instances of military writing, specifically a tactical opusculum by the scholar-courtier Michael Psellos (c.1050s-70s) and evidence for a lost work by the general Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes (c.1297-1305/8), and in a partially overlapping but distinct genre of advisory literature (Kekaumenos, c.1075-8; Theodore Palaiologos, c.1326/7). The investigation addresses the more difficult question of the Late Byzantine audience(s) of military treatises, as reflected in evidence for aristocratic education and literary culture and in what can be inferred from manuscript production and ownership. In particular, these criteria show the continued esteem accorded to Greco-Roman ‘classics’, notably Ailianos’ Taktika Theoria (c.106-13 AD). More generally, they highlight the socio-cultural function of this genre as a component of the schooling, identity and perspectives of Late Byzantine military and civilian elites, over and above whatever practical utility these texts might (or might not) have possessed as ‘technical’ or ‘scientific’ literature. The discussion introduces some hitherto unexploited manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace Library (TSMK G.İ. 19 and 36).
Research Interests:
This collection of essays on the Byzantine culture of war in the period between the 4th and the 12th centuries offers a new critical approach to the study of warfare as a fundamental aspect of East Roman society and culture in Late... more
This collection of essays on the Byzantine culture of war in the period between the 4th and the 12th centuries offers a new critical approach to the study of warfare as a fundamental aspect of East Roman society and culture in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The book’s main goal is to provide a critical overview of current research as well as new insights into the role of military organization as a distinct form of social power in one of history’s more long-lived empires. The various chapters consider the political, ideological, practical, institutional and organizational aspects of Byzantine warfare and place it at the centre of the study of social and cultural history.
Contributors are Salvatore Cosentino, Michael Grünbart, Savvas Kyriakidis, Tilemachos Lounghis, Christos Makrypoulias, Stamatina McGrath, Philip Rance, Paul Stephenson, Yannis Stouraitis, Denis Sullivan, and Georgios Theotokis.
Contributors are Salvatore Cosentino, Michael Grünbart, Savvas Kyriakidis, Tilemachos Lounghis, Christos Makrypoulias, Stamatina McGrath, Philip Rance, Paul Stephenson, Yannis Stouraitis, Denis Sullivan, and Georgios Theotokis.
Research Interests: Military History, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, and 15 moreWar Studies, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Military and Politics, Late Roman Empire, Byzantium, Byzantine historiography, Warfare, Medieval Warfare, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Byzantine Warfare, and Byzantine history and archaeology(War Studies, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Military and Politics, Late Roman Empire, Byzantium, Byzantine historiography, Warfare, Medieval Warfare, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Byzantine Warfare, and Byzantine history and archaeology)
(War Studies, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Military and Politics, Late Roman Empire, Byzantium, Byzantine historiography, Warfare, Medieval Warfare, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), Late Roman and early Byzantine fortifications, Byzantine Warfare, and Byzantine history and archaeology)
Stephanos Yerasimos (Istanbul 1942- Paris 2005) was a pioneering scholar of Byzantine and Ottoman Studies. His monumental monograph: Les voyageurs dans l’Empire Ottoman (XIVe-XVIe siècles). Bibliographie, itinéraires et inventaire des... more
Stephanos Yerasimos (Istanbul 1942- Paris 2005) was a pioneering scholar of Byzantine and Ottoman Studies. His monumental monograph: Les voyageurs dans l’Empire Ottoman (XIVe-XVIe siècles). Bibliographie, itinéraires et inventaire des lieux habités (Ankara 1991), is a pioneering study on travelers to the Ottoman Empire and still one of the most important in the field.
Nowadays, more than 30 years after the publication of his book it is worthly to revisit and widen its topic in time, with the organization of an international conference on Travelers in the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires (12th-16th c.) dedicated to his work and loving memory. The Conference will be hybrid (in Venice and virtually via zoom), from 15 to 17 December 2023.
The proposed scholarly meeting seeks to illuminate not only the topic of Travelers and their writings, but also to offer an interdisciplinary forum for a selection of papers that may touch upon some of the following aspects:
Travelers to Byzantium
Travelers to Greece and Asia Minor
Travelers to Constantinople
Travelers to Cyprus
Travelers to Istanbul
Travelers in the Balkans
Travelers in Anatolia
Arab travelers to Byzantium
Western Travelers to Byzantium
Jewish Travelers to Byzantium
Russian travelers to Byzantium
Byzantine travelers to the East
Byzantine travelers to the West
Silk routes travelers
Ibn Battutta
Western travelers to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers to the West
Monuments through travelers’ chronicles
Objects of minor arts through travelers’ chronicles
Merchants and their travels
Ambassadors and travels
Travels and ports
Travels and accommodation (inns, hans)
Travels by sea
Isolarii
Maps and mapmaking
Portolans
Languages of Conference: English, French, Italian, Greek.
The Proceedings of the Conference will be published by the Hellenic Institute of Venice.
Nowadays, more than 30 years after the publication of his book it is worthly to revisit and widen its topic in time, with the organization of an international conference on Travelers in the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires (12th-16th c.) dedicated to his work and loving memory. The Conference will be hybrid (in Venice and virtually via zoom), from 15 to 17 December 2023.
The proposed scholarly meeting seeks to illuminate not only the topic of Travelers and their writings, but also to offer an interdisciplinary forum for a selection of papers that may touch upon some of the following aspects:
Travelers to Byzantium
Travelers to Greece and Asia Minor
Travelers to Constantinople
Travelers to Cyprus
Travelers to Istanbul
Travelers in the Balkans
Travelers in Anatolia
Arab travelers to Byzantium
Western Travelers to Byzantium
Jewish Travelers to Byzantium
Russian travelers to Byzantium
Byzantine travelers to the East
Byzantine travelers to the West
Silk routes travelers
Ibn Battutta
Western travelers to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman travelers to the West
Monuments through travelers’ chronicles
Objects of minor arts through travelers’ chronicles
Merchants and their travels
Ambassadors and travels
Travels and ports
Travels and accommodation (inns, hans)
Travels by sea
Isolarii
Maps and mapmaking
Portolans
Languages of Conference: English, French, Italian, Greek.
The Proceedings of the Conference will be published by the Hellenic Institute of Venice.