Anni Mundi, 6095-6305 (A.D.602-813): Chronicle of Theophanes (The Middle Ages) [Hardcover]

The Confessor Theophanes (Author), Harry Turtledove (Editor)

Book Description

Series: The Middle Ages | Publication Date: November 1982

The most important illuminating source that survived from the two centuries termed "the dark ages of Byzantium" is the chronicle of the monk Theophanes (d. 817 or 818). In it Theophanes paints a vivid picture of the Empire's struggle in the seventh and eighth centuries both to withstand foreign invasions and to quell internal religious conflicts. Theophanes's carefully developed chronological scheme was mined extensively by later Byzantine and Western record keepers; his chronicle was used as a source of information as well as a stylistic model. It is the framework upon which all Byzantine chronology for this period must be based.

Important topics covered by the Chronicle include:

• The Empire's struggle to repel explosive Arab expansionism and the Bulgar invasion.
  
  
• The iconoclastic controversy, which caused civil war within Byzantium and led to schism between the churches of Constantinople and Rome.
  
  
• The development of the Byzantine thematic system, the administrative and social structure that would bring the Empire to the height of its power and prosperity.

Almost all the sources used by Theophanes have perished, leaving his chronicle as the most important historical literature from this period. Turledove's translation makes available in English this crucial primary text for the study of medieval Byzantine civilization.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation)

From the Publisher

Harry Turtledove has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at California State University at Fullerton. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (November 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812278429
• ISBN-13: 978-0812278422
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,006,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shedding light on a dimly understood period, December 7, 2007

By 

Florentius (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813) (The Middle Ages) (Paperback)

This excerpt from the Chronicle of Theophanes is a useful work covering a period in Late Roman/Early Byzantine history where the primary source material is scanty at best. Indeed, for the period covered here between AD 602 and AD 813, Theophanes is, sadly, the best we've got.

This portion of the chronicle sheds light on the eventful reigns of Heraclius, Justinian II, Leo III, Constantine V, and the Empress Irene, among others. It details the conquest of much of the Roman east by the forces of Islam, as well as the on-again-off-again Iconoclastic convulsions of the 8th century. Aside from a few minor typos, the translation seems to be readable and well-executed.

My only minor quibble is that the translator does not give any indication of the criticisms historians commonly reserve for Theophanes--that his chronology is sometimes strangely inaccurate, as if to fill up the years where his sources had little data, he simply moved in passages from other years.

Regardless, this is a valuable historical work and Turtledove is to be commended for making it available in a form that allows general readers easy access to it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Chronicle, March 28, 2006

By 

llywrch (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813) (The Middle Ages) (Paperback)

I own an earlier paperback printing. The book was originally published in 1982.

Turtledove's translation is clear & simple, avoiding the affected 19th-century diction some translators slip into. One topic the Editorial Review above overlooks is that Theophanes provides a rather coherent account of the Islamic conquest of the Middle East & North Africa. If you are interested in the history of the Byzantine Empire, this is one primary source you should own.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine, accesable translation of Theophanes, April 29, 2009

By 

Kirialax (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813) (The Middle Ages) (Paperback)

Harry Turtledove has done a good job translating this snippet of Theophanes. The translation is crisp and most of the transliterations are well done. Occasionally some modern colloquialism sneaks in, but it is usually minor. Turtledove does an excellent job in rendering Greek wordplay and puns into English, and the fact that he cites it in the footnotes just goes to improve this edition.

Nonetheless, this edition isn't perfect. The issue of length may lie with the publisher, as Penn Press has similarly sized editions of the Strategikon and Gunther of Paris' history. Starting at Phokas doesn't provide the reader enough background, and while the text from Phokas on may be the only historically valuable part, would it have been so hard to add the reign of Maurikios? Additionally, the notes occasionally aren't all that useful or critical. While they often describe transliterated Greek terms, they are not sufficient to make this the standard edition of Theophanes. It's value lies in its availability and afford-ability, something that the Mango text cannot claim.