- George Syncellus
George Syncellus (died after 810) was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in
Palestine as a monk, and came toConstantinople to fill the important post of "syncellus" to Tarasius,patriarch of Constantinople . The "syncellus" served as the patriarch's private secretary, was generally a bishop, and was the most important ecclesiastical person in the capital after the patriarch himself, and often the patriarch's successor. However George did not succeed Tarasius, and he retired to a monastery where he wrote his "Extract of Chronography" ("Ekloge chronographias"), which covered events of the world fromAdam and Eve to the beginning ofDiocletian 's reign.His
chronicle , as its title implies, is more of a chronological table with notes than a history. George continued the chronological structure ofSextus Julius Africanus , arranging his events strictly in order of time, and naming them in the year which they happened. The text is continually interrupted by long tables of dates, so markedly that Krumbacher described it as being "rather a great historical list [Geschichtstabelle] with added explanations, than auniversal history ." George reveals himself as a staunch upholder oforthodoxy , and quotes Greek Fathers such asGregory Nazianzen andJohn Chrysostom . But in spite of its religious bias and dry and uninteresting character, the fragments of ancient writers and apocryphal books preserved in it make it especially valuable. For instance, considerable portions of the original text of the "Chronicle" of Eusebius have been restored by the aid of George's work. His chief authorities wereAnnianus of Alexandria andPanodorus of Alexandria (monks who wrote near the beginning of the 5th century), through whom George acquired much of his knowledge of the history ofManetho ; George also relied heavily on Eusebius,Dexippus andJulius Africanus .Syncellus's chronicle was continued after his death by his friend Theophanes. Anastasius, the Papal Librarian, composed a "Historia tripartita" in Latin, from the chronicles of Syncellus, Theophanes, and Patriarch Nicephorus. This work, written between 873 and 875, spread Syncellus's preferenced dates for historical events through the West. Meanwhile, in the East George's fame was gradually overshadowed by that of Theophanes.
References
*"Editio princeps" by
Jacques Goar (1652) in "Bonn Corpus scriptorum hist. Byz.", byKarl Wilhelm Dindorf (1829).
*Heinrich Gelzer , "Sextus Julius Africanus", ii. I (1885).
*H Gelzer. "Sextus Julius Africanus und die byzantinische Chronographie". New York: B. Franklin, 1967, reprint of Leipzig: 1898.
*K Krumbacher, "Geschichte der byzantinische Litteratur" (2nd ed., Munich, 1897).
*William Adler. "Time immemorial: archaic history and its sources in Christian chronography from Julius Africanus to George Syncellus". Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, c1989.
*Alden A. Mosshammer, ed., "Georgii Syncelli Ecloga chronographica". Leipzig:Teubner , 1984.
*William Adler, Paul Tuffin, translators. "The chronography of George Synkellos: a Byzantine chronicle of universal history from the creation". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
*1911External links
* [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/syncellus/ Selected Translations from George Syncellus]
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2004/2004-10-27.html Review of Adler and Tuffin's edition]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06463a.htm Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0740-0810-_Georgius_Syncellus_Constantinopolitanus.html Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]
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