Studies in John Malalas Byzantina Australiensia Editorial Board Ken Parry (Macquarie University) Amelia Brown (University of Queensland) Meaghan McEvoy (Macquarie University) Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (Monash University) Danijel Dzino (Macquarie University) Wendy Mayer (Australian Lutheran College | University of Divinity) Roger Scott (University of Melbourne) Volume 6 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/byza Studies in John Malalas Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys with Brian Croke Roger Scott LEIDEN | BOSTON This paperback was originally published as Volume 6 in the series Byzantina Australiensia, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Department of Modern Greek, University of Sydney nsw, 2006, Australia. Cover illustration: Fol 98v of Cod. Laur. Plut. IX.28, containing the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes, is reproduced on the cover with the kind permission of the Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence. Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939522 issn 0725-3079 isbn 978-09-59-36265-7 (paperback, 2017) isbn 978-90-04-34462-4 (e-book, 2017) isbn 0 9593626 5 7 (paperback, 1990) Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀντιπόδων ἐπεξεργαστικώτερον θελήσειέ τις ζητῆσαι, ῥᾳδίως τοὺς γραώδεις μύθους αὐτῶν ἀνακαλύψει. Cosmas Indicopleustes, I,20. ⸪ CONTENTS List of contributors vi Acknowledgements vii Preface ix Abbreviations xi 1 Malalas, the man and his work Brian Croke 1 2 Byzantine chronicle writing 1: The early development of Byzantine chronicles Brian Croke 27 2: The Byzantine chronicle after Malalas Roger Scott 38 3 Malalas' world view ElizabethJ effreys 55 4 Malalas and his contemporaries Roger Scott 67 5 A record of public buildings and monuments Ann Moffatt 87 6 Chronological structures in the chronicle ElizabethJ effreys 111 7 Malalas' sources ElizabethJ effreys 167 8 Language of Malalas 1: General survey Alan James 217 2: Formulaic phraseology MichaelJ effreys 225 3: Portraits Elizabetha nd MichaelJ effreys 231 9 The transmission of Malalas' chronicle 1: Malalas in Greek ElizabethJ effreys 245 Appendix: A lacuna in Theophanes' Malalas? MichaelJ effreys 268 2: Malalas in Slavonic Simon Franklin 276 3: Malalas in Latin Jane Stevenson 287 4: Malalas in Syriac Witold Witakowski 299 5: Transmission of Malalas 311 10 The development of a critical text Brian Croke 313 11 Modem study of Malalas Brian Croke 325 12 Conclusion 339 Passages cited from Malalas 341 Index 349 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Brian Croke is Assistant Director, Catholic Education Commission, Sydney and an honorary research associate of the Departments of History in both the University of Sydney and Macquarie University. Simon Franklin is a lecturer in Slavonic Studies, University of Cambridge and Fellow of Clare College. Alan James is a senior lecturer in the Department of Greek, University of Sydney. Elizabeth Jeffreys is an honorary research associate of the Department of Modem Greek, University of Sydney. Michael Jeffreys is the Sir Nicholas Laorantus Professor of Modem Greek, University of Sydney. Ann Moffatt is a senior lecturer in the Department of Art History, Australian National University. Roger Scott is Reader in Classical Studies in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, University of Melbourne. Jane Stevenson is a lecturer in medieval European history in the Department of History, University of Sheffield. Witold Witakowski is a researcher attached to the Institute of African and Asian Languages, Uppsala University, Sweden. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We must express first, and above all, our gratitude to the Australian Research Council for continued support in 1987, 1988 and 1989, Its grants have enabled work to be undertaken both for this volume and for our planned commentary on Malalas through the provision of a part-time salary over three years for the editor and for a travel grant which enabled the Australian-based members of the team to meet and discuss our work in 1988. We must also thank the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies of the University of Melbourne for providing funds to meet the shortfall in the salary component over these three years. We must express also especial gratitude to the Department of Modem Greeki n the University of Sydney for allowing those participating in this project access to computers, photocopiers and a laser printer, which has enabled the composition and production of the text to proceed relatively painlessly. We would also like to thank a number of individuals who have offered advice, criticism and information, especially Stephen Reinert, Lennart Ryden, Michael Whitby, and Agamemnon Tselikas and Maria Politi-Sakellariadi of the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece. Thanks are due too to Graeme Clarke, Deputy Director of the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University at Canberra, for the opportunity afforded several contributors to this volume to air some speculative views during a conference on 'Reading the Past' held in Canberra in May 1988. October 1989