Chronographiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur Liber quo Vita Basilii Imperatoris amplectitur: Recensuit Anglice vertit indicibus instruxit Ihor Sevcenko

by Ihor Sevcenko (Editor)

Overview

The life of Emperor Basil I (867–886), the founder of the Macedonian Dynasty, is the only extant secular biography in Byzantine literature; in its importance and as an instance of the genre it is comparable to Einhard’s Vita Caroli Magni. Composed in the circle of scholars around Basil’s grandson Constantine VII Prophyrogennitos and at his instigation as early as 957 and 959, the Vita Basilii is one of the main sources for the cultural and political history of Byzantium and its neighbours in the 9^th and 10^th centuries.

Previous editions (whether from the 17^th or 19^th centuries) were based on secondary manuscripts; they are not reliable, because of their arbitrary conjectures and a large number of unjustified additions from a parallel source. The present edition is based on Vaticanus gr. 167, the source of all extant manuscripts, and the insertions made by the earlier editors are removed.

In producing the new text, the editor also had access to the draft edition he rediscovered which the famous Byzantinist Karl de Boor prepared around 1903.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110184778
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	12/19/2011
Series:	Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae - Series Berolinensis , #42
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	582
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Language:	Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ihor Ševčenko († 2009), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Ihor Ševčenko († 2009), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Editorial Reviews

"Die Einleitung diskutiert knapp und präzise die wichtigsten Probleme, mit denen jeder konfrontiert wird, der mit der Vita Basilii arbeitet. [...] Ševcenkos Edition der Vita Basilii aus dem ‘Theophanes Continuatus’ bedeutet für die längst nicht abgeschlossene Erschließung zentraler Texte zur byzantinischen Geschichte und Kultur einen wichtigen Fortschritt [...]"
Mischa Meier in: Gnomon Bd. 90, 2018: 365-367

"This exemplary new edition and translation will make the text available to a wider circle of readers who will have to decide anew how it should be used in the future."
Anthony Kaldellis in: BMCR 2012.04.25

From the Publisher