Byzantium, 944 to 962 in a chronicle text attributed to pseudo-Symeon

What is it about?

Three Byzantine historical chronicle texts which cover the years 944-962 include a third attributed in the absence of knowledge of the author to a pseudo-Symeon. His full text begins with Creation, but only the section beginning in 944 is considered here. It shares much information with two the other chronicles (namely that of Theophanes Continuatus and of Symeon the Logothete), but also provides some unique information and confirmation of shared information. This is one of the three closely related chapters extracted from my book, The Rise and Fall of Nikephoros II Phokas. Scholarly debate suggests that the three may in part share a common source now lost. While all three place a primary emphasis on the Emperor Constantine VII, they contain information on the Phokas family and are similar on Constantine VII's appointment initially of Bardas Phokas as supreme military commander, his eventual replacement by his son Nikephoros, and Nikephoros' subsequent military accomplishments. The text of Theophanes Continuatus ends abruptly, due to a loss in the manuscript, with the conquest of Crete and a brief reference to Nikephoros Phokas' subsequent triumph. He borrows verbatim from Theophanes the Confessor for a portion of the fighting. The text of Symeon the Logothete is also quite brief on this, attributing Byzantine success to starvation in Candax and deserters from the city. He does briefly mention a triumph in the hippodrome including the emir with wives and children. Pseudo-Symeon's description is fuller, noting the invitation for the triumph from the emperor, Phokas walking from his house to the hippodrome with booty and the Arab captives dressed in their traditional white robes, and the personal presence of the emir who was given valuable gifts and allowed to subsequently live in the countryside with his family. The emir is said not to have been placed in the Byzantine senate due to his desire not to be baptized. Much of this description of the triumph has been identified by Professor Kaldellis taken almost verbatim from Procopius' description of Belisarius' triumph under Justinian. The nature of these descriptions of the capture of Candax should be compared to that in the History of Leo the Deacon (II.6-8) which is much more elaborate, and also adds a description of a sapping operation adapted from the 6th-century historian Agathias.

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Photo by Evangelos Mpikakis on Unsplash

Photo by Evangelos Mpikakis on Unsplash

Why is it important?

As noted above the pseudo-Symeon text adds a few additional pieces of information to the parallel texts of Theophanes Continuatus and Symeon the Logothete, although the uncertainty about pseudo-Symeon's source or sources is problematic. His use of Procopius' text to elaborate on Phokas' triumph is troubling regarding his concern with accuracy, but not unique as evidenced in two examples given above.