Download PDF | (Byzantina Australiensia volume 23.) Sullivan, Denis - The rise and fall of Nikephoros II Phokas _ five contemporary texts in annotated translations-Brill (2019).
263 Pages
Preface
On August 16, 963, Nikephoros 11 Phokas entered the city of Constantinople in triumph as its new emperor, acclaimed by the army, and just six years later was brutally assassinated on the evening of December u, 969. The contemporary Byzantine sources portray him in a variety of ways, from an “arch villain” to “a paragon of the personal and imperial virtues.”! In this volume there are five contemporary texts in annotated translations that document Phokas’s dramatic rise and fall.
Among the few sources in Greek for this period are the portions of three chronicle texts of the so-called Logothete “Cycle”? for the years 945-963, which also reflect the early career of Phokas. They likewise apparently reflect the use of now lost pro-Phokan contemporary family sources.? There are in addition two texts in verse. The first is Theodosios the Deacon’s De Creta capta,* a historical epic of Nikephoros’s recapture of Crete from Muslim occupation, and the last an anonymous liturgical office (akolouthia)® declaring the slain Phokas a martyr and a saint.
In the Historia Syntomos Michael Psellos says, “About the emperor Nikephoros, many detailed writings have been published both by contemporaries and by authors shortly after, and whoever reads them will know how many things were achieved by this man as a private person and as emperor.” Other texts, already available in translation, include a chapter of Constantine Porphyrogennetos’s De cerimoniis,’ poems of John Geometres, and the Homily on the Keramion.® J have chosen the five texts within because they contain consideyrable additional detailed information on Phokas. However, only the akolouthia deals solely with Phokas; the poem De Creta capta focuses also on his prede-cessor Romanos II (959-963), but the poet’s preface to Phokas tells him (awkwardly) that he will soon see that he is the real hero of the poem. The poet also offers to write of Phokas’s conquest of Aleppo.
The three chronicles have a primary focus on Constantine VII (913-959) and his son Romanos 11 (959-963), but they set Nikephoros Phokas, his father Bardas, and brother Leo in the wider context of the future emperor’s rise from military general (strategos) of the Anatolikon. They trace his promotion to commander of the imperial field armies (domestikos of the scholai) and then follow him through the initial stages of the army’s acclamation of him as emperor on July 2, 963. The three chronicles should obviously be read in relation to other sources, particularly the eleventh-century Synopsis historiarum of John Skylitzes, who takes a more negative view of Constantine v11 and the Phokas family. The five chosen sources appear below, starting with the chronicles, followed by the poem De Creta capta and the liturgical rite for St Nikephoros Phokas. Each text is preceded by a brief introduction.
A Note on the Translation
In the translations I have tried to leave the English as close to the Greek as possible. Technical terms without precise English equivalent, for example titles and dignities, have generally been transliterated, italicized, and annotated in the Glossary at the end of the volume, or occasionally in a footnote; persons named in the texts are listed with their PmbZ number at the end of the volume. The PmbZ entries provide detailed and authoritative essays on these individuals as well as extensive related bibliography. I have not commented further in the footnotes unless the immediate context requires it.
Given the number of common passages among the three chronicle texts, I have more heavily annotated those in the Theophanes Continuatus and indicated in the other two where the related passage in Theophanes Continuatus may be found, using the abbreviation TheophCont with the Bonn page and chapter numbers.
Acknowledgements
Iam most grateful to Elizabeth Fisher, John Nesbitt and Alice-Mary Talbot for insightful discussions on various points in the texts. The excellent reader for Byzantina Australiensia offered numerous substantive and format suggestions which I have adopted and the series editor, Bronwen Neil, has provided many valuable improvements. Joel Kalvesmaki did excellent ocR conversions of a number of the Greek texts and Kosta Simic (funded by the Australasian Association for Byzantine Studies) typed others and proof-read them all. Iam most grateful to Professor Athanasios Markopoulos and the editors of Symmeikta for their permission to reprint his edition of the Greek text of Vat. Gr. 163 alongside my translation of Text 2.
Introduction to the Three Chronicles: Theophanes Continuatus, Symeon the Logothete, and Pseudo-Symeon
Theophanes Continuatus Book 6
Our first chronicle text is the anonymous history known as Theophanes Continuatus, a continuation in six books of the Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor (d. ca. 818), the primary source for Byzantine, Arab and Latin speaking worlds in the 7th and 8th centuries, which breaks off in the year 813. The second part of Book 6 covers the sole reign of Constantine v1 Porphyrogennetos (944-959) and extends into the reign of Romanos 11 up to the capture of Crete in March 961 by the future emperor Nikephoros 11 Phokas before the manuscript breaks off abruptly.! In contrast to the first part of Book 6, which is anti-Macedonian in tone, the second part is a virtual eulogy of Constantine vu and perhaps a veiled critique of Romanos 11.2
Constantine vi1's first appointee on his accession was Bardas Phokas as domestikos of the scholai, and the military careers of Bardas and his sons, Nikephoros and Leo Phokas, receive considerable attention. Included, for example, is a highly laudatory passage on Nikephoros'’s restoration of the courage of the army upon becoming domestikos and his direct and highly effective personal participation in battle, specifically against Sayf al-Dawla, the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo, referred to as Chambdan. Also prominent are passages on the effectiveness of the two brothers in fighting on behalf of the Christians, on Romanos I! entrusting all military matters to the brothers, on Leo’s success at Andrassos in Cappadocia against Sayf al-Dawla in 960, and on Nikephoros’s intelligence and leadership in the expedition to Crete and assault on Chandax. Somewhat unexpectedly in this context, however, the author notes that on sending out his troops to attack, “The intelligent and courageous domestikos himself was left behind the rear guard,’ a statement in line with the military manuals’ instructions to generals,? but not with the more usual portrayal of Phokas’s personal courage.
This text is thought to have been composed in the reign of Phokas,* although the high praise it affords to the parakoimomenos Joseph Bringas, who opposed Phokas’s accession and plotted his death, is problematic for this time period. The text is anonymous; Theodore Daphnopates,® and most recently Basil Lekapenos,® have been proposed as the author, but the attribution remains an open question. I have begun the translation of this text as well as that of PseudoSymeon from December of 944, as the deposition of Romanos I in December of that year and the subsequent accession of Constantine VII are essential for understanding the context of Nikephoros Phokas’s rise.
The Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete (Revised Version)
The second text is the section of the revised version of the Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete as preserved in Vat. gr. 163, folios 1-61, specifically folios 58v—61 for the years 948-963.’ The revision was presumably made by the Logothete himself® by extending the original version, which ended in 948, to 963 and by adding interpolations into the earlier section. These interpolations, found in Vat. gr. 153, include additions on the career of Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, grandfather of the later emperor Nikephoros 11 Phokas.9 I include these interpolations, clearly intended to enhance the reputation of the new emperor,” as an appendix following the material in Vat. gr. 163 for the years 948-963.
The Vat. gr. 163 text includes the appointment of Bardas Phokas as domestikos of the scholai and Nikephoros Phokas as strategos of the Anatolikon, the replacement of the aging Bardas in 955 with his son Nikephoros, and the replacement of Nikephoros as strategos with his brother Leo. Nikephoros’s promotion to magistros and appointment of the two brothers as domestikoi of the East and West respectively are mentioned, as is Leo Phokas’s major success at Kylindros (Andrassos) in Cappadocia, Nikephoros’s siege and capture of Chandax (later Candia, now Herakleion) and Crete in 961, his capture of Aleppo in 962 and subsequent triumph, and the opening scene of the army’s acclamation of him as emperor in summer of 963. The manuscript then breaks off abruptly. The material on Aleppo and Phokas’s triumph are not found in other Greek sources. This is also the only text that names Romanos Kourkouas and the patrikios Nikephoros Hexakionites as among the military officers who proclaimed Phokas emperor. The text is also thought to have been composed in the reign of Nikephoros 11."
The Chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon
The third text is the anonymous chronicle known under the name of PseudoSymeon, found in manuscript Paris BN gr. 1712, which covers the period from creation to 962.!2 While sharing much common material for the years 945-962 with the other two chronicles, it is briefer, but also contains some unique information. Based on its language, style and brevity, Markopoulos argued persuasively that it did not draw on Theophanes Continuatus for the period 945-962 despite sharing some common passages. He also observes that the PseudoSymeon text shares some common passages with the Vat. gr. 163 version not found in the Theophanes Continuatus text.!> Treadgold dates the composition to post-969 and perhaps as late as 979, noting that it adopts a generally favourable view of Constantine v1, Romanos 1, and Nikephoros Phokas.4
Among the references to the Phokas family are Constantine vi1's first appointment of Bardas Phokas as domestikos of the scholai, the subsequent dismissal of Bardas and the appointment of Nikephoros Phokas to replace him, and the appointment of Leo Phokas as strategos of the Anatolikon. The chronicler further comments on Romanos I1’s appointment of Nikephoros as magistros and of his brother Leo as domestikos of the West. He discusses Romanos I1’s subsequent dispatching of Nikephoros to Crete, with details on the size of the fleet, the route via Phygela, the construction of a ditch and palisade after the landing on Crete, the harsh winter, the army’s supply problems, and Phokas’s ability to calm the restless troops. After a brief statement on the taking of Chandax, the text concludes with Phokas’s triumph in the Hippodrome, and finally his capture of Aleppo.
Sources Used by the Three Chroniclers
Citing numerous commonalities Markopoulos argued that the three Logothete cycle texts presumably shared a common principal source now lost.!5 For example, they all share the error of stating that the Arab occupation of Crete lasted for 158 years, while Arab control actually lasted for only 138. Markopoulos has suggested that perhaps an unknown encomium to Constantine v1 is the source of both Vat. gr. 163 and the Theophanes Continuatus text.!® Featherstone has proposed an “inextant version of the Logothete Chronicle” as the possible lost common source.!’ Treadgold argues that the Pseudo-Symeon involved both abridgement and expansion of the two versions of Symeon the Logothete.!® The anticipated publication of Steffan Wahlgren’s edition of the revised version of Symeon the Logothete may aid in resolving the problem.
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