John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057

The first complete English translation of John Skylitzes' Middle Byzantine chronicle, with introductions and notes.

This book was the first complete English translation of John Skylitzes' extraordinary Middle Byzantine chronicle, covering two centuries of Byzantine history, from the death of Nicephorus I in 811 to the deposition of Michael VI in 1057. This edition features introductions by Jean-Claude Cheynet and Bernard Flusin, along with extensive notes.John Skylitzes' extraordinary Middle Byzantine chronicle covers the reigns of the Byzantine emperors from the death of Nicephorus I in 811 to the deposition of Michael VI in 1057, and provides the only surviving continuous narrative of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. A high official living in the late eleventh century, Skylitzes used a number of existing Greek histories (some of them no longer extant) to create a digest of the previous three centuries. It is without question the major historical source for the period and is cited constantly in modern scholarship. This edition features introductions by Jean-Claude Cheynet and Bernard Flusin, along with extensive notes. It will be an essential and exciting addition to the libraries of all historians of the Byzantine age.