Chapter 2

7 to 20, and chapter 22, section 3, to chapter 26, section 2,--two passages supplied by Mediceus B.

What knowledge has the world of the first thirty-five books of Dio's Roman History? To such a question answer must be made that of this whole section the merest glimpse can be had. It is here that we encounter the name of Zonaras, concerning whom some information will now be in order. Ioannes Zonaras was an official of the Byzantine Court who came into prominence under Alexis I. Comnenus in the early part of the twelfth century. For a time he acted as both commander of the body-guard and first private secretary to Alexis, but in the succeeding reign,--that of Calo-Ioannes,--he retired to the monastery of Mt. Athos, where he devoted himself to literary labors until his death, which is said to have occurred at the advanced age of eighty-eight. He was the author of numerous works, such as a Lexicon of Words Old and New, an Exposition of the Apostolic and Patristic Canons, an Argument Directed Against the Marriage of Two Nephews to the Same Woman, etc.; but our special interest lies in his [Greek: Chronikon] (Chronicon), a history of the world in eighteen books, from the creation to 1118 A.D.,--this last being the date of the demise of Alexis. The earlier portions of this work are drawn from Josephus; for Roman History he uses largely Cassius Dio; Plutarch, Eusebius, Appian also figure. But it has already been stated that Books Twenty-two to Thirty-five perished at an indefinitely early date; hence it follows that Zonaras has only Books One to Twenty-one at hand to use for his account of _early_ Rome; besides these he has later employed Books Forty-four to Eighty. Consequently it is possible to get many of the facts related to Dio, and in some cases his exact words, by reading Books VII to XII of this [Greek: Chronikon] or [Greek: Epitome Historion] by Zonaras. It is Books VII, VIII, and IX especially which follow Books One to Twenty-one of Dio.

Parallel with this account of Zonaras and extending beyond it, even to the extent of throwing a wire of communication across the yawning time-chasm represented by Books Twenty-two to Thirty-five, are certain excerpts and epitomes found in various odd corners and strangely preserved to the present moment. These are: Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices; Excerpts Concerning Judgments; Excerpts Concerning Embassies. The so-called "Planudean Excerpts" which used to be admitted to editions are rejected on good authority[2] by Melber, whom I have followed. I shall attempt only a brief mention of those excerpts, to show their pertinence.

[Footnote 2: Mommsen (Hermes VI, pp. 82-89); Haupt (Hermes XIV, pp. 36-64, and XV, p. 160); Boissevain (Program, Rotterdam, 1884).]

The _Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices_ exist in a manuscript of the tenth century at the library of Tours, originally brought from the island of Cyprus and sold to Nicolas Claude Fabre de Peiresc, who lived from 1580 to 1637. Apparently it is a collection made at the order of Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus. It was first published at Paris by Henri de Valois in 1634. The collection consists of quotations from Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Nicolas Damascenus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian, Dio, John of Antioch, and others.

The _Excerpts Concerning Judgments_ are found in a Vatican manuscript known as Codex Vaticanus Rescriptus Graecus, N. 73. Angelo Mai first published the collection at Rome in 1826. They consist of many narrative fragments extending over the field of Roman History from early to late times, but fall into two parts: between these two parts there is a gap of six or more pages. That the former set of fragments is taken directly from Dio all scholars are ready to allow. In regard to the latter set there have been, and perhaps still are, diverse opinions. The trouble is that on the one hand these passages do not end with the reign of Alexander Severus, where Dio manifestly ended his history, but continue down to Constantine and (since the manuscript has lost some sheets at the close) possibly much farther: and on the other hand the style and diction differ considerably from Dio's own. It was once the fashion to say that as many of the fragments as come before the reign of Valerian (A.D. 253)[3] came from Dio's composition, but that the remainder were written by an unknown author. Now, however, it is generally agreed that all the excerpts of the second set were the work of one man, whether John of Antioch, or Peter Patricius, or some third individual. Still, though not direct quotations from Dio, they are regarded as of value in filling out both his account and that of Xiphilinus. The words are different, but the facts remain undoubtedly true.

[Footnote 3: This would give Dio a considerably longer life than is commonly allowed him.]

The _Excerpts Concerning Embassies_ are contained in somewhat less than a dozen manuscripts, all of which prove to have sprung from a Spanish archetype (since destroyed by fire) that Juan Paez de Castro owned in the sixteenth century. Many of the copies were made by Andreas Darmarius. The first publisher of these selections was Fulvio Orsini (= Ursinus), who brought them out at Antwerp in 1582. As their name indicates, they are accounts of embassies sent either by the Romans to foreign tribes or by foreign tribes to the Romans. Some of them are taken from Cassius Dio; hence their importance here.

Now it was the custom of the earlier editors to arrange the (early) fragments of Dio according to the groups from which they were taken: (1) the so-called Fragmenta Valesia (pickings from grammarians, lexicographers, scholiasts), edited by the same Henri de Valois above mentioned; (2) the Fragmenta Peiresciana (= Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices); (3) the Fragmenta Ursina (= Excerpts Concerning Embassies); and finally, in the edition of Sturz[4] (4) Excerpta Vaticana (= Excerpts Concerning Judgments and the now rejected "Planudean Excerpts"). The above grouping has been abandoned and a strictly chronological order followed in all the later editions, including Bekker, Dindorf, Melber, Boissevain.

[Footnote 4: See p. 22.]

The body of Fragments preceding Book Thirty-six cites, in addition to the collections mentioned, the following works or authors:

Anecdota Graeca of Immanuel Bekker (1785-1871), a scholar of vast attainments and profound learning in classical literature. These Anecdota are excerpts made from various Greek manuscripts found in the course of travels extending through France, Italy, England, and Germany. There were three volumes, appearing from 1814 to 1821.

Antonio Melissa.--A Greek monk living between 700 and 1100 A.D. He collected two books of quotations from early Christian Fathers (one hundred and seventy-six titles) on the general subject of Virtues and Vices.

Arsenius.--Archbishop of Monembasia: age of the Revival of Learning.

Cedrenus.--A Greek monk of the eleventh century who compiled a historical work ([Greek: Synopsis historion]) the scope of which extended from the creation to 1057 A.D. He gives no evidence of historical knowledge or the critical sense, but rather of great credulity and a fondness for legends. His treatise is, moreover, largely plagiarized from the _Annals_ of Ioannes Scylitzes Curopalates.

Cramer, J.A.--An Oxford scholar who published two collections of excerpts (similar to those of Bekker) between 1835 and 1841. The collection referred to in our text had its source in manuscripts of the Royal Library in Paris. It was in three octavo volumes.

Etymologicum Magnum.--A lexicon of uncertain date, after Photius (886 A.D.) and before Eustathius. This dictionary contains many valuable citations from lost Greek works. First edition, Venice, 1499.

Eustathius.--Archbishop of Thessalonica and the most learned man of his age (latter half of the twelfth century). His most important composition is his _Commentary on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey_ in which he quotes vast numbers of authors unknown to us now except by name. First edition, Rome, 1542-1550.

Glossary of C. Labbaeus, the editor of Ancient Glosses of Law Terms, published in Paris, 1606.

John of Antioch.--Author of a work called "Chronological History from Adam" quoted in the _Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices_ (vid. supra). Internal evidence indicates that the book was written after 610 and before 900 A.D.

John of Damascus.--A voluminous ecclesiastical writer belonging to the reigns of Leo Isauricus and Constantine VII. (approximately from 700 to 750 A.D.). He was an opponent of the iconoclastic movement. The best edition of his works was published at Paris in 1712. The passage cited in our Fragments is from [Greek: peri Drakonton], a mutilated essay on dragons standing between a "Dialogue Between a Saracen and a Christian" and a "Discussion of the Holy Trinity."

John Laurentius Lydus.--A Byzantine writer, born at Philadelphia (the city of Revelation, III, 7), in 490 A.D. Although he was famed during his lifetime as a poet, all his verses have perished. The work cited in our Fragments,--"Concerning the Offices of the Roman Republic, in Three Books,"--had a curious history. For centuries it was regarded as lost, but about 1785 nine tenths of it was discovered by De Villoison in a MS. in the suburbs of Constantinople. It was published in Paris, 1811.--Laurentius in the course of his career held important political posts and received two important literary appointments from the Emperor Justinian I.

Suidas.--A lexicographer of the tenth century, composer of the most comprehensive Greek dictionary of early times. It is a manual at once of language and of antiquities. Inestimable as its value is, the workmanship is careless and uneven. The arrangement is alphabetical.

John Tzetzes.--A Greek grammarian of the twelfth century. His learning was great but scarcely equaled his self-conceit, as repeatedly displayed in passages of his works. Many of his writings are still extant. One of these is called _Chiliades_ (or _Thousands_), a name bestowed by its first editor, who divided the work into sections of one thousand lines each. The subject-matter consists of the most miscellaneous historical or mythological narratives or anecdotes, absolutely without connection. Tzetzes copied these accounts from upward of four hundred writers,--one of them being Cassius Dio. The _Chiliades_ is written in the so-called _Versus politicus_, or "political verse," which is really not verse at all, but a kind of decadent doggerel.--A minor treatise by the same author is the _Exegesis of the Iliad of Homer_, published by Hermann (Leipzig, 1812).

Isaac Tzetzes, who has attracted less attention than his brother John, is best known as the author of a commentary on the _Cassandra_ of Lycophron (a poem of 1474 iambic verses by a post-classical tragedian, about 285 B.C., embodying the warnings of the royal prophetess and couched in appropriately incomprehensible expressions). It was hardly worth all the care that Tzetzes lavished upon it. From manuscript evidence and various claims of John Tzetzes it seems that John worked over, improved, and enlarged the commentary of his brother. Isaac's name, however, still remains associated with this particular exposition.

We are now at length placed in a position to consider the condition of the ultimate portion of the work, i.e., the last twenty books, Sixty-one to Eighty inclusive. In general it may be said that for this section of the history we are thrown back upon an epitome of Ioannes Xiphilinus, who lived about fifty years earlier than the Ioannes Zonaras recently under discussion. To this general statement there are two important exceptions. First, even as early as Xiphilinus wrote (eleventh century) nearly two books of this last portion had perished.