The Historians' History of the World 06

Victor, Sextus Aurelius, De Cæsaribus, Amsterdam, 1733; edited by Schröter, Leipsic, 1831.

Sextus Aurelius Victor, a Latin writer of the fourth century, who rose to distinction by his literary ability. He was made governor of Pannonia by Julian, prefect of Constantinople by Theodosius, and is perhaps the Sextus Aurelius Victor who was consul in 373.

Victor Tunnunensis, Chronicon; edited by Scaliger, in Thesaurus Tempori Eusebii, vol. II, Amsterdam, 1658.—Victor Vitensis, Historia persecutionis Africanæ sub Genserico et Hunnerico, in Ruinart’s Historia Persecutionis Vandalicæ, Paris, 1694; edited by Petschenig, Vienna, 1881.—Virgilius, P., or Vergilius Maro, Opera, Rome, 1469; Venice, 1501.

Walafried Strabus, De exordiis et incrementis rerum ecclesiasticarum, in Hittorp’s Scriptores de officiis divinis, Cologne, 1568.

Walafried Strabus was of German birth, and in 842 A.D. became abbot of Reichenau. He died July 17, 849. A very prolific writer on both ecclesiastical and historical subjects.

Wipo, Gesta Chuonradi II, imperatoris, in Pistorius’ Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum, Basel, 1582-1607, 3 vols.—Wittekind, Res gestæ Saxonicæ. B. The Byzantine or Later Greek Histories

Agathias, Ἱστορία Ε, edited by B. Vulcanius, Leyden, 1594.

Agathias, of Myrina, in Ætolia, was born about 536 A.D., and died about 580 A.D. He was an epigrammatist, edited a poetical anthology, and extended and repeated the history of Procopius for the years 553 to 558, a brief but remarkable period, comprising the exploits of Narses and Belisarius, the beginning of the wars with the Franks and with the Persians, the rebuilding of St. Sophia, the earthquakes of 554 and 557, and the great plague of 558, all related in a pleasant, diffuse, and impartial manner, but without much display of general knowledge. It is the work of a man practically acquainted with the affairs of his age, presented with poetical reminiscences, but never going below the surface. This work was continued by Menander Protector.

Acropolita, Georgius, Χρονικὸν, edited by Theodorus Douza, with a Latin translation, Leyden, 1614; edited by Leo Allatius, Paris, 1651 (included in the Venice reprint, 1729).

Georgius Acropolita was born at Constantinople in 1220. He studied at Nicæa under distinguished scholars, and was employed as a diplomat under the emperor, John Vatatzes Ducas. His history begins with the taking of Constantinople in 1204, to its delivery in 1261, the sequence of events being afterwards taken up by Pachymeres. Acropolita appears to have prepared his history for educational purposes.

Anagnostes, Joannes, Διήγησις περί τῆς τελευταίας ἁλώσεως τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης συντεθεῖσα πρός τινα τῶν ἀξιολόγων πολλάκις αἰτλήσαντα περὶ ταύτης, εν ἐπιτόμῳ, edited by Leo Allatius, in his Σύμμικτα, with a Latin translation, Rome, 1653.

Anagnostes, of whose life little is known, was present at the siege of his native city, Thessalonica, in 1430 A.D., and wrote an account of its conquest by Murad II.

Anonymous,

Ἡ βασιλὶς τῶν πόλεων πῶς Ιταλοῖς ἑάλω

Καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ὕστερον τῶς ἀπεδὸθη πάλιν,

Ἐγράφη κατ’ ἀκρίβειαν, εἰ σὺ δὲ βούλῃ, μάθοις.

The poem, in 749 “political” verses, generally designated by quoting the first three lines, as above, gives an account of the fall and recapture of Constantinople and other events up to the year 1282, the author stating in the course of the poem that it was composed in 1392. The facts as recorded are based upon Nicetas Acominatus and Georgius Acropolita, and are related in a picturesque manner. The work has been published by Bekker, in the Abhandlungen of the Berlin Academy, 1841, and by J. A. Buchon, in his Recherches historiques sur la principauté française de Morée, Paris, 1845.

Attaliata, Michael, Ἱστορία ἐκτεθεῖσα παρὰ Μιχαὴλ αἰδεσιμωτάτου κριτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου καὶ τοῦ Ἀτταλειάτου, translated into Latin by M. Freheri, Frankfort, 1596.

Michael Attaliata, a native of Attalia, served as a judge and proconsul under the emperor, Michael Ducas, by whose command he prepared a legal digest. His history treats of the period 1034-1079, a time notable for the fall of the Macedonian dynasty and the rise of the family of Comnenus and Ducas, palace revolutions and feminine intrigues playing a large part in these events.

Bryennius, Nicephorus, Ὕλη ἡιστορίας, edited by P. Poussines, Paris, 1661.