Theophylact Simocatta, in his History (1.14.7-8), reports the destruction in 585 by an invading Persian army of a church of *John the Baptist (S00020) with monastery near Martyropolis (Mesopotamia). Written in Greek at Constantinople in the early 7th century.
E00020
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Theophylact Simocatta
Theophylact Simocatta, History 1.14.7-8
(7.) ... τοιγάρτοι εἰσήρρησεν ἐπὶ τὰ προάστεια τῆς Μαρτυροπόλεως καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννου τοῦ προφήτου κατενεπίμπρα νεών, ὡς ἀπὸ σημείων δυοκαίδεκα ὄντα τῆς πόλεως κατὰ τὸν ἑσπέριον κρόταφον. (8.) ἔνθα δὴ καὶ φροντιστήριον ἐτύγχανεν ὂν ἀνδρῶν φιλοσόφων τὸν βίον. μοναχοὶ δὲ ἄρα οὗτοι κατονομάζονται, οἷς ἔργον προεκδημῆσαι τοῦ σώματος καὶ ζῶντας τεθνάναι καὶ σώφρονι μανίᾳ τινὶ μεταφοιτᾶν πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα. ἀνέστησε δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ βάθρων ὁ βάρβαρος.
'(7.) ... He [the Persian general] entered the environs of Martyropolis and burnt down the church of the prophet John, which was situated about twelve miles from the city towards the western horizon. (8.) Here indeed happened to be an academy of men who spent their lives in thought: these men are in fact called monks, and their task is to anticipate departure from the body, to be dead while living and to transmigrate to higher things through a sort of prudent madness. The barbarian also razed this place to the foundations.'
Text: de Boor and Wirth 1972.
Translation: Whitby and Whitby 1986.
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Soldiers
Foreigners (including Barbarians)
Source
Theophylact Simocatta wrote his History in Constantinople probably in the late 620s. The period covered by his work is the reign of Maurice (582-602), and the main subjects of the historical narrative are the wars of the East Roman Empire with Persia, and with the Avars and the Slavs in the Balkans. Several digressions of hagiographical, chronographical and geographical interest are inserted in the narrative. Using various earlier sources, Simocatta produces a positive account of Maurice, portraying him as a good emperor overthrown by a tyrant (Phocas). In fact, Maurice was very unpopular in his own times, but cleansing his memory was important to legitimise the rule of Heraclius (610-641), who presented his own coup against Phocas as avenging the murder of Maurice. A supporter and successful official of Heraclius’ regime, Simocatta apparently served this particular political agenda.Further reading:
Whitby and Whitby 1986, xiii-xxx (introduction); Whitby 1988; Frendo 1988; Olajos 1988.
Discussion
The destruction of the church and monastery of John the Baptist in the environs of Martyropolis occurred during a Persian invasion in 585. Simocatta’s principal source for these events is the lost history of John of Epiphania and perhaps an official campaign diary kept by the staff of the Roman general Philippicus who was campaigning against the Persians. The burning of the environs of Martyropolis by the Persians is also alluded to in the sermon of the bishop of Dometianos, reported by Simocatta (E00051).The whereabouts and date of foundation of the monastery are unknown. Procopius mentions a monastery of John among the buildings restored under Justinian in Mesopotamia, which may be the one mentioned here by Simocatta (Buildings 5.9.31, E05099)
Further reading:
Olajos 1988, 37.
Bibliography
Edition:de Boor, C., and Wirth, P., Theophylacti Simocattae Historiae (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana; Leipzig: Teubner, 1972).
Translation:
Whitby, M., and Whitby, M., The History of Theophylact Simocatta: An English Translation with Introduction and Notes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).
Further reading:
Frendo, J.D.C., “History and Panegyric in the Age of Heraclius: The Literary Background of the Composition of the Histories of Theophylact Simocatta,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 42 (1988), 143-156.
Olajos, T., Les Sources de Théophylacte Simocatta Historien (Leiden: Brill, 1988).
Whitby, M., The Emperor Maurice and his Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988).
Efthymios Rizos
31/08/2014
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Ἰωάννης | Certain |
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Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E00020 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00020