John Malalas, in his Chronographia (18.100), mentions the celebration of a festival of the *Apostles (S02422) at the locality known as the Periteichisma in Constantinople in 547. Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria) or Constantinople, in the mid 6th c.
Evidence ID
E05740
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
John Malalas
John Malalas, Chronographia, 18.100
Τῇ δὲ αὐτῇ ἰνδικτιῶνι ἐδέχθη Μηνᾶς ὁ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως εἰς τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἄθλησιν τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων ἐν τῷ περιτειχίσματι.
‘In that indiction Menas, the archbishop of Constantinople, was admitted back to his see, and went to the festival of the Holy Apostles at the Periteichisma.’
Text: Thurn 2000.
Translation: E. Rizos.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Chronographia of John Malalas (c. 490–c. 570) is a Christian chronicle of universal history, from Adam to the death of Justinian I (565). It appears to have been composed in two parts, the earlier of which focuses on the history of Antioch and the East, ending in c. 528 or 532. The second part focuses on the urban history of Constantinople up to the death of Justinian. Malalas is likely to have pursued a career in the imperial administration at both Antioch and Constantinople, writing the two parts of his chronicle while living in these two cities.Malalas was widely used as a source by Byzantine chroniclers and historians, including John of Ephesus, John of Antioch, Evagrius Scholasticus, the Paschal Chronicle, John of Nikiu, John of Damascus, Theophanes, George the Monk, pseudo-Symeon, Kedrenos, Zonaras, Theodore Skoutariotes, and Nikephoros Kallistou Xanthopoulos.
The text of the chronicle is preserved in a very fragmentary form, based on quotations in other sources (notably the Paschal Chronicle and Theophanes), and on a Slavonic translation which follows a more extensive version of the original text. It is believed that we now have about 90% of the text.
On the composition and manuscript tradition of the text, see Thurn 2000, and:
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/1298/
Discussion
The location of this shrine is uncertain. The Periteichisma is thought to have lain between the Forum of Constantine and the Philoxenos Cistern (Binbirdirek). The term ἄθλησις used in this passage probably refers to the feast (Janin 1969, 50-51).Bibliography
Text:Dindorf, L., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae; Bonn, 1831).
Thurn, J., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 35; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000).
Translation:
Jeffreys, E., Jeffreys, M., and Scott, R., The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation (Sydney, 1986).
On Malalas:
Carrara, L., Meier, M., and Radtki-Jansen, C. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas. Quellenfragen (Malalas-Studien 2; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017).
Jeffreys, E., Croke, B., and Scott, R. (eds.), Studies in John Malalas (Sydney, 1990).
Meier, M., Radtki-Jansen, C., and Schulz, F. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas: Autor, Werk, Überlieferung (Malalas-Studien 1; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2016).
Treadgold, W.T. The Early Byzantine Historians (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 235-256.
Further reading:
Janin, R., La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire Byzantin. I 3: Les eglises et les monastères de la ville de Constantinople. 2nd ed. (Paris, 1969).
Record Created By
Efthymios Rizos
Date of Entry
25/06/2018
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S02422 | All Apostles | Ἀπόστολοι | Certain |
---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E05740 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05740