Late Antique Historiography

Official history of the Persian war

Title(s):
  • Official history of the Persian war
Author:
Period covered:
624-627
Language:
Greek
State of Preservation:
Hypothetical
Genre:
  • Poetry (historical epic)
  • Secular history (classicizing history)
  • Secular history (general)
Remarks:
Theophanes' account of Heraclius' Persian wars contains, hidden within the prose lines, a certain number of verses, which were identified by Sternbach (1900) as iambic trimeters and ascribed to George of Pisidia. The fact that the verses are perfectly harmonised with extensive and very accurate war reportages has led Howard-Johnston (1994 - 2011) to hypothesize the existence of a history of Heraclius' campaigns written by George of Pisidia alternating official military dispatches sent by the Emperor from the front with short verse compositions.
Edition - Translation:
  • G. Pertusi (1959) Giorgio di Pisidia: Poemi. I: panegirici epici. Ettal: 276-307.
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • J.D. Frendo (1986) 'Classical and Christian influences in the Heracliad of George of Pisidia'. The Classical Bulletin 62: 53-62.
  • J. Howard-Johnston (1994) 'The official History of Heraclius' Persian campaigns'. In: The Roman and Byzantine army in the East, ed. E. Dabrowa. Krakow: 57-87.
  • J. Howard-Johnston (2011) Witnesses to a world crisis: Historians and histories of the Middle East in the seventh century. Oxford: 25-26, 284-295.
  • G. Pertusi (1956) 'Dei poemi perduti di Giorgio di Pisidia'. Aevum 30: 395-427.
  • L. Sternbach (1900) 'De Georgii Pisidae apud Theophanem aliosque historicos reliquiis'. Rozprawy Akademii Umiejętności wydział filologiczny 2.15: 1-107.