Late Antique Historiography

Homily on the Avar siege of Constantinople

Title(s):
  • Homily on the Avar siege of Constantinople
  • Περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀθέων Βαρβάρων καὶ Περσῶν κατὰ τῆς θεοφυλάκτου ταύτης πόλεως μανιώδους κινήσεως καὶ τῆς φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς Θεοτόκου μετ’ αἰσχύνης ἐκείνων ἀναχωρήσεως
    (Peri tēs tōn atheōn barbarōn kai Persōn kata tēs theophulaktou tautēs poleōs maniōdous kinēseōs kai tēs philanthrōpia tou Theou dia tēs Theotokou met’aischunēs ekeinōn anachōrēseōs, About manic action of the godless barbarians and Persians against this God-protected city and about their departure in shame because of the benevolence of God via the Theotokos)
  • Homilia de obsidione avarica Constantinopolis
Author:
Period covered:
626
Language:
Greek
State of Preservation:
Full
Genre:
  • Oration
Remarks:
The text of the homily is transmitted anonymously but the identification of the author with Theodore Syncellus is commonly accepted. Theodore is mentioned in the Paschal chronicle (Dindorf 1832: 721) as a member of the delegation sent to deal with the Avars who were besieging Constantinople on 2 August 626.
Edition - Translation:
  • L. Sternbach (1900) 'Analecta awarica'. Rozprawy Akademii Umiejętności, Widział Filologiczny 15: 298-320.
  • F. Makk (1975) 'Traduction et commentaire de l'homélie écrite probablement par Théodore le Syncelle sur le siège de Constantinople en 626'. Acta universitati de Attila Jószef nominata/Acta antiqua et archaeologica 19: 9-71.
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • (1979) Clavis patrum Graecorum (CPG) 7936
  • L. Dindorf (1832) Chronicon paschale (Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae). Bonn.
  • J. Howard-Johnston (2011) Witnesses to a world crisis: Historians and histories of the Middle East in the seventh century. Oxford: 146-147.
  • G. Moravcsik (1958) Byzantinoturcica: Die byzantinischen Quellen der Geschichte der Türkvölker. Berlin: 294.
  • J.T. Wortley (2009) 'The oration of Theodore Syncellus (BHG 1058) and the siege of 860'. In: Studies on the cult of relics in Byzantium up to 1204, ed. J.T. Wortley (Variorum collected studies series, 935). Aldershot: 111-126 = Wortley, J.T. (1977) 'The oration of Theodore Syncellus (BHG 1058) and the siege of 860'. Byzantine Studies 4: 111-126.