A Translation and Historical Commentary of Book One and Book Two of the 'Historia' of Georgios Pachymeres.pdf

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“A Translation and Historical Commentary of Book One and Book Two of the
Historia
of Geōrgios Pachymerēs”
Nathan John Cassidy, BA(Hons)
(Canterbury)
This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of
Western Australia.
School of Humanities
Classics and Ancient History
2004
ii
iii
Abstract
A summary of what a historical commentary should aim to do is provided by Gomme and
Walbank in the introductions to their famous and magisterial commentaries on Thoukydidēs
and Polybios. From Gomme:
A historical commentary on an historian must necessarily derive from two
sources, a proper understanding of his own words, and what we can learn from
other authorities . . . To see what gaps there are in his narrative [and to]
examine the means of filling these gaps.
(A. Gomme
A Historical Commentary on Thucydides
vol. 1 (London, 1959) 1)
And from Walbank:
I have tried to give full references to other relevant ancient authorities, and
where the text raises problems, to define these, even if they could not always be
solved. Primarily my concern has been with whatever might help elucidate what
Polybius thought and said, and only secondarily with the language in which he
said it, and the question whether others subsequently said something identical or
similar.
(F. Walbank
A Historical Commentary on Polybius
vol. 1 (London, 1957) vii)
Both scholars go on to stress the need for the commentator to stick with the points raised by
the text and to avoid the temptation to turn the commentary into a rival narrative.
These are the principles which I have endeavoured to follow in my Historical
Commentary on Books One and Two of Pachymerēs’
Historia.
My focus has been twofold.
On the one hand I have highlighted and elucidated the events which Pachymerēs narrates,
glossing with prosopographical and topological notes the people, places and things mentioned
in the text, and explaining other esoteric details, such as the range of many and varied, ornate
Byzantine court honorifics. On the other hand I have made a critical comparison between
Pachymerēs and the other important sources for the period, Greek, Western, and Eastern, to
provide explanations for differences in the various narratives, to suggest which source is the
more accurate for any given event, and to fill up the narrative ‘gaps’ of Gomme. While I have
attempted to avoid turning the commentary itself into a narrative, I acknowledge that in some
places I have not been completely successful in this aim. However, I believe that every
divagation is justified by the arguments I put forward.
I must stress that both by training and inclination I am an historian, not a philologist, so
the commentary will be historical rather than philological. This is despite the importance
Pachymerēs himself places in the clever use of language and his frequent use of allusions to –
and quotes from – other works, Classical, Byzantine or biblical. The question of
mimēsis,
how much Pachymerēs is directly trying to imitate or incorporate older texts, has received
limited attention, and only where Pachymerēs’ use of the earlier text is vital to the
understanding of his own work. Similarly, questions of language, and the way in which
iv
Pachymerēs uses it, have not been explored except in those instances where it directly affects
the historical point our author is making.
Pachymerēs’
Historia
is an important source for a pivotal period in Byzantine Imperial
history, and many scholars have not used it as efficiently as they could due to the denseness
of his prose and his “tortuous syntax” (Bartusis 1992:55). While the situation is changing
somewhat, especially through the on-going research of Albert Failler of the Institut Français
d’études Byzantines, the
Historia
still contains many mysteries. It is hoped that this
commentary can solve at least a few of these.
v
This was always going to be for Mrs Pickles, who first introduced me to the Lives of
the Noble Greeks and Romans.
Now it is also for Dad, though he won’t read it;
Barbara, because she needs some return on her investment;
and for Mike Slackenerny, who showed me the way.

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