Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/537

APPENDIX 515 The chronicle of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, in the tenth century, is extant in the Arabic version edited and translated by Pocock, frequently cited by Gibbon. 3'^ It comes down to a.d. 937. We have seen that Eutychius used Ibn Mukaffa's version of the Khudhai-nama ; but a thorough investigation of his sources is still a desideratum. His chronicle was used in the thirteenth century by Makin (Elmaciii, ob. 1275), a native of Egypt, whose history (coming down to 1260) was also much used by Gibbon (ed. Erpenius, 1625). John of Nikiu, Jacobite bishop of Nikiu, in the latter part of the seventh century, composed (in Greek or Coptic ?) a chronicle from the creation to his own time. It is extremely important for the history of Egypt in the seventh century, and in fact is the sole contemporary source for the Saracen conquest. It has come down, but not in its original form. It was translated into Arabic, from Arabic into Ethiopian (a.d. 1601) ; and it is the Ethiopian version which has been preserved. The work has been rendered generally accessible by the French translation which accompanies Zotenberg's edition (1883). MicHAKL OF Melitene, patriarch of Antioch in the twelfth century (1166-99), wrote a chronicle in Syriac, from the creation to his own time. The original work is preserved but not yet edited. An Armenian version, however, made (by Ishok) in the following century (1248) has been translated into French by V. Langlois (1868) ; and the part of it which deals with the period 573-717 had been already published in French by Dulaurier in the Journal Asiatique, t. 12, Oct., 1848, p. 281 sqq. and t. 13, April to May, 1849, p. 315 sqq. In the preface to his work Michael gives a remarkable list of his sources, some of which are mysterious. He mentions Enanus of Alexandria (Anianos), Eusebius, John of Alexandria, Jibeghu {'!), Theodore Lector, Zacharias of Melitene [from Theodosiusto Justinian], John of Asia (John of Ephesus) [up to Maurice], Goria, the learned (Cjtus, a Nestorian of sixth to seventh century) [from Justinian to Heraclius] , St. James of Urfa [Edessa] (end of seventh century) [an abridgment of preceding histories], Dionysius the Deacon (of Tellmahre) [from Maurice to Theophilus and Harun],-*'* Ignatiui of Melitene, Slivea of Melitene, John of Kesun (first half of twelfth century ; cp. Assemani, 2, 364). See Dulaurier, J. As. t. 12, p. 288. [Wright, Syriac Literature (1894), p. 250 sqq. H. Gelzer, Sextus Julius Africanus, ii. i. 402 sqq.] Mar Gregor of Melitene, known as Bar-Hebraeus or Abulpharagius (Abii-1- Faraj), lived in the thirteenth century. He belonged to the Jacobite church, of which he was the maphridn (from 1264 to 1286), the dignitary second in rank to the patriarch. (1) He wrote in Syriac a chronicle of universal history, political and ecclesiastical, in three parts : Part 1, a political history of the world down to his own time. This was edited, with a Latin translation, by Bruns and Kirscli, 1789 ; Wright saj's that text and translation are equallj- bad (Syriac Literature, p. 278). Part 2, a history of the Church, which in the post- Apostolic period be- comes a history of the Church of Antioch, and after the age of Severus deals exclusively with the monophysitic branch of the Antiochene church. Part 3 is devoted to the eastern division of the Syrian Church, from St. Thomas : "from the time of Marutha (629) it becomes the history of themonophysite maphrians of Taghrith " (Wright, op. cit., p. 279), up to 1286. These two ecclesiastical parts are edited, with translation, by Abbeloos and Lamy. 1872-7. (2) He also issued a recension of his political history, with references to Mohammadan writers, in Arabic, under the title of a Compendious History of the Dynasties, which, 32 Pocock's translation of Eutychius is reprinted in Migne's Patrol. Gr. (the Latin series), Ivii. b. 3S Dionysius was patriarch of Antioch from 818-845. His chronicle is extant, but only the early part has been edited. The publication of the later part, with a translation, is much to be desired. See Assemani, ii. g8 sqg, Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 196 sqq.