BYZANTINE
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BYZANTINE
monument of a purely popular Hellenistic civilization.
It is tHe chief source for most of the later chroniclers,
as well as for a few church historians; it is also the
earliest popular history, which was translated into
Old-Bulgarian, about the end of the ninth or the Lie-
ginning of the tenth century. Superior in substance
and form, and more properly historical, is the Chron-
icle of Theophanes, a monk of Asia Minor, written
in the ninth century, and in its turn a model for later
chronicles. It contains much valuable information
from lost sources, and its importance for the Western
world is due to the fact that by the end of the ninth
century it Had been translated into Latin. A third
guide-post in the history of Byzantine chronicles is
the twelfth-century Universal Chronicle of Zonaras.
There is already apparent in it something of the at-
mosphere of the renaissance that occurred under the
Comneni; not only is the narrative better than that of
Theophanes, but in it many passages from ancient
writers arc worked into the text. It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that this chronicle was trans-
lated not only into Slavic and Latin, but also, in the
sixteenth century, into Italian and French.
II. Encyclopedists and Essayists. — The spirit of antiquarian scholarship awoke in Byzantium earlier than in the West, though it proved less pro- ductive. It is extremely significant, however, that the study of antiquity at Byzantium was begun not by laymen, but by theologians. For this reason it always had a certain scholastic flavour; the By- zantine humanistic spirit savoured alike of antiquity and the Middle Ages; neither ever really gained the upper hand. A pronounced interest in the literature of Greek antiquity was first manifested at Constanti- nople in the second half of the ninth century. It was primarily directed to the systematic collection and sifting of manuscripts. With the twelfth century begins the period of original productions in imitation of antique models, a revival of the Alexandrian essay and rhetorical literature, a number of writers show- ing vigorous originality. Quite isolated between the two periods stands Michael Psellus, a universal genius of the eleventh century who bridges over the periods. While the humanism of the ninth and tenth centuries retained throughout a strong theological colouring and maintained a hostile attitude towards the West, that of the twelfth to the fourteenth century de- veloped several writers who consciously or uncon- sciously sought to break away from orthodox classi- cism, and to attain a true humanism, and so bee ime the earliest forerunners of the Italian Renaissance. The new spirit first found expression in at: academy founded for classical studies at Constantinople in 863. About the same time the broadly trained and energetic Photius, patriarch of the city and the great- est statesman of the Creek Church ivjit so; . ex- hibited much enthusiasm in the collection of manu- scripts and an intuitive genius for the revival of forgotten works of antiquity and the discovery of works hitherto unknown, in which his attention, however, was chiefly directed to the prose writers, a fact indicative of his sound practical sense. Photius made selections or excerpts from all the works he discovered, and these were the beginning of his cele- brated "Bibliotheca" (Library), which, despite its dry and schematic character, is the most valuable lit- erary compendium of the Middle Ages, containing, as
it does, trustworthy summaries of many ancient works that have .since been lost, together with which many good characterizations and analyses are given, e. g. those of Lucian and Heliodorus. Strangely enough,
tin' -:uia' Photius, who thus laid a foundation lor the renewed study of antiquity, also prepared the way for the Creek Schism, that momentous break of the Creek world from the West and its civilization. Even within his own Church, however, he appears greater as an ecclesiastical state-man than as a theologian.
The encyclopedic activity in Byzantium which had
been begun by Photius was more assiduously pursued
in the tenth century, particularly in the systematic
collecting of materials, which is usually associated with
the name of the Emperor Constantine VII Porphy-
rogenitus (913-959). Scholars did not confine them-
selves solely to collecting materials, but formed great
compilations, arranged according to subjects, on
the basis of older sources. Among them was an en-
cyclopedia of political science which contained ex-
tracts from the classical, Alexandrian, and Roman-
Byzantine periods; it is preserved, however, only in
a lew, fragments. If we take account also of the fact
that in the same century originated the collection
of ancient epigrams known as the "Anthologia
Palatina", as well as the scientific dictionary which
goes under the name of Suidas, we may rightly desig-
nate the tenth century as that of the encyclopedias.
A typical representative of the period appears in
the following century in (he person of the greatest
encyclopedist of Byzantine literature, Michael Psel-
lus.' Like Bacon, he stands between the Middle Ages
and modern times. He is not, like Photius, a theolo-
gian, but a jurist and a man of the world; his mind
is not only receptive but productive; he not only
does not undervalue the old philosophers, as does
Photius, who was more concerned with points of
philosophy and grammar, but is himself of a philo-
sophic temperament. He was the first of his intellec-
tual circle to raise the philosophy of Plato above that
of Aristotle and to teach philosophy as a professor.
Though surpassing Photius in intellect and wit, he
lacks that scholar's dignity and solidity of charac-
ter. A certain restless brilliancy characterized the
course of his life, as well as his literary activity. At
first a lawyer, he then became a professor of philoso-
phy, was for a time a monk, then a court official, anil
ended his career as prime minister. He was equally
adroit and many-sided in his literary work, in this
respect resembling Leibniz. In harmony with the
polished, pliant nature of the courtier is his ele-
gant Platonic style, as it is exhibited most distinctly
in his letters and speeches. His extensive corre-
spondence furnishes endless material for an under-
standing of his personal and literary character. In
his speeches, especially in his funeral orations, we
recognize clearly the ennobling influence of his Attic
models; that delivered on the death of his mother
shows deep sensibility. Compared with Photius,
Psellus had something of a poetic temperament, as
several of his poems show, though indeed they owe
their origin more to satirical fancy or to external
occasions than to deep poetic feeling. Though Psel-
lus exhibits more formal skill than original, creative
talent, his endowments proved most valuable for his
time, which was particularly backward in the direction
of aesthetic culture. The intellectual freedom of the
great scholars (polyhistores) , ecclesiastical and secular,
oi the twelfth to the fourteenth century would be
inconceivable without the activity of Psellus, the first great victor over Byzantine scholasticism, who cleared the way for his successors.
In one point indeed, and that important in passing any judgment on him, Psellus was surpassed by most of his intellectual posterity, i. e. in character. It is true there are also among his successors many morally corrupt and hollow natures, like Nicephorus Blemmydes, and Hyrtakenos; the majority, however, are admirable for their rectitude of intention and sincerity of feeling, and their beneficently broad culture. Among these great intellects and strong characters of the twelfth century several theologians are especially conspicuous, e, g, Kustathius of Thes- salonica, Michael ItalicUS, and Michael Acoininatus; in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries several secular scholars, like Maximus Planudes, Theodorus Metochites. and. above all, Nicephorus Gregoras.
