Theophanes the Confessor

Byzantine historian, scholar, and monk

• Born: c. 752
• Birthplace: Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)
• Died: c. 818
• Place of death: Island of Samothrace, Greece

Theophanes the Confessor was a historian and monk whose chronicle, Chronographia, is for modern scholars the main source for the history of the Byzantine Empire from about 600 to 813.

Early Life

Theophanes (thee-AHF-uh-neez) was born to a wealthy family. At the time of his birth, the Byzantine Empire was mired in what is now called the Iconoclastic Controversy . The iconoclasts were Christians who believed that all religious art was idolatry and therefore should be destroyed. (The characteristic religious artform of East Christian churches is the icon, hence the name iconoclasts, or icon breakers.) Those who defended the use of religious art were called iconodules (icon servers) or iconophiles (icon lovers). At the time of Theophanes’ birth, the imperial government was sympathetic to the iconoclasts, and iconophiles were being persecuted. Theophanes’ parents were secret iconophiles. As he grew up, Theophanes followed their lead in concealing his iconophile sympathies; as a result, he held a number of government posts under Emperor Constantine V Copronymus (r. 741-775). After Constantine’s death, government policy changed; iconoclasm ceased to enjoy official support. Theophanes could now openly reveal his iconophilism. He became a monk and founded a monastery near Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Life’s Work

Theophanes’ importance lies principally in his authorship of Chronographia (c. 810-815), a chronicle covering the history of the Eastern Roman Empire to August, 813. Theophanes undertook this project at the suggestion of a friend, George Syncellus. George had written a chronicle that began with the creation of the world and continued through the beginning of the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). When he learned that he was dying, George requested that Theophanes complete the chronicle down to their own day, and Theophanes agreed.

The Chronographia is marred by Theophanes’ extremely negative depiction of people with views other than his own. He disliked Muslims and hated iconoclasts. His attitude toward the iconoclasts is understandable, for he and his family had suffered under their rule. Still, two of the most important iconoclastic emperors, Leo III (r. 717-741) and Constantine V, had been mighty generals who won great victories over the Arabs, Bulgars, and Slavs. The empire owed its survival to them.

Theophanes also made some errors in the chronology of his Chronographia. Today, virtually the entire world uses the Christian or common era system of dating, which dates everything before or after the approximate year Jesus Christ was born. In Theophanes’ time, this system was just coming into use, and he used it only occasionally and incorrectly, because he was not completely familiar with it. Eastern Christians and Jews most often used the annus mundi system (dating things from the year of the Creation), a system Jews still employ for religious purposes. In addition to the annus mundi, Theophanes dated events by the indiction, a fifteen-year cycle originally used by the imperial government for reassessment of property for tax purposes. From September, 610 (the Byzantine year began on September 1), through August, 773, except for the years between 715 and 725, Theophanes’ annus mundi and the indiction were one year out of synchronization.

Yet another major problem with the Chronographia lies in its format. A chronicle is not a true history, but rather a year-by-year record of events. Because of its structure, a chronicle cannot give a proper account of events such as long wars that stretch over more than one year. A great Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus, deliberately used a modified chronicle format for one of his books, Ab excessu divi Augusti (c. 116; Annals, 1793). In general, however, sophisticated historians avoid writing chronicles.

Theophanes, however, was neither sophisticated nor well educated. He lived in a time when the Byzantine Empire was fighting for its very life on three fronts. In the East, it was engaged in a great struggle with Muslim Arabs, who had already wrested Syria, Palestine, and North Africa (including Egypt) from the empire. In 717, the Arabs had besieged Constantinople with a huge army and fleet. This attack endangered the existence not only of the Eastern Roman Empire but indeed of Western civilization itself, for if the capital had fallen, the Arabs would have swept on into Europe. Emperor Leo III, however, managed to turn back the Arab armies and fleets. In the last year of his reign, he inflicted a second humiliating defeat on the Arabs at Acroïnum, deep in Asia Minor (now eastern Turkey). The second threat to the Byzantines came from the Balkan peninsula. There, a people known as the Bulgars (ancestors of the modern Bulgarians) had seized much territory and were making their way toward Constantinople. Leo’s son, Constantine V, fought several wars with the Bulgars and eventually brought them to a standstill. Other barbarian tribes, mostly Slavs, were also roaming about the Balkans, causing considerable damage. Finally, there was occasional warfare in Italy, the original homeland of the Romans, where the empire still had a few outposts, mostly in the south.

These terrible wars caused many changes in the Byzantine Empire. For example, in 600, the empire had been dominated by large estates called latifundia. Worked by slaves or tenant farmers, each estate grew one or two crops which were then sold on the open market for cash. By 800, however, the latifundia seem to have largely disappeared; by then, the agricultural scene was characterized by small family farms. Moreover, many cities disappeared, and the populations of those that survived declined. Finally, because the constant wars were a severe drain on the empire’s resources, most schools closed and intellectual activity came to an almost complete halt. Thus, although Theophanes’ parents could afford the best possible education for their son, he was not well trained by the standards of two centuries before or a century after his own day, when the empire was stronger and there were more schools.

Theophanes’ work was used by all later Byzantine historians. Years after Theophanes died, his work was continued by a group of writers who are collectively known as Theophanes Continuatus (the Continuator of Theophanes); these writers were better historians than Theophanes himself. By the end of the ninth century, the empire had grown much stronger; schools reopened, and learning once again began to flourish. About fifty years after Theophanes died, the Chronographia was translated into Latin by Anastasius, a librarian who was one of the few Western scholars at the time to know Greek. As a result, Theophanes’ work influenced not only the historians of the later Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire but those of medieval Western Europe as well, for Latin was the language of all educated Western Europeans in the Middle Ages.

Theophanes’ later life was not happy. After 800, iconoclasm revived briefly. Emperor Leo V (r. 813-820), one of the last of the iconoclastic rulers, exiled Theophanes because of his position regarding icons. Already in poor health, Theophanes died in exile on the Aegean island of Samothrace around the year 818, probably of some kind of kidney disease. Theophanes is revered as a saint by both the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches.

Significance

Today, many historians call the period from about 600 to 800 the Dark Age of the Eastern Roman Empire. Few Greek sources survive from this period. Therefore, scholars must frequently use the writings of Arab historians to piece together the story of what was happening in the Eastern Roman Empire at this time. Theophanes’ Chronographia is thus a precious document, despite its many flaws. Without it, even less would be known about the Byzantine Empire during two centuries when it was undergoing profound political, social, economic, and cultural changes as a result of the wars it fought. Even the Latin translation of the Chronographia by Anastasius is useful. Anastasius used manuscripts that are now lost; consequently, his translation of Theophanes’ work contains a few scraps of information that are not included in extant Greek manuscripts of the work.

Bibliography

Guenther, Alan M. “The Christian Experience and Interpretation of the Early Muslim Conquest and Rule.” Islam and Christian Muslim Relations 10, no. 3 (October, 1999). Examines the accounts of Islam and of Arab expansion by historians around the eighth century, including the chronicles of Theophanes.

Ostrogorsky, George. History of the Byzantine State. Translated by Joan Hussey. Rev. ed. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1969. Chapters 2 and 3 are most important for those interested in Theophanes and his time. Each chapter starts with a section on the sources for the period covered by that chapter. Especially interesting comments on the chronological errors found in the Chronographia.

Theophanes. The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History, A.D. 284-813. Translated by Cyril Mango and Roger Scott. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. A translation that also provides an excellent introduction to Theophanes’ Chronographia.

Theophanes. Chronographia: A Chronicle of Eighth Century Byzantium. Translated by Anthony R. Santoro. Gorham, Maine: Heathersfield Press, 1982. This translation includes only the entries from September, 717, to August, 803. Includes an excellent set of full-color maps.

Treadgold, Warren. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1997. A lucid depiction of political, military, cultural, and religious contexts for Theophanes’ life and work.

Vasiliev, A. A. History of the Byzantine Empire, 324-1453. 2 vols. 2d rev. ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1964. With extensive notes and bibliography, this account of the Eastern Roman state discusses political, dynastic, social, literary, scholarly, and artistic events and achievements.

Whittow, Mark. The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. A history of the formation of the Byzantine Empire. Maps, bibliography, and index.