A STUDY IN BYZANTINE HISTORIOGRAPHY: AN ANALYSIS OF THEOPHANES 'CHRONOGRAPHIA' AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THEOPHYLACT'S 'HISTORY,' THE REIGN OF MAURICE AND THE SEVENTH CENTURY TO 711

The central topic of this dissertation is the Chronographia of Theophanes, a chronicle that includes the years 284 to 813 and deals primarily with Roman imperial history. Written in the early ninth century, the Chronographia forces its attention upon every scholar who studies the seventh and eighth centuries. We have developed a means for analyzing Theophanes that deciphers what he himself contributed to the Chronographia and, equally important, what survives from the earlier and more contemporary, and therefore better, sources and in what state of preservation.;We assume that what is most readily known about Theophanes is his dependence on historical sources that have survived independently. The most important of these is Theophylact's History, a work written in 622-629 on the subject of the reign of Maurice (582-602). The dependence of Theophanes on Theophylact is the only complete example of a surviving work that Theophanes used in its entirety. The early chapters dissect the dependent relationship of Theophanes to Theophylact. It must be admitted that this method was not chosen because of its inherent clarity, but because it was the only reliable way to gain insight into Theophanes' thinking.;The remaining half of this study applies our understanding of Theophanes vis-a-vis Theophylact to his relationship with other sources and periods in history, namely, the seventh century to 711. Finally, on the same basis, we reassess the few bits of personal information that exist about Theophanes.;We come to certain conclusions about Theophanes and, along the way, develop new perspectives on the history of the periods which Theophanes' Chronographia includes. Some of the results are the following: (1) further evidence on a seven-day siege of Thessalonika ending September 22, 697, (2) a new chronology for the years 591-602 and another perspective on the historian Theophylact, (3) conclusions that help to define in greater detail than hitherto known the chronicle of the Patrician Trajan, (4) a new interpretation of the role of the name "Philippikos" in seventh and eighth century Byzantium. These results and others grew from the basic attempt we have made to understand Theophanes as a chronicler at work.;This study takes a new approach to Theophanes. We do not use what is known about the author's personal life to evaluate his chronicle. That is put aside. Instead, we use what is most definitely known about Theophanes to move step-by-step to evaluate other, problematic aspects of the Chronographia and its precious historical content.;We conclude that Theophanes himself was an interesting character, worthy of study in his own right. He developed useful techniques that enabled him to compile a chronicle accurately. We also conclude that he must have been the only important author of the Chronographia. We find him to be remarkably faithful to his sources, despite the extensive changes he often made in them. Theophanes was a student of history unique among his contemporaries. Certainly he made strange historical judgments, especially from our modern and critical perspective, but he did so as a result of the investigations of a student of history suffering from the student's recurrent dilemma, the lack of corroborating sources.