Genesius ( el, Γενέσιος, ''Genesios'') is the conventional name given to the anonymous Byzantine author of
Armenian origin of the tenth century chronicle, ''On the reign of the emperors''. His first name is sometimes given as Joseph, combining him with a "Joseph Genesius" quoted in the preamble to
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
. Traditionally, he has been regarded as the son or grandson of
Constantine Maniakes Constantine Maniakes ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Μανιάκης; ) was a senior Byzantine court official of the mid-9th century.
Biography
Maniakes was probably descended from a noble Armenian family. He came to the Byzantine court in the r ...
.
Composed at the court of
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe ...
, the chronicle opens in 814, covers the
Second Iconoclast period and ends in 886. It presents the events largely from the view of the
Macedonian dynasty, though with a skew less marked than the authors of
Theophanes Continuatus, a collection of mostly anonymous chronicles meant to continue the work of
Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...
.
The chronicle describes the reigns of the four emperors from
Leo V Leo V or Leon V may refer to:
* Leo V the Armenian (813–820), Byzantine emperor
* Pope Leo V, pope in 903
* Leo V, King of Armenia
Leo V or Levon V (occasionally Levon VI; hy, Լևոն, ''Levon V''; 1342 – 29 November 1393), of the House of ...
down to
Michael III
Michael III ( grc-gre, Μιχαήλ; 9 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. ...
in detail; and more briefly that of
Basil I
Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...
. It uses Constantine VII's ''Life of Basil'' as a source, though it appears to have been finished before Theophanes Continuatus, and gives information present in neither Continuatus nor Skylitzes.
Modern editions
;English
*Genesios, Joseph, A. Kaldellis. (trans.) ''On the reigns of the emperors.'' Byzantina Australiensia, 11. Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1998. .
;Greek
*A. Lesmüller-Werner, and H. Thurn, ''Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae'', Vol. XIV, Series Berolinensis. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1973. .
References
*Alexander Kazhdan (ed.), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', 3 vols., Oxford University Press, 1991, vol. 2, 828–829, s. v. Genesios.
* Somers, Véronique and Bastien Kindt (edd.). ''Thesaurus Iosephi Genesii aliarumque chronographiarum anonymarum.'' Turnhout: Brepols, 2009 (Corpus Christianorum. Thesaurus patrum Graecorum).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genesius, Joseph
10th-century Byzantine historians
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...