Nestorianus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: , ''Nestorianos'') was a Greek historian who wrote a chronicle that covered the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

down to 474. It is considered lost and is known only through its use by

John Malalas John Malalas (; ; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch in Asia Minor. Life Of Syrian descent, Malalas was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in his life. The name ''Malalas'' probably derive ...

and the anonymous author of the ''

Chronicon Paschale ''Chronicon Paschale'' (the ''Paschal'' or ''Easter Chronicle''), also called ''Chronicum Alexandrinum'', ''Constantinopolitanum'' or ''Fasti Siculi'', is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world. Its name com ...

''.Nestorianus''History''
at Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris (CHAP). Nestorianus may have been personally known to Malalas, who calls him a "chronographer".Brian Croke, "Byzantine Chronicle Writing", in Elizabeth Jeffreys, Brian Croke and Roger Scott (eds.), ''Studies in John Malalas'' (Brill, 1990), pp. 27–54. The information that Malalas cites to Nestorianus' chronicle mainly concerns the "reign lengths, ages and modes of death of emperors." It may have been little more than a detailed list of emperors. Still, it has been argued that Nestorianus was the source for Malalas' early Christian history, including the date of the

ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christianity, Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus entering heaven alive, ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional stateme ...

(AD 31). Elizabeth Jeffreys, "Malalas' Sources", in Elizabeth Jeffreys, Brian Croke and Roger Scott (eds.), ''Studies in John Malalas'' (Brill, 1990), pp. 167–216, esp. at 187. It is unclear if the chronicle began with Creation or with the Roman Empire. The information cited to Nestorianus is mainly found in the section on the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

. According to Malalas, the chronicle of "the most learned" Nestorianus ended with the death of Emperor Leo II in November 474.Brian Croke, "The Imperial Reigns of Leo II", ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 96, 2 (2003): 559–575. From that point on in his own work, Malalas no longer provides descriptions of the emperors' appearance, which suggests that he may have taken these from the work of Nestorianus. The historian argues that Nestorianus was the same person as Domninus, another one of Malalas' sources, and that "Nestorianus" was merely a description of his religious affiliation (i.e., he was a

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

). The citation in the ''Chronicon Paschale'', to the death of Leo II, is probably derived from Malalas.

Michael Whitby Lionel Michael Whitby (born February 1952) is a British ancient historian of Late Antiquity. He specialises in History of the Later Roman Empire, late Roman and early Byzantine history and historiography. He is currently pro-vice-chancellor and h ...

and Mary Whitby, eds., ''Chronicon Paschale, 284–628 AD'' (Liverpool University Press, 1989), pp. xv, 92.

References

{{reflist Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources Byzantine chroniclers Greek-language historians from the Roman Empire