Symeon Logothete (or Symeon Magister) was a 10th-century

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

historian and poet. Symeon wrote a world chronicle that goes from Creation to the year 948.It has been misattributed to one Theodosius of Melitene and also to Leo Grammaticus, in fact the scribe of a copy of 1013 (). Its original full title is ''On the Creation of the World from the Time of Genesis, and a Chronicle after That, Compiled by Symeon the Magister and Logothete from Various Chronicles and Histories''. The first part down to the reign of

Justinian II Justinian II (; ; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" (), was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Like his namesake, Justinian I, Justinian II was an ambitio ...

() is based on an epitome of another chronicle. The second part down to 842 is closely related to the work of

George Hamartolos George Hamartolos or Hamartolus () was a monk at Constantinople under Michael III (842–867) and the author of a chronicle of some importance. Hamartolus is not his name but the epithet he gives to himself in the title of his work: "A compendiou ...

. The third, covering the years 842–948, is the original work of Symeon. It can be divided into three distinct sections, each written in a different style: the reigns of

Michael III Michael III (; 9/10 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 dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...

(842–867) and

Basil I Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (; 811 – 29 August 886), was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in Macedonia (theme), Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gainin ...

(867–886); the reigns of Leo VI (886–912) and

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(912–913); and his personal recollections of the period 913–948. The chronicle survives in three

redaction Redaction or sanitization is the process of removing sensitive information from a document so that it may be distributed to a broader audience. It is intended to allow the selective disclosure of information. Typically, the result is a document ...

s: the original version, with a favourable view of the reign of Romanos Lekapenos (919–944); the version that serves as a continuation of George Hamartolos and at one time had its own continuation down to 963; and the version contained in the chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon. It also survives in a

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...

translation. There are other continuations of the original beyond 948 besides the one that was attached to the continuation of George Hamartolos. That continuation was probably composed in the circle of the

Phokas family Phokas () or Phocas (Latinisation of names, Latinized), feminine form Phokaina or Phocaena (, ), was the name of a Byzantine aristocratic clan from Cappadocia, which in the 9th and 10th centuries provided a series of high-ranking generals and an By ...

. Symeon wrote a

dirge A dirge () is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegy, elegies. Dirges are of ...

on the death of the Emperor

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

(959) and a poem on the death of

Stephen Lekapenos Stephen Lekapenos or Lecapenus (; died 18 April 963) was the second son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his younger brother Constantine, he deposed Romanos I in December 944, but ...

(963). He had probably finished his chronicle by this time. Manuscript copies of the dirge to Constantine refer to Symeon with the titles ''

magistros The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

'' and '' logothetes tou stratiotikou''. There is a collection of letters attributed to Symeon, ''magistros'', ''

logothetes tou dromou The (), in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/ or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Public Post (, , or simply , ), and one of the most senior fiscal ministers (logothetes) of the Byzantine Empire. H ...

'' and former '' protasekretis''. It cannot be dated precisely. Internal references may indicate a late 10th-century origin. Some accompanying letters of Patriarch

Nicholas Mystikos Nicholas I Mystikos or Mysticus (; 852 – 15 May 925) was the list of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1 March 901 to 1 February 907 and from 15 May 912 to his death on 15 May 925. His feast da ...

(901–925) may indicate a date earlier in the century. It is not certain, therefore, that the author of the letters is the same as the author of the chronicle. Taken all together the evidence is consistent with the historian, poet and letter-writer being the same person as the Symeon who was promoted to ''magistros'' and ''logothetes'' by

Nikephoros II Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of t ...

(963–969) and then to ''logothetes tou dromou'' by

John I Tzimiskes John I Tzimiskes (; 925 – 10 January 976) was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. An intuitive and successful general who married into the influential Skleros family, he strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to inclu ...

(969–976). The identification of Symeon Logothete with the near-contemporary

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...

Symeon Metaphrastes Symeon or Simeon (died ), distinguished as Symeon Metaphrastes (Latin) or Symeon the Metaphrast (, ''Symeṓn ho Metaphrastḗs''), was a Byzantine writer and official regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is celebrated ...

is far from certain.

Notes

Editions

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Bibliography

* * * * * {{Authority control 10th-century Byzantine historians Magistroi Logothetai tou stratiotikou