Theophanes Chrysobalantes (, ), erroneously known as Theophanes Nonnus or Nonnos in older scholarship,
was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
physician who wrote an outline of medicine dedicated to Emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
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, and ...
.
Identity
The extant manuscripts identify the author as Theophanes; the name ''Nonnus'' was apparently fabricated by the 16th-century copyist
Andreas Darmarios. The name Chrysobalantes was either an epithet or a variant of the documented Byzantine family name Chrysobalantites. Some copies of the manuscripts are anonymous or identify the author incorrectly as
Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus (, ) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also b ...
.
Theophanes was likely a physician himself.
Two works reference him as their author:
* An outline of past medical treatises with some original material by Chrysobalantes himself, known by the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
title ()
* A treatise on diet, known as ()
In addition, an anonymous outline on medical cures (, ) is likely part of his work, on account of similarities in the preface with those of the other two works, as well as the thematical coherence the whole represents.
See also
*
Nonnus (disambiguation), for other people named Nonnus
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonnos, Theophanes
10th-century Byzantine physicians
10th-century Byzantine writers
Medical literature
Medical writers