‘When Military Affairs were in Leo's Hands’ A Note on Byzantine Foreign Policy (886–912)
The sources for the reign of Leo VI the Wise (886–912) are numerous, but historians have been handicapped by the existence of two virtual Lives of Leo, the Logothete chronicle and the Vita Euthymii† (=VE), for the very natural result of the existence of these two apparent histories of his reign has...
| Published in: | Traditio |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
1967
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| In: |
Traditio
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The sources for the reign of Leo VI the Wise (886–912) are numerous, but historians have been handicapped by the existence of two virtual Lives of Leo, the Logothete chronicle and the Vita Euthymii† (=VE), for the very natural result of the existence of these two apparent histories of his reign has been to form too exclusively the judgment of posterity on him and it. Both are, for different reasons, excessively restrictive: the Logothete is hostile and eliminates systematically any favorable information. The VE is favorable but, written as it is to justify the ascent of the patriarchal throne by the monk Euthymius, its almost exclusive concern is with Leo's matrimonial misfortunes and the picture it gives of him shows him always grovelling at the feet of Euthymius. The emperor as humble suppliant to the saint is a great theme of the Vita and coincides with the mosaic in St. Sophia usually considered to be his portrait. Actually, emperors were quite prone to demonstrations of humility before monks. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0362152900008722 |