Zacharias Rhetor: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|5th–6th century Bishop of Mytilene}}

{{more footnotes|date=August 2019}}

'''Zacharias of Mytilene''' (Ζαχαρίας ό Μιτυληναίος; c. 465, [[Gaza City|Gaza]] – after 536), also known as '''Zacharias Scholasticus''' or '''Zacharias Rhetor''', was a [[bishop]] and [[ecclesiastical historian]].

The life of Zacharias of Mytilene can be reconstructed only from a few scattered reports in contemporary sources (the accounts are also partly conflicting – for example, some Syrian authors have "[[Melitene]]" instead of "[[Mytilene]]"). Zacharias was born and raised in a Christian family near [[Gaza City|Gaza]], which hosted a [[Rhetorical School of Gaza|significant school]] of [[rhetoric]]s in late antiquity. That was also where he received his initial education.<ref name="Christ">{{cite book |last1=Grillmeier |first1=Alois |last2=Hainthaler |first2=Theresia |title=Christ in Christian Tradition Tomos 2-3 |date=1975 |publisher=Mowbrays |page=15 |url=https://www.google.es/books/edition/Christ_in_Christian_Tradition/lokeAAAAQBAJ |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref> In 485, he travelled to [[Alexandria]], where he studied [[philosophy]] for two years. In Alexandria, he was embroiled in a conflict between [[Christians]] and [[pagan]]s in connection with the [[Horapollo]] affair. It was also there he met [[Severus of Antioch|Severus]], who was later to become a notable [[patriarch]] of [[Antioch]].

In 487, Zacharias travelled to [[Beirut]] to study law at its [[Law School of Beirut|law school]]. He stayed there, leading an ascetic life, until 491, but he also made several journeys to different parts of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in search of religious knowledge. He finally moved to [[Constantinople]], where he worked as a lawyer for a long time. Zacharias, who was [[Miaphysite]]in[[Christology]], yet did not ardently oppose [[Chalcedonians]], seems to have often contemplated becoming a monk. He apparently had good contacts with the imperial court and that probably won him the appointment as Bishop of Mytilene on [[Lesbos]]. His successor is known to have taken the post in 553, setting the ''[[terminus ante quem]]'' for his death. He was certainly alive in 536, as he took part in the [[Synod]] in Constantinople that year.

Zacharias composed several works in [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]], among whichis an [[ecclesiastical history]] that was probably completed towards the end of the 5th century. The document, dedicated to Eupraxius, a dignitary, contains valuable historical material and describes the time period from 451 to 491. It was used by [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] for his own history.

Zacharias also composed three biographies of [[Monophysitic]] clergymen who he had met personally: the above-mentioned Severus, [[Peter the Iberian]] and the Egyptian monk Isaiah the Younger. The biographies have been preserved with varying quality. Zacharias also wrote several polemic works, e.g. against the philosopher [[Ammonius Hermiae]] and against the [[Manichaeans]].

{{main|Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor}}

While all original versions of Zacharias's ecclesiastical histories were later lost, a truncated and revised [[Syriac language|Syriac]] version was preserved, by an author believed to have been a Monophysite monk from [[Amida (Roman city)|Amida]]. This anonymous author, who has been commonly known as [[Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor]], incorporated it in ''Historia Miscellanea'', a 12-book compilation of [[ecclesiastical]] histories. Pseudo-Zacharias's edition of Zacharias's ecclesiastical history, constituting books 3–6, is also usually known as ''Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor''.

The first English translation of ''Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor'' was not published until in 1899 under the title ''The Syriac Chronicle'' by F. J. Hamilton and E. W. Brooks. <ref>Available as a free download. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924027994726]</ref> It was part of a five-volume series, ''[[Byzantine]] Texts'', edited by [[J. B. Bury]]. A new English translation was published by [[Liverpool University Press]] in 2011 under the title ''The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity''. Edited by Geoffrey Greatrex and translated into English by Robert R. Phenix and [[Cornelia Horn|Cornelia B. Horn]], it consists of a translation of books 3-12 of ''Historia Miscellanea''; a second volume is planned for the translation of books 1–2.{{when|date=August 2019}}

===Editions and translations===

* {{Cite book|title=Ammonius|volume=|publisher=Giuseppe Comino|location=Padova|year=1735|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=4766182}}

*''The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity''. Ed. by G. Greatrex. Translated by Robert R. Phenix and Cornelia B. Horn, with Contributions by Sebastian P. Brock and Witold Witakowski. Liverpool 2011.

[[Category:5th-century Byzantine bishops]]

[[Category:6th-century Byzantine bishops]]

[[Category:6th-century Byzantine historians]]

[[Category:6th-century jurists]]

[[Category:Rhetorical School of Gaza]]