You are on page 1of 1

Introdulon

Introductlon

For the work of fiin mrrtttrlty, tfte Illrtorier, Agatlrlnr wnr cquippccl
t
neither by noturrrt inclinntion nor by personnl exlrericncc, llis life lrrrd, it
of routine dullncss
portfaygl
of
the
busy working lifc
by
his
conjured
up
toil
and unremitting
e is but slightly relieved by the recollection of a few
in
the
capital
lawyer
of a

seems, been an uneventful one nrrd the oppressive picttrre

the experience of mild eafth-tremors during his


10 a landing at Cos shortly after its destruction
by a tidal wave and the awful scene of devastation that confronted him
there,11 a visit to Tralles. 12 Certainly his friend and fellorv poet Paul the
Silentiary was a man of wealth and influence who moved in court circles, but
it seems that the range of Agathias' acquaintance was confined to a narrow
coterie of poets and literati and there is nothing to suggest that he came into
direct coniact with any of the importnt political and military figures of his
day, Moreover the lad< of ofiicial patronage of whi& he complains so bitterly
prvides a further indication that he always remained something of an outiider.,, Agathias must have begun the writing of his Histories some time
after the accession of Justin II. He was still rriting in the reigrr of Tiberius
and it clear from IV, 22 ,9 and V ,25 , 5 . that he did not live to finish them.
The five books that he has left us cover a period of seven years (4. D. 552-9)'
la and the stiffness
Despite their author's obvious failings as a historian
ls
Histories ate a
style,
the
his
mar
and afiectation that not infrequently
literary merit.
of
devoid
not
altogether
detailed and important source and are
no
means negliby
and
the
hiS.speedres
of
Indeed the impassioned rhetoric
that, had he
suggest
quality
his
narrative
of
uneven
gible though smewhrt
fulfilment
as a
tme
his
aclieved
have
might
Agathias
age,
lived in Jiff.."nt
"
pfesents
of
instance,
for
a
theme,
he
handles
way
In
the
historical novelist.
a series of events he sometimes shows a sense of dramatic fitness and an
ezrgerness to impose a pleasing pattern on the mind of the reader whidr
wuld belong better to a work of romantic fiction than to a piece of sober
histodcal writing. The story of Chaeremon of Tralles is a case in point.16

m.-orrtl.

occasions

student days in Alexandria,

Inscrintional eviclence would sppeer to indicote thnt charemon \r,as a mn

;il;;i.;;irr.
tt

common.
10 Histories

tl

III, I,4.
II, 15, 5-8.

Histories II ,

12 Histories

L6,4-6.

I1,L7,6.

cf. preface LS-ZO. An unmistakeable note of personal bittemess is strud< in Histories


v 20,7.
1+ For recent and very full discussion of the subject cf. Mrs. Cameron: op. cit. pp.

lr

30-58.
15 Cf. Ibid. pp. 57--{8.
16 Histories II, 17, 1-8.

*"rr,tr

on.t

ro.irt disti'ction.t7 In Agathias' version he be'

cert0in rustic named chreremon, a tiller of the soil", an alteration


18
vhich ccrtninly produces morc atffactive story'
being
The present iranslation has the advantage over all previogs ones of 1e
It
edition'
Keydell's
o[
Professor
the iri io be based on the Greek text
of
translation
English
complete
first
the
;;; fu* the further merit of being
Though earlier translations into other languathe Histories ever to
^pryat.
this.version was, in the first_instance,
consulted,
g"r h"u. been carefuliy
them and with reference solely to the Greek

comes

;fur;;1id"p"nd.ntly'of
original.
-In

ffanslating an ancient author ccuracy is in the main adrieved by


.o*.io,r, and ojective means - attention to detail and diligent and disfinal form in
."*-* ,pptication of the apparatus of sdrolarship' But athe
intangible
more
by
is
determined
cast
is
;hi.h:rmpleted r..derig
propose
to give
I
now
idiosyncratic'
and
or*.r" which is largely instinciive
to
obstacles
obvious
more
the
tad<le
to
I
have'tried
;ti"f ,..";t "f h""w
no
apology'
I
styls
mv
own
For
presents.
;;;i;ti,"" that Agathias
9fi-er

I have..sought to
irfiil i; ;. "uy ti^t i., -att"r, of vocabulary and _idiom and
colloquialism

steef a middle course between the extremes of ardraism


,iJ-,fr* I have not hesitated to allow myself whatever freedom in transof
lation seemed necessafy in order to meet ihe fundamental requirements

clarity and intelligibilitY.

form
7ith regard to proper names,2l wherev-er there was an acceptable
Hellenithe
of
transliteration
g"glfrh
unmodified
an
simply
;iid, ws nt
r"
has been
,.Juio" of the word given by Agathias, such an alternative form
to the
approximation
a
closer
represented
ii
if
particulay
fr*fy ,a.p,ed
some Non-cotonial coloni of Augustus (in-Transactions and
"fjRs,Broughton:
ii*"i "f lhe Ametican Philological Association66,l9)5 Pp'20-22)'are cofrect,
18 Of course one cnnot be absolutely slue tht Broughton's identifications.

,,

but-the treatmeEt
nor is there ny wy of knowing how garbled Agathias'original /as,
.approadr. As regards-the gengral
his
of
good"illusttion
a
to'pro.ria.
r-;;
DI. R_'C. McCail'
,ir*rr.rr of hi, -rt..iri it is interesting to note tht, accotding to
Agathias. G-reek, Roman and
of
Birth-date
the
and
.
551
.
q""t"
or
rrr."*t
uol. no. ) 1967 pages 246-7), aesthetic considerations have led

s He himself claims at he turned to the writing of history partly in response to his


friends' encouragement (Preface, lL-|2) and confesses that he found the plo6pect
a.-tirrg but tk comfott in the thought that history and poetry had mudr in
e Histories

XI

,t""-il;dil

Agthias to take certain liberties with his chronology'


rs Alathiae Mvrinaei Historiarum Libri Quinque. Recensuit Rudolfus Keydell' Pubtitrea bv \0alter De Gmyter & Co. Berlin 1967'
as
20 From this point onwrrd, all mention of earlier ffanslations must be understood
Ftendr
century
17th
the
and
Vulcanius
of
i.f*ii"g pii".ipally to ihe Latin vetsion
any
ti*rf"tlori of . C-ousin. Ignorance of Russian has prevented. me from making
remy
of
none
and
19)
(Moscow-Leningra
tr'nslation
l,f.V.Levcenko's
"r"-"i
marks must be construed as having any reference to it'
21

Othet than Greek, that is.

You might also like