Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/859

Rh CONSTANTINUb. III. " De Administrando Iniperio," without a corresponding Greek title. This celebrated work was written by the imperial author for the special puqiose of infonning his son Romanus of the politiail state of the empire, its various resources, and the political principles which ought to be fol- lowed in its administration, as well as in its rela- tions to foreign nations. It contains abundance of historical, geographical, ethnographical, and politi- cal facts of great importance, and without it our knowledge of the times of the author and the nations which were either his subjects or his neighbours would be little more than vagueness, error, or complete darkness. The work is divided into 53 chapters, preceded by a dedication to prince Romanus. In the first 13 chapters the author gives an account of the state of several na- tions which lived towards the north of the Danube, Biich as the Petcheneguea or Patzinacitae, the Chazars, the Bulgarians, the Turks (by which he means the Majars or present Hungarians), and especially the Russians, who were then the most dangerous enemies of Constantinople. In the l4th and following chapters he speaks of Moham- med, and gives a view of the rising power of the Arabs, which leads him to Spain and the conquest of the West Gothic kingdom by the Arabs, (cc 23 and 24.) The relations of the Greeks to Italy and to the Prankish kingdoms are related in cc. 26 to 28. In the eight following chapters (29 to 36), which are all very long, he dwells on the history and geography of those parts of the empire which a few centuries before his time were, and are still, occupied by Slavonian nations, viz. Dal- matia, Servia, Croatia, &c. In c. 37 and following he returns to the Patzinacitae, Chazars, and other nations in ancient Scythia — a most valuable and in- teresting section, on which Bayer wrote the best commentary which we have on the work : it refers likewise to the corresponding part of the Themata and is contained in the ninth volume of the " Com- luentarii Academiae Petropolitanae." After illus- trating that subject, Constantine proceeds to Iberia, Armenia, and some of the adjacent countries in Asia. Chapter 52 contains some remarks on the thema of the Peloponnesus, a country of which the author speaks also occasionally in other chap- ters ; and in the 53rd and last chapter, which is of considerable length, he gives interesting infor- mation respecting the city of Cherson, the (Mierso- nitae, and other adjacent nations. The style of the work is generally clear and simple, but the logical order of the subjects is in some instances broken. Editions: 1 and 2. By Meursius, 1610, 8vo. and 1617, 8vo., in his " Opera Const. Porph.," with a Latin translation. 3. By the same, in the sixth volume of " Meursii Opera," edited by Lami, in which, however, only the translation of Meursius is contained, the editor having likewise given the more perfect text and translation of Bandurius. 4. By Bandurius, in his " Imperium Orientale," the best edition, partly on account of a map of the Kastem empire by Guillaume de L' Isle, which be- longs both to this work and to that on the Themas. Bandurius added a new translation and an exten- sive commentary. Having perused better MSS. tlian Meursius, Bandurius was enabled to add the text with a translation of the 23rd and 24th chap- ters ('• De Iberia" and " De Hispania"), of which Meursius had only fragments, so that he could not translate them. 5. By Iramanuel Bekker, Bonn, CONSTANTINUS. 841 1840, in the Bonn collection of the Byzantines, a revised reprint of the edition of Bandurius without the map of Guillaume de L' Isle. Tiie commen- tary of Bayer cited above belongs likewise to this work. I V. Bi§lov TaKTiKoUy rd^iv irfpiex.ov rwv Hard SoAoTToi' Kod yrju fMxon4vuv, commonly called and by land, a very interesting treatise. Edi- tions : 1 and 2. By Meursius, in " Constantini Opera," and in the sixth volume of " Meursii Opera," edited by Lami, both cited above. No. 1 gives only the text, but No. 2 has also a Latin translation by Lami. Maifei, who translated a Cod. Veronensis of this work, attributes it to Con- stantine, the son of the emperor Romanus Leca- penus. V. BiSKioy I.TparttyiKov irepl iQuv hiaxp6p<av idvuu, &c., commonly called " Strategica," an in- teresting treatise on the mode of warfare adopted by different nations. Edition, by Meursius, in the sixth volume of his works edited by Lami, with a Latin translation of the editor. VI. "EKeearis TTjs BaaiKtriov To^ews, " De Cere- moniis Aulae Byzantinae." This work is divided into three sections, viz. the first book, an appendix to the first book, and the second book. It gives a detailed account of the ceremonies observed at the imperial court of Constantinople. The appendix to the first book treats of the ceremonies observed in the imperial camp, and when the emperor sets out from his palace for the purpose of leading his army into the field, or returns from it to his capital : it is dedicated to Romanus, the son of Constantine. The first book is divided into 97 chapters, the appendix into 16 sections, or heads, which are not numbered, and the second book into 56 chapters, the last chapter incomplete ; and it seems that there were originally some chapters more, which have not been discovered yet. The work is on the whole tedious and wearisome, as we may presume from the nature of the subject and the character of the emperor, who dwells with delight on trifling fonns and usages which scai'cely anybody but a master of ceremonies would find it worth while to write upon. The style, however, is pure and elegant for the time ; but the work abounds with Arabic and other terms strange to the Greek language, which are, however, ex- plained by the commentators. It is impossible to read it through ; but if used as a book of reference it answers well, and it contains, besides, a nimiber of important facts, and little stories or anecdotes referring to the life of former emperors. Editions : 1. By Leich and Reiske, the first volume contain- ing the first book and the appendix, Leipzig, 1 751, fol. ; the second volume containing the second book, ibid. 1754, fol., with a Latin translation, an excellent Commentary to the first book by Reiske, and Notes and a " Commentatio de Vita et Rebus Gestis Constantini" by Leich. 2. By Niebuhr, vol, i., Bonn, 1829, 8vo. ; vol. ii., ibid. 1830. Tliis is a carefully revised reprint of the editio princeps ; it contains the remaining part -t Reiske's commentary (to the appendix and the second book), first edited by Niebuhr. The prin- cipal laws issued by Constantine (Novellae Con- stitutiones) have been published by Leunclavius. in his "Jus Graeco-Romanmn," and by Labbe, Paris, 1 606, 8vo. Constantine wrote besides several smaller treatises on religious and other matters.
 * Tactica," an essay on the art of warfare by sea