Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/267

Rh GEORGIUS. his many unpublished works a Clironicon is enu- merated ; but there is difficulty in distinguishing between the Chronica of the various Georges. A homily or tract by Athanasius On the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is in some MSS. ascribed to George of Nicomedeia. (Allatius, Ibid. pp. 9 — 13 ; Fabric. BiU. Gr. vol. viii. p. 459, vol. x. p. 214; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. p. 63.) 37. Pachvmeres. [Pachymeres.] 38. Paneuphemus. [Georgius Eparchus, No. 23.] 39. Pardus. [Pardus.] 40. Patricius [of Mytilene, No. 35.] 41. Peripateticuh, or Aneponymus, or Gre- GORius Aneponymus. Fabricius speaks of two works as having been published by Jo. Voegelinus, 8vo. Augsburg a. d. 1600. One is described as Epitome Organi Aristotelici, Gr. Lat., by Gregorius Aneponymus (i. e. without a surname) ; tlie otlier as Compendium Philosophiae^ Gr. Lat., by Georgius Aneponymus. The two are probably one and the same work (comp. Fabr. Bibl. Gr. vol. iii. pp. 220, 494), and may probably be identified with a work noticed by Allatius {Diatrib. de Georg. apud Fabr. Bibl. Gr. vol. xii. p. 120) as extant in MS., and described by him as Georgii Monachi Epitome Philosophiae. It appears that a Latin version of the same work by Lauren tins Valla was published in 8vo. at Basel, a. d.1542; in which the original was ascribed to Nicephorus Blemmyda. (Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 630.) 42. Phorbenus. [Phorbenus.] 43. Phranza, or Phranzes. [Phranza.] 44. PisiDA (the Pisidian). The name of this writer occurs in the genitive case, in which it is commonly found, under the various forms, Hiaai- 8oi;, liiai^ov, TIktMqv, Tir]aiZov, Hrja-lSr}, Hi(T(TlSovs^ Ilialdovs : in Latin it is vTitten*Pisides and Pisida. He was, as his name indicates, a Pisidian by birth, and flourished in the time of the emperor Heraclius (who reigned from a. d. 610 to 641), and of the patriarch Sergius (who occupied the see of Con- stantinople from a. D. 610 to Q'd9). In the MSS. of his works he is described as a deacon, and Xapro- (pva^, Chartophylax, " record keeper," or SK'euoc^u- Aa|, Sceuophylax, " keeper of the sacred vessels," of the Great Church (that of St. Sophia) at Constan- tinople. By Nicephorus Callisti he is termed "Refendarius" {'Pecpevddpm), a designation not equivalent, as some have supposed, to Chartophy- lax, but describing a different office. We have no means of determining if he held all these offices together or in succession, or if any of the titles are incorrectly given. He appears to have accompanied the emperor Heraclius in his first expedition against the Persians, and to have enjoyed the favour both of that emperor and of Sergius, but nothing further is known of him. The works of George the Pisidian are as follows: — 1. Els Tr)v Kara Urpa-oSv'EKffTpaTelav 'Hpa/cAe/ou Tov fiounh^cDS, aKpodcTiis rpels, De EapedilioTie Heraclii Imperatoris contra Persas Libri ires. This work is mentioned by Suidas, and is pro- bably the earliest of the extant works of this Writer. The three books are written in trimeter iambics, and contain 1 098 verses. They describe the first expedition of Heraclius, whose valour and piety are immoderately praised, against the Per- sians, a. d. 622, when he attacked the frontier of Persia, in the neighbourhood of the Taurus. The descriptions of the author lead us to regard him as GEORGiaS. 253 an eye-witness ; and the poem was probably written not long after the events he records. 2. HSkefxas 'ASapiKos, or 'KSapiKo.^ Bellum Avaricum, or Ava- rica ; more fully. Els Ti)v ytvo/xepriv e(poSot/ tcou ^apQapQv Koi els rrjv avTwv darToxiay tjtoi eicdfcris rou "yevojxfvov iroAefJ-ov ds to Telxos ttjs Kiavarav- TLVoviroKews fxera^i) *A§dpwu Kal rwv HoXiruv^ De invasione facta a barbaris ac de frustruto eoruiit consilio, sive eorpositio belli quod gestum est ad moe7iia Constantinupoleos inter A bares et Cives. This poem consists of one book of 541 trimeter iambic verses, and describes the attack of the Avars on Constantinople, and their repulse and retreat (a. d. 626), while Heraclius was absent, and a Persian army occupied Chalcedon, opposite Constantinople. 3. 'AKadiaros "Tfj-vos, Hymnus Acaihistus, was composed on occasion of the victory over the Avars, commemorated in No. 2. It is ascribed to George by his editor Quercius on internal evidence, which cannot, however, be regarded as conclusive. 4. Els rrju dylav tov Xpiarov tov ©eow t^/ulcHv dvacTTaffiv^ In Sicnciam Jesu Christi, Dei Nostri^ Resurrectionem. This poem consists of 129 trimeter iambic verses, in which George exhorts Flavius Constantine, the son of Heraclius, to emulate the example of his father. It was probably written about a. d. 627- 5. Els 'HpdKheiou t6v fiaa-ihea, De Heraclio Im- peratore, commonly cited by the title 'HpaKhids, Heraclias, or "UpaKXidhos 'AKpodaeis dvu, Hera- cliadis Libri Duo. It has the second title, riroi ds T-^u T€€iau TTTuaiv XocTpSov fiuaiAcus Ilepacou, sive de Extremo Chosroae Persarum Regis Eacidio. But this title does not correctly describe it, for it takes a hasty survey of the transactions and ex- ploits of Heraclius at home and abroad, and only slightly touches on the final overthrow of Chosroes. It was perhaps written when the intelligence of that monarch's death first reached Constantinople, about the end of a. d. 628, and before the return of Heraclius. 6. 'E^a-^picpuv riroi Koa/xovpyia, Opus Sex Dierum seu Mundi Opifcium. This poem consists of 1910 trimeter iambic verses in the edition of Quercius, who restored some lines omitted by previous editors. It has been supposed that this work has come down to us in a mutilated con- dition, for Suidas speaks of it as consisting of 3000 verses. But it is possible that the text of Suidas is corrupt, and that we should read ds eirr) Sio-x^A'a, instead of rpLax^Kia. The poem has no appear- ance of incompleteness. The Hecca'cmeron con- tains a prayer as if by the patriarch Sergius, for Heraclius and his children. The poem was probably written about a. d. 629. 7. Ets rdv ^a- raiov ^iou, De Vanitate Vitae. This poem consists of 262 iambic verses, but has no internal mark of the time when it was written. 8. Kard 'Sevripou^ Contra Severum^ or Karci hvaffeSovs 2ev^pov 'Av- jioxdas, Contra hnpenum Severum Antiochiae^ This poem consists of 731 iambic verses. A pas- sage of Nicephorus CaUisti {Hist. Eccl. xviii. 48) has been understood as declaring that George wrote a poem against Johannes Philoponus, and it has been supposed that Philoponus is aimed at in this poem under the name of Severus, while others have supposed that Nicephorus refers to the Hex- aemeron, and that Philoponus is attacked in that poem under the name of Proclus. But the words of Nicephorus do not require us to understand that George wrote against Philoponus at all. This poem against Severus contains the passage to which Nicephorus refers, and in which the Monophysite