Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/614

Rh 600 JOANNES, them *'ab actis") to whom Zoticus recommended him, procured for him, without purchase (a most unusual thing) the post of primus chartularius in their office, which he held with several other employ- ments, labouring most assiduously in the fullilment of his duties. During this period Zoticus, at the suggestion of Joannes' cousin, Ammianus, obtained for him a wife of pre-eminent modesty and consider- able wealth. He concluded his official career in the office of matricularius or cornicularius, which was formerly so profitable as to be conferred as the reward of long service in subordinate situations; but the circumstances of the times and the ne- cessities of the state had diminished the emoluments of the office, so that Joannes was by no means satisfied with the pecuniary results of this long- coveted climax of forty years' service. The disap- pointment of his hopes in this respect was, however, somewhat alleviated by marks of distinction, and flattering testimonials of his literary attainments. The latter part of his life seems to have been wholly devoted to literature ; and he received two literary appointments from the emperor Justinian I., one to compose and deliver a panegyrical address to the emperor, in the presence of the chief persons of the capital ; the other to write a history of the Persian war or campaign, in which the enemy suf- fcired a signal repulse before Dara. The foregoing particulars are gathered from Joannes' own state- ments {De Mayistralihus^ iii. 26 — 30 ; conip. Hase, de Joanne Lydo ejiisque Scriptis Commentarius). Joannes obtained reputation as a poet (Z>e Ma- gistral, c. 27, 29), but his poetical compositions are all lost. His encomium on Zoticus and his com- plimentary address to Justinian are also lost ; as well. as his history of the Persian war, if ever it was finished, which is not certain. His works, of which many parts are extant, were all written in his old age, and are : 1. Ilepl /urivcSu (rvyypacpri, De Mensibus Liber, of which there are two epitomae or summaries and a fragment extant. 2, Ilepl dpxoiv rijs 'Vwixaiwv iroKinias, or Tl^pi apx^ov iroAiTiKuv, De Magistratihus Reipublicae Romanfie (s. De Magistratibus Politicis) Libri tres. 3. Ilepl Sio<rT]fj.ei£v, De Ostentis, the last written of his works. The work de Mensibus is an historical commentary on the Roman calendar, with an ac- count of its various festivals, their occasion and mode of celebration, derived from a great number of authorities, most of which have perished. Of the two summaries of this curious work, the larger one is by an unknown hand, the shorter one by Maximus Planudes. They were both published by Nicolaus Schow (the shorter one inserted in brackets in the course of the larger), 8vo. Leipzig, 1794, with a fragment, Ile/jl auaixuv^ De Terrae Motibus, of the work De Ostentis. The Epitomae in a revised text, and with the addition of a Latin version and variorum notes, were published by Roether, 8vo. Leipzig and Darmstadt, 1 827. The work De Magistratibus was thought to have perished, with the exception of a few glosses given anonymously in the Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae atque Infimae Graecitatis of Du Cange : for an extract, given as if from it, by Lambecius, in his Animadversiones in Codinum (p. 208, ed. Paris), is really from the De Metisibus. But in or about 1785 a MS. (known as the Codex Caseo- linns) was discovered by J. B. d*Ansse de Villoison ijj the suburbs of Constantinople, and obtained by tlie Le Couite de Choiseul-Gouffier, then French JOANNES, ambassador in that city, containing about nine- tenths of the work De Magistratibus, three-fourths of that De Ostentis, and two leaves, scarcely legible, of the De Me?isibus. From this MS. the De Magistratibus was published at the cost of M. de Choiseul-Gouffier, and under the editorial care of Dominic Fuss, with a Commentarius de Joanne Lydo ejusque Scriptis, by Ch. Benert. Hase, Paris, 1811. The fragments of the De Ostentis, and the fragment of the De Mensibus, were published from the same MS., but with some alterations, with a preface and a Latin version and notes, by C. B. Hase, 8vo. Paris, L323. One of the fragments of the De Ostentis, containing a Greek version by Lydus, of the 'E^Tj^epos fipovTotTKoiria of P. Nigi- dius Figulus, had been published by Rutgersius [Lectiones Variae, lib. iii. p. 246, &c.), and another fragment, as already noticed, by Nic. Schow. All the extant portion of the works of Joannes Lydus, with a text revised by Imman. Bekker (8vo. Bonn, 1837), form one of the volumes of the reprint of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. Photius mentions the three works, irpayfx.aTi'iai, of Lydus ; he criticises his style severely, as too stately and elaborate where simplicity was required, and as mean where greater elevation was appropriate. He charges him also with barefaced flattery of the living, and unjust censure on the dead : and inti- mates that he was a heathen, yet spoke respectfully of Christianity, whether sincerely or not Photius could not determine. {Vhows,, liiblioth. Cod. 180; Suidas, s. v. 'Iwowtjs 4>iAa5eA(^ei)s AuSoy ; Hase, I.e.; Fabric. Blbl. Graec. vol. iv. p. 155.) 80. Lector. [Anagnostes, and above, No.3.] 81. Of Lydda, of which city he was bishop A. D. 1194. His only extant work is given in the Miscellanea of Baluze. (Lib. ii. p. 242, or vol. iii. p. 90, ed. Mansi.) It is a Latin letter or Latin version of a letter written by him to Michael, dean of Paris and patriarch elect of Jerusalem. (Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. p. 253.) 82. Lydus, the Lydian. [See No. 79.] 83. Malelas or Malalas. [Malalas.] 84. Marcus. A spurious work. Acta et Passio S. Barnabae in Cypro, professing to be written by Joannes Marcus, or John Mark (Acts. xii. 12, 25, xiii. 5, 13, XV. 37, 39), is given with a Latin version in the Acta Sanctorum Junii, vol. ii. p, 431, &c. 85. Maro, so called from the monastery of St. Maro on the Orontes, near Antioch, an eminent ecclesiastic among the Maronites of Syria ; and ac- cording to some authors, Maronite patriarch of Antioch. He is said to have enjoyed the favour of the emperor Heraclius. He wrote in Syriac Com- mentarius in Liturgiam. S. Jacobi, of which many extracts have been published. (Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. i. p. 537.) 86. Mauropus. [See No. 58.] 87. Maxentius. [Maxentius.] 88. MoNACHUS. [See No. 106.J 89. M08CHUS. [MoscHUs.] 90. Nepos. [See No. 71.] 91. Nesteuta. [See No. 28.] 92. Of Nicaea(I). Joannes, archbishop of Nice before the 11th century, wrote Epistola de Nativi- tate Domini ad Zachariam Catholicum Armeniae, published with a Latin version in the Novum A uo tanM?»of Comb^fis, vol. ii. p. 298. (Fabric. 5«i/. Gr. vol. X. p. 238; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. Dissertaiio Prima, p. 1 1,)