HESYCHIUS OF MILETUS

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 415 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HEG-HIG

HESYCHIUS OF MILETUS , Greek chronicler and biographer, surnamed Illustrius, son of an advocate, flourished at

Constantinople

CONSTANTINOPLE
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF

in the 5th century A.D. during the reign of Justinian. According to Photius (cod. 69) he was the author of three important works. (1) A Compendium of Universal History in six books, from Belus, the reputed founder of the Assyrian empire, to Anastasius I. (d. 518). A considerable fragment has been preserved from the

sixth

SIXTH

book, entitled Mir pm Kwvara11rWUV4r6XEws, a history of Byzantium from its earliest beginnings till the time of Constantine the

Great

GREAT

. (2) A Biographical Dictionary ('OvoisaroXoyos or lIivae) of Learned Men, arranged according to classes (poets, philosophers), the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

sources of which were the MovcnKr) icropia of Aelius

Dionysius

DIONYSIUS
DIONYSIUS (c. 432–367 B.C.)

and the works of Herennius

Philo

PHILO
PHILO, HERENNIUS

. Much of it has been incorporated in the lexicon of Suidas, as we learn from that author. It is disputed, however, whether the words in Suidas (" of which this book is an epitome ") mean that Suidas himself epitomized the

work

WORK

of Hesychius, or whether they are part of the title of an already epitomized Hesychius used by Suidas. The second view is more generally held. The epitome referred to, in which alphabetical order was substituted for arrangement in classes and some articles on Christian writers added as a concession to the times, is assigned from internal indications to the years 829-837. Both it and the

original

ORIGINAL

work

WORK

are lost, with the exception of the excerpts in Photius and Suidas. A smaller compilation, chiefly from

Diogenes

DIOGENES

Laertius and Suidas, with a similar title, is the work of an unknown author of the 11th or 12th century. (3) A History of the Reign of Justin I. (518-527) and the early years of Justinian, completely lost. Photius praises the style of Hesychius, and credits him with
being a veracious historian.
Editions; J. C.

Orelli

(182o) and J. Flack (1882); fragments in C. W. Muller, Frag. hist. Graec. iv. 143 and in T. Preger's Scriptores originis Constantinopolitanae, i. (1901); Pseudo-Hesychius, by J. Flach (188o) ; see generally C. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur (1897).

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