Theophanes

• a Greek historian of Mitylene, a friend of Pompey, Cic. Arch. 10, 24; id. Att. 5, 11, 3; Caes. B. C. 3, 18; Tac. A. 6, 18 fin.

(Θεοφάνης), literary.

1. A writer on painting, mentioned by Diogenes Laertius (2.104).

2. Of Byzantium, one of the writers of the Byzantine history, flourished most probably in the latter part of the sixth century of our era. Works History of the Eastern Empire

He wrote, in ten books, the history of the Eastern Empire (ἱστορικῶν λόγοι δέκα), during the Persian war under Justin II., beginning from the second year of Justin, in which the truce made by Justinian with Chosroes was broken, A. D. 567. and going down to the tenth year of the war, which, according to Mr. Clinton, was not A. D. 577, but A. D. 581, because the war did not begin till A. D. 571, although the history of Theophanes may have commenced with A. D. 567.

Photius (Bibl. Cod. 64) gives an account of the work of Theophanes, and he repeats the author's statement that, besides adding other books to the ten which formed the original work, he had written another work on the history of Justinian. It well deserves mention that, among the historical statements preserved by Photius from Theophanes is the discovery, in the reign of Justinian, of the fact that silk was the production of a worm, which had not been before known to the people of the Roman empire A certain Persian, he tells us. coming from the land of the Seres, brought to Constantinople " the seed " (τὸ σπέρμα, the eggs, of course) of the silk-worm, and these " seeds" being hatched in the spring, and the worms fed with mulberry leaves, they spun their silk, and went through their transformations. Editions

The Excerpta of Photius from the ten books of the history of Theophanes were printed in Greek, with a Latin version by Andr. Schottus, and notes by Ph. Labbe, in Valesius's edition of the Excerpta de Legationibus, from Dexippus and others, Paris, 1648, fol.; reprinted in the Venetian collection of the Byzantine historians, Venet. 1729, fol. : they are also printed in the volume of Niebuhr's Corpus Scriptorum Hist. Byzant., containing Dexippus, &c., Bonn. 1829, 8vo. Further Information

Cave, Hist. Litt. s. a. 580, vol. i. p. 537, ed. Basil.; Hankius, Byz. Rer. Script. 2.4, pp. 674, foll.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. pp. 459, 541, 543; Vossius, de Hist. Graec. pp. 327, 328, ed. Westermann; Clinton, Fasti Romani. s. aa. 567, 568, 571.

3. Isaurus, also surnamed Isaacius * There appears to be no authority for calling him, as Vossius does, Georgius. The mistake probably arose from some accidental confusion of his name with that of Georgius Syncellus., from his father's name, and also Confessor, or Confessor Imaginum, from his sufferings in the cause of image worship, but more celebrated now as the author of a Chronicon in continuation of that of Syncellus. lived during the second half of the eighth century of our era, and the first fifteen years of the ninth.

He was of noble birth, his parents being Isaacius, the praefect of the Aegeopelagitae, and Theodota. He was born in A. D. 858, and soon after, by the death of his father, he became a ward of the emperor Constantinus Copronymus. While quite a youth, he was compelled by Leo the patrician to marry his daughter; but, on the wedding-day, Theophanes and his wife agreed that the marriage should not be consummated; and, on the death of Leo, in A. D. 780, his daughter retired into a convent, and her husband Theophanes, who had in the meantime discharged various public offices, entered the monastery of Polychronium, near Singriana, in lesser Mysia. He soon left that place, and went to live in the island of Calonymus, where he converted his paternal estate into a monastery. After a residence of six years there, he returned to the neighbourhood of Singriana, where he purchased an estate, called by the simple name of Ager (῎ἄγρος), and founded another monastery, of which he made himself the abbot. In A. D. 787, he was summoned to the second Council of Nicaea, where he vehemently defended the worship of images. We have no further details of his life until A. D. 813. when he was required by Leo the Armenian to renounce the worship of images, and, upon his refusal, though he was extremely ill, and had been bed-ridden for five years, he was carried to Constantinople, and there, after a further period of resistance to the command of the emperor to renounce his principles, he was cast into prison, at the close of the year 815 or the beginning of 816 and, after two years' imprisonment, he was banished to the island of Samothrace, where he died, only twenty-three days from his arrival. His firmness was rewarded by his party, not only with the title of Confessor, but also with the honours of canonization. Work

Theophanes was the personal friend of Georgius Syncellus, by whose desire he continued the Chronicon, which was broken off by the death of Syncellus. The work of Theophanes, which is still extant, begins at the accession of Diocletian, A. D. 277, and embraces a period of 524 years, down to A. D. 811, that is, almost up to the very period when the career of Theophanes was ended by his imprisonment. It consists, like the Chronica of Eusebius and of Syncellus, of two parts, a history arranged according to years, and a chronological table, of which the former is very superior to the latter. We possess the original Greek, and an ancient Latin translation, badly executed, by Anastasius Bibliothecarius. Editions

The Chronica has been published, with an improved Latin Version, and with the Notes of Goar and Combéfis, in the Parisian and Venetian Collections of the Byzantine writers, Paris, 1655, fol., Venet. 1729 fol., and in Niebuhr's Corpus Script. Hist. Byz Bonn. 2 vols. 8vo. Further Information

Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. pp. 459, foll.; Cave, Hist. Litt. s. a. 792, vol i. p. 641, ed. Basil.; Vossius, de Hist. Graec. p. 340, ed. Westermann ; Hankins, Byz. Rcr. Script. 1.11, pp. 200, foll.

4. Cerameus. [Cerameus, Theophanes.]

Some less important writers and ecclesiastics of this name are noticed by Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. vol. xi. pp. 218-222.

There is one epigram in the Greek Anthology, under the name of Theophanes, but its authorship is very uncertain. (See Jacobs, Bibl. Graec. vol. xiii. p. 958.) [P.S]

[Graptus.]

[Nonnus.]

of Mytilene in Lesbos, a learned Greek, was one of the most intimate friends of Pompey, whom he accompanied in many of his campaigns, and who frequently followed his advice on public as well as private matters. (Caes. Civ. 3.18; Strab. xiii. p.617.) He was not a freedman of Pompey, as some modern writers have supposed (Burmann, ad Vell. Pat. 2.18); but the Roman general appears to have made his acquaintance during the Mithridatic war, and soon became so much attached to him that he presented to the Greek the Roman franchise in the presence of his army, after a speech in which he eulogised his merits. (Cic. pro Arch. 10 ; V. Max. 8.14.3.) This occurred in all probability about B. C. 62, and Theophanes must now have taken the name of Pompeius after his patron. Such was his influence with Pompey, that, in the course of the same year, he obtained for his native city the privileges of a free state, although it had espoused the cause of Mithridates, and had given up the Roman general M'. Aquillius to the king of Pontus. (Plut. Pomp. 12.) Theophanes came to Rome with Pompey after the conclusion of his wars in the East. There he adopted, before he had any son, L. Corneiius Balbus, of Gades, a favourite of his patron. (Cic. pro Balb. 25 ; Capitol. Balbin. 2.) He continued to live with Pompey on the most intimate terms, and we see from Cicero's letters, that his society was courted by many of the Roman nobles, on account of his well-known influence with Pompey. (Cic. Att. 2.5, 12, 17. 5.11.) On the breaking out of the civil war he accompanied Pompey to Greece, who appointed him commander of the Fabri, and chietly consulted him and Lucceius on all important matters in the war. much to the indignation of the Roman nobles. (Plut. Cic. 38 ; Caes. Civ. 3.18; Cic. Att. 9.3, 11.) After the battle of Pharsalia Theophanes fled with Pompey from Greece. and it was owing to his advice that Pompey went to Egypt. (Plut. Pomp. 76, 78.) After the death of his friend and patron, Theophanes took refuge in Italy. He was pardoned by Caesar, and was still alive in B. C. 44, as we see from one of Cicero's letters (ad Att. 15.19). After his death the Lesbians paid divine honours to his memory. (Tac. Ann. 6.18.) Theophanes wrote the history of Pompey's campaigns, in which he represented the exploits of his hero in the most favourable light, and did not hesitate, as Plutarch more than hints, to invent a false tale for the purpose of injuring the reputation of an enemy of the Pompeian family. (Plut. Pomp. 37, et alibi Strab. xi. p.503, xiii. p. 617 Cic. pro Arch l.c. ; Val. Max. l.c. ; Capitol. l.c.)

Theophanes left behind him a son, M. Pompeius Theophanes, who was sent to Asia by Augustus, in the capacity of procurator, and was at the time that Strabo wrote one of the friends of Tiberius. The latter emperor, however, put his descendants to death towards the end of his reign, A. D. 33, because their ancestor had been one of Pompey's friends, and had received after his death divine honours from the Lesbians. (Strab. xiii. p.617; Tac. Ann. 6.18; comp. Drumann, Geschichte Roms, vol. iv. pp. 551-553; Vossius, de Hist. Graec. pp. 190, 191, ed. Westermann.)

(Θεοφάνης). (1) Cn. Pompēius, of Mitylené in Lesbos. A learned Greek, who was one of the most intimate friends of Pompey, and wrote the history of his campaigns ( B. G. iii. 18).

(2) A Byzantine historian, who flourished most probably in the latter part of the sixth century of our era. He wrote, in ten books, the history of the Eastern Empire during the Persian war under Justin II., from A.D. 567 to 581. The work itself is lost, but some extracts from it are preserved by Photius.

(3) Also a Byzantine historian, lived during the second half of the eighth century A.D. and the early part of the ninth. In consequence of his supporting the cause of image worship, he was banished by Leo the Armenian to the island of Samothracé, where he died, in 818. Theophanes wrote a Chronicon, which is still extant, beginning at the accession of Diocletian, in 277, and coming down to 811. It consists, like the Chronica of Eusebius and of Syncellus, of two parts, a history arranged according to years, and a chronological table, of which the former is very superior to the latter. It is edited by De Boor (Leipzig, 1883).