Wizerunek władców bizantyńskich w Historii kościelnej Ewagriusza Scholastyka
The image of Byzantine emperors in Evagrius Scholasticus’s “Ecclesiastical history”

Author(s): Kazimierz Ginter
Subject(s): History, Ancient World, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Antioch; Byzantine rulers; Byzantium; Eastern Christianity; Evagrius Scholasticus; Ecclesiastical history; Syria
Summary/Abstract: The book has been dedicated to the reconstruction and analysis of the image of Byzantine emperors (from Theodosius II to Maurice) as seen in the sixth-century Byzantine historian Evagrius Scholasticus’s “Ecclesiastical history”. The author perceives the image of emperors as consisting both of their direct description (personality, virtues and vices, as well as their appearance etc.) and indirect depiction – extrapolated from their policies and events that took place during their reign, which could be treated by Evagrius as the result of their rule. The book is not only a rich source of our knowledge on Evagrius Scholasticus, his literary craft and inspirations, but it also constitutes an interesting panorama of the history of the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries. “When characterising the work, one more aspect of the research methodology should be mentioned. Kazimierz Ginter belongs to the generation of scholars who eagerly employ modern instruments of scientific work, thus enlarging the set of research tools for late antiquity. Analysing the written material, he opted for an instrument designed for identifying convergent points and specifying their provenance (via the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae project), which enabled him to establish links between the main source and other ancient and Byzantine texts. I am convinced that Kazimierz Ginter’s work . . . presenting Evagrius and his work from the new perspective deserves to be published.”

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