Zosimus
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Zosimus was a Greek historian (Born 460s, died 520s). He lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (491–518).[1] According to the religious leader Photius, Zosimus was a comes, or a noble of small importance. He also worked for the imperial treasury, which was where the Byzantine government managed their money. Zosimus was known for being a pagan when the Byzantine Empire was Christian. He did not agree with Roman Emperor Constantine’s decision to make the Roman Empire Christian.[2]
Not much is known about the life of Zosimus except that he was Greek and a pagan.[3] He wrote about things that happened a long time before he was alive, and was also biased because of his paganism, so he is not trusted without outside proof.[4]
Historia Nova
[change | change source]Zosimus wrote Historia Nova (meaning "New History,") which is a series of six books written in Greek. They are history books about the years 238 to 410 A.D.[5] It was written in the late 400s.[6] Zosimus's goal was to write about what led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Since he was a pagan, Zosimus puts Rome's Christian Emperors in an very bad light. This has led to historians being skeptical of Zosimus. Some historians say that since Zosimus was pagan when the Byzantine Empire was Christian, he might have lost his job at the government treasury. This would explain why he was sometimes very bitter in his writing.[7]
- ↑ Blois, Lukas de (2019). Image and Reality of Roman Imperial Power in the Third Century AD: The Impact of War. Oxon: Routledge. pp. xxx. ISBN 978-0-815-35373-7.
- ↑ Goffart 1971, p. 412.
- ↑ James, Elizabeth; English, Stephen (2012). Constantine the Great General: A Military Biography. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78159-950-1.
- ↑ Harrel, John S. (2016). The Nisibis War: The Defence of the Roman East AD 337–363. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-47384-830-6.
- ↑ Manafis, Panagiotis (2020). (Re)writing History in Byzantium: A Critical Study of Collections of Historical Excerpts. Oxon: Routledge. pp. xii. ISBN 978-0-367-36730-5.
- ↑ Kaegi, Walter Emil (2015). Byzantium and the Decline of the Roman Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-4008-7955-7.
- ↑ Kaegi, Walter Emil (2015). Byzantium and the Decline of the Roman Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-4008-7955-7.