John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/133
Context
John Malalas, a moniker probably derived from Aramaic
malolo meaning “orator”, was an educated Syrian who moved from
Antioch to Constantinople early in the reign of Justinian I. His only known work is a
historical chronicle in 18 books, apparently composed in two editions, spanning from
early times probably to the death of Justinian, with a distinct focus on events in the
eastern Mediterranean. In his long passage on the activities of Augustus in the East,
John cites the renaming of Straton’s Tower as Caesarea.
Text
ὁ μὲν Ἡρώδης
βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἰουδαίας πρὸς τιμὴν αὐτοῦ ἐποίησε καὶ τὴν ὁδοστρωσίαν τὴν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως
Ἀντιοχείας τῆς μεγάλης, ἦν γὰρ δύσβατος, στρώσας αὐτὴν λευκαῖς πλάκαις. ἐκάλεσαν δὲ
ἐμφότεροι τοπάρχαι τὰς μητροπόλεις αὐτῶν πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ εἰς ὄνομα τοῦ Καίσαρος· ὁ μὲν
Ἡρώδης βασιλεὺς καὶ τοπάρχης ἐκάλεσε Καισάρειαν Παλαιστίνης, τὴν
πρῴην λεγομένην Στράτωνος Πύργον, ὁ δὲ Ἀρχέλαος βασιλεὺς καὶ
τοπάρχης ἐκάλεσε Καισάρειαν Καππαδοκίας τὴν πρῴην λεγομένην Μάζακαν.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Thurn 2000Textual Note
Von Stauffenberg (1931) added ἰδίοις ἀναλώμασιν (“at his own expense”) after λευκαῖς πλάκαις. J. L. Rife has omitted it here as an unnecessary interpolation from the Slavonic translation (10th/11th century) and John of Nikiu 66.2.Translation
Ηerod the king of
Judaea made the paved highway outside the city of Antioch the Great in (Augustus’s)
honor, for it used to be a rough passage, paving it with white slabs. Both local rulers
named their metropoleis after Caesar (Augustus) to honor him. Herod, king and local
ruler, named Caesarea Palestinae the city formerly called
Strato’s Tower, while Archaelaos, king and local ruler, named
Caesarea in Cappadocia the city formerly called Mazaca.
Translation Note
Adapted from Jeffreys et al. 2017Works Cited
- 1 John Malalas, Ioannis Malalae Chronographia, ed. Johannes Thurn, repr. 2012, Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 35 (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2000), bk: 9, ch: 17.
Additional Bibliography
- John Malalas, The Chronicle of John Malalas, trans. Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys, and Roger Scott, Byzantina Australiensia 4 (Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2017), p: 118.
- A. Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, Die Römische Kaisergeschichte Bei Malalas (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1931), p: 8-9.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/133.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/133.About this Entry
Entry Title: John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “John Malalas, Chronicle 9.17”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- URNs and other metadata added by Joseph L. Rife
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife