George Syncellus, Chronographic Selection 605.9-605.19
created: This entry is taken from Chronographic Selection 605.9-605.19 written by George
edition published: 2022-10-19-05:00
language: grc; grc
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2022 by the contributors (Joseph L. Rife, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/352

Caesarea Maritima is indirectly attested at George Syncellus, Chronographic Selection 605.9-605.19. This passage was written ca. 808-815 CE possibly in Constantinople. George Syncellus (“cellmate”), whose career spanned the late 8th to very early 9th centuries, was a Palestinian monk before his appointment as the assistant to Tarasius, Patriarch of Contantinople. Apparently facing hostility from the emperor Nicephorus I, he retired to monastic solitude in ca. 808, where he devoted himself to writing his Chronographic Selection (Ἐκλογὴ Χρονογραφίας). This work was a universal history in the form of a synchronic tabulation by year, following the chronographic models of the Late Antique Near East and Egypt that were rooted in the works of Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea. In his entry under the Year of the World 5520 (20 C.E.), George recorded Tiberius’ appointment of Pontius Pilate to the governship of Judaea.

Τὰ ὑπόλοιπα τοῦ μονάρχου Καίσαρος Τιβερίου, τοῦ κόσμου ἔτη ͵εφκʹ. Τιβέριος Δροῦσον τῆς ἀρχῆς κοινωνὸν προσλαβόμενος μετὰ μικρὸν ὡς φαρμακὸν ἀνεῖλε. Τὸ Πομπηίου θέατρον ἐνεπρήσθη. Τιβέριος Πόντιον Πιλᾶτον ἡγεμόνα τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐξέπεμψε. Φίλιππος τετράρχης Παναιάδα ἀνακτίσας Καισάρειαν Φιλίππου προσωνόμασεν. Ὁ αὐτὸς πόλιν Ἰουλιάδα ἔκτισεν. Ἡρώδης ἔκτισε Τιβεριάδα εἰς ὄνομα Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, ὁ αὐτὸς Λιβιάδα.

[Ed. Dindorf 1829] [Minor corr. J. L. Rife with ref. to Mosshammer 1984]

The remaining events in the life of the monarch Tiberius Caesar, Year of the World 5520. After taking on Drusus as a joint ruler, Tiberius killed him a little later as a scapegoat. The Theater of Pompey was set ablaze. Tiberius sent out Pontius Pilate as governor of Judaea. Philip the Tetrarch rebuilt Panaias and granted it the name Caesarea Philippi. He also founded the city of Julias. Herod founded Tiberias after the name of Tiberius Caesar; he also founded Libias.

[Rev. Adler and Tuffin 2002 with ref. to Dindorf 1829]

Works Cited

[...] 605.9-605.19
[...] 462

Additional Bibliography

[...] 388.1-388.10

[John Zonaras, Epitome of History 6.4]

[Julias

Libias (Peraea)

Panaias (Banias, Caesarea Philippi)

Rome

Tiberias (Galilee)]

[Drusus Caesar

Philip the Tetrarch, or Herod Philip II

Pontius Pilate, governor

Tiberius, emperor]

[Early Roman History

Geography

Government and Law

Herodian Dynasty]