International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Panagiotis Manafis
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 
[e-mail]
Roman Antiquarianism in the 10
th
Century: 
The 
Constantinian Excerpts
and the 
Excerpta Anonymi
This paper centers on the possibility of a textual relation between the tenth-century codex 
Parisinus suppl. gr. 607a (Excerpta Anonymi) and the Constantinian Excerpts (CE). The two 
collections of excerpts should be seen within the context of the culture of sylloge. They share 
significant similarities in terms of content, format and methodology. In this paper the hypothesis 
is advanced that the anonymous compiler of the Excerpta Anonymi relied on earlier collections of 
excerpts and must have drawn on draft copies produced during the redaction of the Constantinian 
collections. The CE appears to have been used in treatises produced within court circles as well 
as in non-imperial works. The latter were written by persons associated with the palace or the 
imperial library. The analysis of the chapter on the river Istros in the Excerpta Anonymi shows 
that the passage must have been excerpted from an earlier dossier, presumably a collection of notes 
on geography. The Excerpta Anonymi chapters On Cyrus and On Remus and Romulus reflect the 
selection and arrangement of similar material in the CE. Among now lost Constantinian collections 
of excerpts, there probably have been collections of geography, dreams and portents. 
Moreover, the two collections of excerpts should be seen within the context of the revival of the 
classical past from the 9
th
century onwards. As noted, the historical part of the Excerpta Anonymi 
bears similarities with the CE in terms of content. Among the cited authors in the Excerpta Anonymi, 

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a significant number of historians occur, such us Herodotus, Appian, Cassius Dio, Procopius and John 
Lydus. All of them are frequently cited and extensively used in Constantine’s treatises and, with the 
exception of John Lydus, all were selected for the CE. The historical part of the Excerpta Anonymi 
exhibits interest in classical knowledge, in the Roman past and in subjects relating to geography and 
occult science. The selection of authors excerpted is revealing: Diodorus Siculus, Appian, Cassius Dio, 
Procopius and John Lydus. It is noteworthy that the Excerpta Anonymi compiler’s selections coincide 
with those of Constantine Porphyrogenitus as well as those of Photius a century earlier. Constantine 
VII stands behind the revival of interest in the Roman and Byzantine affairs in the 10
th
century. Though 
selections in the Excerpta Anonymi, the CE and Photius’ Bibliotheca do not reflect direct interest in 
the Republic in Rome, they display an undeniable interest in the cultural past of Rome.