View source for George Syncellus

{{Short description|9th century Byzantine historian, philosopher and writer}}
'''George Syncellus''' ({{langx|el|Γεώργιος Σύγκελλος}}, ''Georgios Synkellos''; died after 810) was a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] chronicler and ecclesiastical official. He lived many years in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (probably in the Old Lavra of Saint Chariton or Souka, near Tekoa) as a monk, before coming to [[Constantinople]], where he was appointed ''[[synkellos]]'' (literally, "cell-mate") to [[Patriarch Tarasius|Tarasius]], [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarch of Constantinople]]. He later retired to a monastery to write what was intended to be his great work, a chronicle of world history, ''Ekloge chronographias'' ({{lang|grc|Ἐκλογὴ Χρονογραφίας}}), or ''Extract of Chronography''. According to [[Anastasius Bibliothecarius]], George "struggled valiantly against heresy [i.e. [[Iconoclasm]]] and received many punishments from the rulers who raged against the rites of the Church", although the accuracy of the claim is suspect.<ref>Mango and Scott, ''The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor''</ref>

As a ''[[synkellos]]'', George stood high in the ecclesiastical establishment of Constantinople. The position carried no defined duties, but the incumbent would generally serve as the patriarch's private secretary, and might also be used by the Emperor to limit the movements and actions of a troublesome patriarch (as was the case during the reign of [[Constantine VI]], when several of George's colleagues were set as guards over Patriarch Tarasius). The office would be an imperial gift by the time of [[Basil I]], and was probably so earlier; as such, George may well have owed his position to the Empress [[Irene of Athens|Irene]]. Many ''synkelloi'' would go on to become Patriarchs of Constantinople, or Bishops of other sees (for example George's colleague, John, another ''synkellos'' under Patriarch Tarasius, who became [[Metropolitan Bishop of Sardis]] in 803). 

George, however, did not follow this path, instead retreating from the world to compose his great chronicle. It would appear that the Emperor [[Nikephoros I]] incurred George's disfavour at around the same time: in 808, Nikephoros discovered a plot against him, and punished the suspected conspirators, amongst whom were not only secular figures "but also holy bishops and monks and clergy of the Great Church, including the ''synkellos''...men of high repute and worthy of respect"; it is unknown whether the ''synkellos'' in question was George himself or a colleague/successor, but the attack on the clergy, including George's friends and colleagues, would not have endeared the Emperor to George, and is suggested as the motivating factor in the "pathological hatred" towards Nikephoros I in the chronicle of [[Theophanes the Confessor]]<ref>Mango and Scott, ''The Chronicle of Theophanes''. Mango and Scott note that the attitude of Theophanes's Chronicle is likely to be due to George Synkellos rather than Theophanes; the ''Life of Theophanes'' by Patriarch Methodius is excessively favourable to Nikephoros, "a tactless tribute if Theophanes was known to hold Nikephoros in such deep detestation."</ref> The date of his death is uncertain; a reference in his chronicle makes clear that he was still alive in 810, and he is sometimes described as dying in 811, but there is no evidence for this, and textual evidence in the ''Chronicle of Theophanes'' suggests that he was still alive in 813.<ref>Mango and Scott, ''The Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor''</ref>

His [[chronicle]], as its title implies, is more of a chronological table with notes than a history. Following on from the Syriac chroniclers of his homeland, who were writing in his lifetime under Arab rule in much the same fashion, as well as the Alexandrians [[Annianus of Alexandria|Annianus]] and [[Panodorus of Alexandria|Panodorus]] (monks who wrote near the beginning of the 5th century), George used the chronological synchronic structures of [[Sextus Julius Africanus]] and [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], arranging his events strictly in order of time, and naming them in the year which they happened. Consequently, the narrative is regarded as secondary to the need to reference the relation of each event to other events, and as such is continually interrupted by long tables of dates, so markedly that [[Karl Krumbacher|Krumbacher]] described it as being "rather a great historical list [''Geschichtstabelle''] with added explanations, than a [[Universal history (genre)|universal history]]." 

George reveals himself as a staunch upholder of [[orthodoxy]], and quotes Greek [[Fathers of the Church|Fathers]] such as [[Gregory Nazianzen]] and [[John Chrysostom]]. But in spite of its religious bias and dry and uninteresting character, the fragments of ancient writers and apocryphal books preserved in it make it especially valuable. For instance, considerable portions of the original text of the ''Chronicle'' of [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]] have been restored by the aid of George's work. His chief authorities were [[Annianus of Alexandria]] and [[Panodorus of Alexandria]], through whom George acquired much of his knowledge of the history of [[Manetho]]; George also relied heavily on Eusebius, [[Dexippus]] and [[Sextus Julius Africanus]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

George's chronicle was continued after his death by his friend Theophanes;{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Theophanes's work was heavily shaped by George's influence, and the latter may have had a greater influence on Theophanes's Chronicle than Theophanes himself. [[Anastasius Bibliothecarius|Anastasius, the Papal Librarian]], composed a ''Historia tripartita'' in [[Latin language|Latin]], from the chronicles of George Syncellus, Theophanes Confessor, and Patriarch [[Saint Nicephorus|Nicephorus]]. This work, written between 873 and 875, spread George's preferenced dates for historical events through the West. Meanwhile, in the East George's fame was gradually overshadowed by that of Theophanes.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*''Editio princeps'' by [[Jacques Goar]] (1652) in ''Bonn Corpus scriptorum hist. Byz.'', by [[Karl Wilhelm Dindorf]] (1829).
*[[Heinrich Gelzer]], ''Sextus Julius Africanus'', ii. I (1885).
*H Gelzer. ''Sextus Julius Africanus und die byzantinische Chronographie''. New York: B. Franklin, 1967, reprint of Leipzig: 1898.
*K Krumbacher, ''Geschichte der byzantinische Litteratur'' (2nd ed., Munich, 1897).
*William Adler. ''Time immemorial: archaic history and its sources in Christian chronography from Julius Africanus to George Syncellus''. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, c. 1989.
*Alden A. Mosshammer, ed., ''Georgii Syncelli Ecloga chronographica''. Leipzig: [[Teubner]], 1984.
*William Adler, Paul Tuffin, translators. ''The chronography of George Synkellos: a Byzantine chronicle of universal history from the creation''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
*{{1911|wstitle=George the Syncellus|volume=11|page=747}}
*{{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Georgius Syncellus}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/syncellus/ George Syncellus: Excerpts from "The Chronography"]
*[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2004/2004-10-27.html The Chronography of George Synkellos: A Byzantine Chronicle of Universal History from the Creation]
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0740-0810-_Georgius_Syncellus_Constantinopolitanus.html Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]

{{Byzantine historians}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:9th-century Byzantine historians]]
[[Category:Byzantine theologians]]
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[[Category:9th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian theologians]]