Joannes Laurentius Lydus
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Joannes Laurentius Lydus (Greek: Ιωάννης Λαυρέντιος Λυδός) was an early Byzantine administrator and writer on antiquarian subjects.
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[edit] Life and career
He was born in 490 AD at Philadelphia in Lydia, whence his cognomen "Lydus". At an early age he set out to seek his fortune in Constantinople, and held high court and state offices in the praetorian prefecture of the East under Anastasius and Justinian. In 552 he lost favour, and was dismissed. The date of his death is not known, but he was probably alive during the early years of Justin II (reigned 565-578).
[edit] Literary work
During his retirement he occupied himself in the compilation of works on the antiquities of Rome, three of which have been preserved:
- De Ostentis (Gr. Περί Διοσημείων), on the origin and progress of the art of divination
- De Magistratibus reipublicae Romanae (Gr. Περί αρχών της Ρωμαίων πολιτείας), especially valuable for the administrative details of the time of Justinian [now dat. 550 by M. Maas, John Lydus and the Roman Past (London-New York, 1992)]
- De Mensibus (Gr. Περί των μηνών), a history of the different festivals of the year.
The chief value of these books consists in the fact that the author made use of the works (now lost) of old Roman writers on similar subjects. Lydus was also commissioned by Justinian to compose a panegyric on the emperor, and a history of his campaign against Persia; but these, as well as some poetical compositions, are lost.
Editions of (1) by Charles Wachsmuth (1897), with full account of the authorities in the prolegomena; of (2) and (3) by R Wunsch (1898-1903) ; see also the essay by CB Hase (the first editor of the De Ostentis) prefixed to I. Bekker's edition of Lydus (1837) in the Bonn Corpus scriptorum hist. Byzantinae (Wunsch's edition has been superseded by Bandy, Anastasius C. 1983. Ioannes Lydus. On powers or the magistracies of the Roman state. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society).
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
