Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius. An Alexandrian World Chronicle

460 Pages·2012·15.874 MB·English

by  Garstad, Benjamin

"DUMBARTON OAKS
Ji"EDIEVAL oQ}RARY
~
Jan M. Ziolkowski, General Editor
APOCALYPSE
PSEUDO-METHODIUS
AN ALEXANDRIAN WORLD
CHRONICLE
DOML14
DUMBARTON OAKS MEDIEVAL LIBRARY
Jan M. Ziolkowski, General Editor
Danuta Shanzer, Medieval Latin Editor
Medieval Latin Editorial Board
Robert G. Babcock
B. Gregory Hays
Michael W. Herren
David Townsend
Winthrop Wetherbee III
Michael Winterbottom
Roger Wright
Medieval LatinAdvisory Board
Walter Berschin
Peter Dronke
Ralph Hexter
Mayke de Jong
Jose Martinez Gazquez
KurtSmolak
Francesco Stella
Jean-Yves Tilliette
Apocalypse
PsEuno-METHon1us
An Alexandrian
World Chronicle
Edited and Translated by
BENJAMIN GARSTAD
".DUMBARTON OAKS
MEDIEVAL oQ_J3RARY
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
LONDON, ENGLAND
2012
Copyright© 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Printed in the United States ofA merica
Library ofC ongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pseudo-Methodius.
[Apokalypsis. English, Greek, & Latin}
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius. An Alexandrian world chronicle /
edited and translated by Benjamin Gars tad.
p. cm. -(Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; DOML 14)
English and Latin.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-674-05307-6 (alk. paper)
1. Apocalyptic literature. 2. History, Ancient-Chronology. I. Garstad,
Benjamin. II. Excerpta Latina barbari. English & Latin. III. Title.
BS646.P8413 2012
270.2-dc23 2011036263
Contents
Introduction vn
APOCALYPSE
GREEK 2
LATIN 74
AN ALEXANDRIAN WORLD CHRONICLE
BooK 1 142
BOOK 2 226
Note on the Texts JI3
Notes to the Texts JIS
Notes to the Translatiom 337
Bibliography 389
Index to Apocalypse 397
Index to Alexandrian World Chronicle 4or

Introduction
APOCALYPSE OF PSEUDO-METHODIUS
The original Apocalypse, or Revelations, wrongly attributed to
Saint Methodius of Olympus (a Christian bishop and author
martyred ca. 311), was composed in Syriac by an unknown
author in response to the first Arab invasions and the estab
lishment of the caliphate. Internal evidence has recently al
lowed scholars to fix the date of composition very close to
692.1 According to the Syriac text, the dominion of the Ish
maelites - the term referring to the descendants of Ishmael
(the elder son of Abraham), which Pseudo-Methodius con
sistently uses for the Arabs2-will last for ten "weeks of
years," or seventy years (the Greek and Latin versions have
seven "weeks"). If this period is taken to begin with the date
of the Hejira in 622, the last "week of years" would be the
span of time from 685 to 692. It has been proposed that
the Apocalypse was written at some time during these seven
years, and probably toward their end, because these seven
years saw the introduction of tax reforms by the caliphate
that substantially increased the tax burden on Christians,
and as a consequence increased the incentive for Christians
to avoid the poll tax by committing apostasy and converting
to Islam. Pseudo-Methodius sees this as the "falling away"
Vil
INTRODUCTION
from the Church foreseen by the apostle Paul and clearly
considers it to be the most detrimental result of the Ishma
elite invasion. Reinink refines this date by linking the focus
in the Apocalypse on Jerusalem to the building of the Dome
of the Rock on the Temple Mount by the caliph 'Abd al
Malik in 691. This construction was supposed to supplant
the Christian presence in the Holy City by appropriating
a shrine for Islam and to indicate the stability and perma
nence of Muslim rule. Considering the prominence in
Pseudo-Methodius's composition of the themes of the im
manent demise of Arab rule and the redemption ofJ erusa
lem by the Roman emperor, he may well have written in re
sponse to the building of the Dome of the Rock and the
message it was intended to convey. At any rate, the Apoca
lypse could not have been written later than 694, when its
influence is first to be seen in other Syriac works. 3
Not much can be said about the identity of the author.
Even his theological affiliation is difficult to discern. The
preface to the Syriac Apocalypse says that Methodius re
ceived his vision on "the mountain of Senegar," Mount Sin
gara (or Sinjar) northwest of Mosul, and the real author of
the Apocalypse probably came from this same place. 4 Singara
was a stronghold of the Monophysite community in Meso
potamia. This, along with the prominent place accorded to
Ethiopia, the most powerful Monophysite kingdom of his
day; in the author's eschatology suggests that he was himself
a Monophysite. But his belief in the supremacy of the Ro
man Empire and his fervent expectation of deliverance from
the Ishmaelites and restoration of the Church through the
activity of the Roman emperor indicate that he belonged to
the Melchite Church, which adhered to the Chalcedonian
viii
INTRODUCTION
creed. Perhaps Pseudo-Methodius did not intend to reveal
his own denomination. Reinink has proposed that the au
thor of the Apocalypse saw Arab rule and the inducements to
apostasy as the real threat to the Church, rose above sectar
ian wrangling, addressed himself to all Christians, and of
fered the ruler of the Christian Roman Empire as the hope
of all the faithful, ofw hatever party, in Arab-occupied lands. 5
The Apocalypse was never taken to be a document belonging
to any particular faction within Christianity.
The Apocalypse was translated from Syriac into Greek and
from Greek into Latin, all fairly rapidly. We can say practi
cally nothing about the circumstances of the Greek transla
tion, but as it must fall between the Syriac composition and
the Latin translation we can at least date it in broad terms.
The earliest manuscript of the Latin text seems to have been
written sometime before 727,6 and we have no reason to be
lieve that this manuscript was produced simultaneously
with the translation itsel£ Certain linguistic details of the
translation indicate that it was made into the Vulgar Latin
of Merovingian Gaul. 7 One Peter, a monk, claims responsi
bility for the Latin translation, but while he makes his moral
ardor clear, he does not convey anything about his life. So
within the space of some thirty-five years the Apocalypse was
written in Syriac beyond one end of the Mediterranean,
translated into Greek at some intermediate time and place,
and then rendered from Greek into Latin beyond the far
shores of the sea, all while the geopolitical turmoil which
provoked its composition and transmission continued to
rage unabated.
The influence of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
throughout the Christian world was immense. In the East,
IX
INTRODUCTION
it retained its currency in its original Syriac milieu, inspiring
further eschatological works, and gained further readers in
Armenia and the Arab-speaking world. The Byzantine apoc
alyptic tradition was irrevocably transformed by Pseudo
Methodius, and practically all subsequent Greek apoca
lypses found their themes and motifs in this work. At least
two Old Slavonic translations were made from the Greek
Apocalypse, one before the eleventh century (perhaps at the
end of the ninth century) and another in the thirteenth or
fourteenth century, and extracts from the Apocalypse found
their way into the Russian Primary Chronicle and other his
torical works. 8
In the West, the Latin Apocalypse is represented by a man
uscript tradition that rivals the classics and the Church fa
thers in its extent. 9 The popularity of Pseudo-Methodius is
also evident in the multitude of vernacular translations. For
instance, numerous Middle English versions were produced
in prose and verse.10 The earliest printed edition dates from
14 70, and several more followed. This work that helped to
make sense of the first Arab onslaughts took on fresh reso
nance over the centuries as new and strange enemies arose
in the East, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The Mon
gols were identified with the Unclean Nations led by Gog
and Magog, 11 and broadsheets with excerpts from the Apoca
lypse were printed in Vienna during the Turkish siege of
1683.12 But Pseudo-Methodius not only enabled medieval
Europe to recognize exotic and distressing invaders, but also
shaped the eschatological expectations of Christendom.
Joachim of Fiore, the great apocalyptic voice of the Mid
dle Ages, may have neglected Pseudo-Methodius, but his
X