Georgius
(Γεώργιος), historical, the name of several persons mentioned by the Byzantine historians, but none of them were of much importaance.
1. One of the officers (Theophones describes him as κουράτωρ τῶν Μαρίνης, " steward of the lands or revenues of Marina ") of Justinian I., on whose illness (A. D. 561) he was accused by the ex-pracfect, Eugenius, of wishing to raise Theodore, the son of Peter Magister, to the empire. The charge was supported by the praefects, Aetherius of Antioch and Gerontius of Constantinople; but on examination, it could not be proved; and the accuser, Eugenius, was himself punished, though not capitally. (Theoph. Chronog. vol. i. p. 363, ed. Bonn.)
2. Collector of the revenue in the cities of the eastern part of the Byzantine empire. was sent as ambassador by the emperor Mauricius shortly before his death in A. D. 602 to Chosröes or Khosra II., king of the Persians. (Theophylact. Simocat. Hist. 8.1; Phot. Bibl. cod. (65, p. 32, ed. Bekker.)
3. Turmarchus, or commander of a division of the troops of the thema Armeniacum in the sixth Persian campaign of Heraclius (A. D. (26 or (627) against Chosroes or Khosru II. (Theoph. Chronog. vol. i. pp. 492, 499, ed. Bonn.)
4. Praefectus Militarium Tabularum, in the reign of the emperor Theophilus (who reigned from A. D. 829 to 842), mentioned on one or two occasions by the continuator of Theophanes. An Arabian prophetess or fortuneteller, whom the emperor had sent for to court, is said to have foretold that George would be killed by a sling in the Hippodrome, and his property confiscated. (Theoph. Continuat. lib. iii. De Theophilo Michaelis Filio, 100.27; Sym. Mag. De Theophilo, 100.14.)
5. Brother to the emperor Michael IV., the Paphlagonian, before whose elevation George who was an canuch) was in a low condition, but was (A. D. 1035) after that event elevated to the office of Protovestiarius. On the accession of Michael V. Calaphates (A. D. 1041), he was banished to his estate in Paphlagonia. (Cedren. Compend. vol. ii. pp. 504, 512, ed. Bonn.)
6. Distinguished by the title Sebastus, lived in the reign of Alexis II. Comnenus, who reigned from A. D. 1180 to 1183. [Alexis, or Alexius II. Comnenus.] Andronicus, afterwards the emperor Andronicus I. [Andronicus I. Comnenus], had married George's sister, and wished to employ him and another person to make away with the empress Maria, mother and guardian of Alexis. Both of them refused to embrue their own hands in her blood, but wanted either the power or the will to prevent him from executing his purpose by other instruments. (Nicetas Choniat. Alex. Manuel. Fil. 100.17.)
7. Branas (Βρανᾶς), with his brother Demetrius Branas, was engaged, A. D. 1165, in the expedition sent by the emperor Manuel Comnenus against the Hungarians. (Cinnamus, 6.7; Ducange, Familiae Byzant, p. 215, ed. Paris.)
8. Bryennius (Βρυέννιος), was governor of the fortresses of Stenimachus and Tzapaena during the reign of the emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the elder. He recovered (A. D. 1322) the town of Philippopolis, which had fallen into the hands of Terteres, king of the Moesi or Bulgarians. George Bryennius afterwards held the office of Magnus Drungarius. (Cantacuzenus, 1.36, 37; Ducange, Famil. Byzant. p. 177.)
9. Buraphus (Βούραφος), the patrician, count of the Thema Obsequium, comprehending the parts of Mysia and Bithynia adjacent to the Propontis. He was in Thrace with his forces, defending that province from the Bulgarians, when he entered into a conspiracy with Theodore Myacius to dethrone the emperor Philippicus, or Bardanes, who was seized and blinded (A. D. 713) by Rufus, an officer sent by George to Constantinople with a few soldiers. But George himself and his principal accomplices suffered the same fate very shortly after at the hands of the new emperor Artemius or Anastasius II. (Nicephor. Constantinop. De Rebus post Mauric. Gestis, p. 55, ed. Bonn.; Theophanes, Chronog. vol. i. p. 587, 588, ed. Bonn.)
10. Chumnus (Χοῦμνος), one of the officers (ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης) of the court of Joannes I. Palaeologus, during his minority. Having insulted the Magnus Domesticus, Joannes Cantacuzenus, and fearing his vengeance, he was led to join the party of Apocaucus, and took part in the war against Cantacuzenus (A. D. 1341 ). Having become weary of the war, or of his party, he accused Apocaucus of mismanagement and was in consequence imprisoned in his own house by him. (Cantacuzen. Hist. 3.2,19, 20, 54, 55.)
11. Cocalas (Κωκαλᾶς), a leader of some note on the side of Palaeologus, in the struggle between Joannes I. Palaeologus and Joannes Cantacuzenus. (Cantacuz. Hist. 3.93, 94.)
12. Drosus (Δρόσος), secretary of Aaron, governor of Baaspracania, on the Armenian frontier, was sent by the emperor Constantine X. Monomachus (apparently about A. D. 1049) to the sultan of the Seljukian Turks, to negotiate the release of the Byzantine general, Liparites, who had been taken in war. (Cedren. Compend. vol. ii. p. 580, ed. Bonn.)
13. Euphorbenus Catacalon (Εὐφορβηνὸς Κατακαλών), commanded the fleet of Alexis I. on the Danube, against the Scythians, and was one of the generals in the war against the Comani. Both these wars took place before the first crusade, A. D. 1096. (Anna Comn. Alexius, lib. vii. x. pp. 189, 192, 273, ed. Paris; Ducange, Fam. Byz. p. 178.)
14. Manganes or Mancanes (Μαγγάνης or Μαγκάνης), was one of the secretaries of Alexis I. [Alexish or Alexius I. Comnenus], when he besieged Constantinople (A. D. 1081), in his struggle to wrest the crown from his predecessor, the emperor Nicephorus III. Botaniates. He was a crafty far-seeing man, apt at finding excuses for the delay of anything which the interest of his master required to be deferred. Anna Comnena forced from his name a verb (μαγγανεύεσθαι or μαγκανεύεσθαι) denoting " to find excuses ;" and a noun (μαγγάνενμα) denoting " a pretext." (Anna Comn. Alex. 2.8, 10. pp. 116-122, ed. Bonn.)
15. Maniaces (Γεώργιος ὁ Μανιακης), the patrician, the son of Gudelius Maniaces, was governor of the city and thema of Teluch (Τελούχ), in or near the Taurus, in the reign of the emperor Romanus III. Argyrus, about A. D. 1030. After the defeat of the emperor by the Saracens near Antioch, George defeated the victorious enemy by stratagem near Teluch; and by this exploit obtained the governorship of the Roman province of Lower Media. He was, apparently after this, protospatharius and governor of the cities on the Euphrates; and in A. D. 1032 took the town of Edessa, partly by bribing the governor; and found there the supposed letter of the Lord Jesus Christ to Augarus (or Abgarus), king of Edessa, which he sent to the emperor. He was afterwards governor of Upper Media and Aspracania.
In the reign of Michael IV. the Paphlagonian (A. D. 1035), he was sent with an army into Southern Italy, then a part of the Byzantine empire, to carry on the war against the Saracens, the command of the fleet being entrusted to Stephen, husband of the emperor's sister. One of George's exploits was the conquest of Sicily (A. D. 1038), though the Saracens, who occupied the island, were assisted by 50,000 auxiliaries from Africa. Two years after (A. D. 1040) he gained a great victory over the Saracens of Africa, who had sought to recover the island, killing 50,000 of them in one battle. The negligence of Stephen having allowed the Saracen commander to escape, a quarrel ensued between him and George; and Stephen, embittered by a blow and by the reproaches which he had received from George, accused him to Joannes, the brother and minister of the emperor, of meditating a revolt. George was consequently sent home a prisoner, but was released by Michael V. Calaphates, after his accession, A. D. 1041. The disasters of the Byzantines in Italy, after his recal, induced Zoe, who succeeded Michael, to send him thither again as general (A. D. 1042). He recovered the province from the power of his own Frankish mercenaries, who had seized it. Meantime, his interests at home were assailed by Romanus Sclerus, whose sister was concubine to the emperor Constantine X. Monomachus, who had married Zoe. Romanus, plundered the Anatolian estates of George, and procured his deprivation of the title " Magister." Provoked by these wrongs, George revolted, gained over the troops under his command, put to death the Byzantine Pardus, who had been sent to succeed him in his command, and assuming the title of emperor crossed over into Bulgaria to assert his claim. He refused the offers of the emperor Constantine, and rotted his army, but fell in the moment of victory by a wound from an unknown hand, A. D. 1042 or 1043. (Zonaras, 17.12; Cedren. Compend. vol. ii. pp. 494, 500, 512, 514, 520-523, 541, 545-549, ed. Bonn. ; Joan Scylitza Curopalates, Historia, p. 720, ed. Bonn.)
16. Nostongus (Νοστόγγος), a Byzantine nobleman, to whom the emperor Theodore Lascaris II. (1255-1258) had intended to give his daughter in marriage; an alliance the prospect of which tended to make him, during the minority of Joannes Lascaris, the son of Theodore, insufferably arrogant. (Georg. Pachymer, De Michael Palueol. 1.21, vol. i. p. 65, ed. Paris.)
17. Palaeologus. [Palaeologus.]
18. Peganes, military chief of the thema Obsequium, was the chief supporter of Symbatius, rival of Basil the Macedonian [Basilius I. Macedo], in the revolt to which he was led by his jealousy of Basil's elevation to the rank of Augustus by the reigning emperor Michael III, A. D. 866. Symbatius and George ravaged the open country about Constantinople, and while they reviled Basil, and denied his claim to the throne, spoke with great respect of Michael. Being deserted by their troops, they fled, and George sought refuge in Cotyaeium, one of the cities of his government, where he was soon after taken by the emperor's troops: he was scourged, blinded, and either exiled or detained in custody in his own house. On the accession of Basil as sole emperor, he was restored to his former honours. (Theophan. Continuat. Chronog. lib. v. de Basilio Macedone, 100.19; Symeon Mag. de Michaele et Theodora, 100.44; Georg. Monach. de Michaele et Theodora, 100.31.)
19. Probata Προβατᾶς was sent as ambassador by the emperor Michael IV., the Paphlgonian, to the Saracen Emir of Sicily (A. D. 1035), to treat of peace. In 1040, in the same reign, he commanded an army against the Servians. (Cedren. Compend. vol. ii. p. 513, 526.)
20. Syrus (Συρος was sent by the emperor Justinian II., with a few ships and 300 soldiers, against the town of Chersonae, in the Chersonnesus Taurica, the inhabitants of which were in a state of insurrection. George, with his party, was admitted into the town, and there he was killed by the townsmen, with Joannes, one of his chief officers, and the rest of his troops taken prisoners, A. D. 711. (Theophan. Chronog. vol. i. p. 580, ed. Bonn.)
Beside personages belonging to the Byzantine empire, there were many Georges in the states which were formed out of it during its decay, or at its fall. The name occurs in the notices of the Servian, or Bulgarian, or Albanian provinces and chieftains. The most eminent was George Castriota, better known by the epithet Scanderbeg, who lived about the time of the filal capture of Constantinople (A. D. 1453). Among the Comneni of Trebizond [Comnenus] there was one emperor George (A. D. 1266 to 1280), and there were several Georges members of the imperial family. [J.C.M]
(Γεάργιος), literary and ecclesiastical. The following list contains only the principal writers of that name. Those whose works are lost, or exist only in MS., may be found by a reference to Fabric. Bibl. Gr.; the index to which enumerates more than a hundred persons of this name.
1. Acropolita. [Acropolita.]
2. Of Alexandria. [See No. 7.]
3. Of Alexandria. The writer of a life of Chrysostom.
Photius gives an account of the work, but says he could state nothing certain respecting the author.
He is styled Bishop of Alexandria, and it is the opinion of those who have examined into the matter that he lived after the commencement of the seventh century. A George was Catholic bishop or patriarch of Alexandria from A. D. 616 to 630, and as no other patriarch appears under that name between A. D. 600 and the time of Photius, he was probably the writer. Works Life of Chrysostom
The life of Chrysostom occupies above a hundred folio pages, in Savile's edit. of Chrysostom (vol. viii. pp. 157, 265). It abounds in useless and fabulous matter. The writer in his preface professes to have drawn his account from the writings of Palladius and Socrates, and from the oral statements of faithful priests and pious laymen. Editions
This has been several times printed (sometimes with a Latin version by Godfrey Tilmann), in editions of the works of Chrysostom. the Chronicon Paschale ascribed to this George
Oudin ascribes to this writer the compilation of the Chronicon Paschale, but without foundation. Further Information
Georgius, Vita Chrys.; Phlot. Bibl. Cod. 96; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 451, vol. viii. p. 457, vol. x. pp. 210, 707; Allatius, Diatrib. de Georg. apud Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xii. p. 16; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 577, ed. Ox. 1740-43.
4. Amyrutza, or Amyrutzes, a native of Trapezus or Trebizond. He was high in favour at Constantinople with the emperor Johannes or John II. Palaeologus, and was one of those whom the emperor consulted about his attendance at the council of Florence, A. D. 1439. George afterwards returned to Trebizond, and was high in favour with David, the last emperor of Trebizond, at whose court he seems to have borne the offices of Logotheta and Protovestiarius. His intellectual attainments obtained for him the title of "the philosopher." On the capture of Trebizond by the Turks (A. D. 1461), he obtained the favour of the sultan, Mohammed H., partly by his handsome person and his skill in the use of the javelin, but chielly through a marriage connection with a Turkish pacha. Mohammed often conversed with him on philosophy and religion, and gave him some considerable posts in the seraglio at Constantinople. He embraced the Mohammedan religion, together with his children; and his death, which occurred suddenly, while he was playing at dice, is represented by some Christian writers as the punishment of his apostasy; from which we may perhaps infer that it followed that event after no great interval.
He wrote in Greek, apparently in the early part of his life, at any rate before his renunciation of Christianity, a work the title of which is rendered into Latin by our authorities, "Ad Demetrium Nauplii Diceln de iis quae contiqerunt in Synodo Florentina." In this he opposed the projected union of the Greek and Latin churches. Allatius mentions this work in his De Consensue utriusque Ecclesiae, and quotes from it. Two other works, of which the titles are thus given, Dialogus de Fidee in Christo cum Rege Turcarum, and Epistola ad Bessarion Cardinalem, are or were extant in MS. (Gery, Appeidix to Cave's Hist. Litt. p. 182,, ed. Oxon. 1740_43; Bayle, Dictionnaire, &c., s. v. Amyrutzes.)
5. Aneponymus, or without a surname. [See GEORGIUS, No. 41.]
6. Aristinus, an historian. Joseph, bishop of Modon (who flourished about A. D. 1440), in his defence of the council of Florence, in reply to Mark of Ephesus, cites Georgius Aristinus as an authority for the statement, that the addition of he words "filioque" to the Nicene creed had been made shortly after the second oecumenical council (that of Constantinople. A. D. 381 ), in the time of Pope Damasus. (Allatius. Diatrib. de Gorg. apud Fabr. Bibl. Gr. vol. xii. p. 21.)
7. Of Cappadocia, a man of bad character, a heretic and a persecutor, and an intruder into the see of the orthodox Athanasius, then in banishment, and yet, strange to tell, a saint in the Roman Calendar, and the patron saint of England. It is possible, indeed, that his moral delinquency has been aggravated by the party spirit of the ecclesiastical historians, and other writers to whom his Arianism made him odious; but it is hard to believe that their invectives are without considerable foundation. He was born, according to Ammianus, at Epiphaneia, in Cilicia, but our other authorities speak of him as a Cappadocian. His father was a fuller. Gregory Nazianzen, whose passionate invective is our chief authority for his early history, says that he was of a bad family πονηρὸς τὸ γένος); but it does not appear whether it was discreditable for anything more than its humble occupation. George appears to have been a parasite, a hanger-on of the wealthy, "one that would sell himself," according to Gregory, "for a cake." He obtained an appointment connected with the supply of bacon to the army; but being detected in some unfaithfulness, was stripped of his charge and his emoluments, and was glad to escape without bodily punishment. According to Gregory, he afterwards wandered from one city or province to another, till he was fixed at Alexandria, "where he ceased to wander, and began to do mischief" It is probable, however, that he held office as a receiver of some branch of the revenue at Constantinople, having by bribery obtained the favour of the eunuchs who had influence at the court of Constantius II., the then reigning emperor. Athanasius, who notices this appointment, calls him ταμειοφάγος, "a peculator ;" but it is not clear whether he refers to his former official delinquency or to some new offence.
Thus far it does not appear that George had even professed to be a Christian: we have certainly no intimation that he sustained any ecclesiastical character before his appointment to the see of Alexandria. Athanasius says it was reported at the time of his appointment that he had not been a Christian at all, but rather an idolator; and there is reason to believe that Athanasius is right in charging him with professing Christianity for interest sake. Arianism waspatronised by Constantius, and George consequently becamea zealous Arian; and was. after his appointment to Alexandria, concerned in assembling the Arian councils of Seleuceia (A. D. 359) and Constantinople (A. D. 360). According to Socrates and Sozomen, Gregory, whom the Arian party had appointed to the see of Alexandria, vacant by the expulion of Athanasius,had becomeunpopular, through the tumults and disasters to which his appointment had led; and was at the same time regarded as not zealous enough in the support of Arianism. He was therefore removed, and George was appointed by the council of Antioch (A. D. 354, or, according to Mansi, A. D. 356;) in his place. It is probable that George was appointed from his subserviency to the court, and his readiness to promote to any fiscal exactions, and his general unscrupulousness; and he was induced to accept the appointment by the hope of gain, or, as Athanasis ext presses it, "he was hired" to become bishop. Count Heraclian was sent by Constantius to gain the support of the heathen people of Alexandria to apud George's election; and he succeeded in his object, by giving them hopes of obtaining toleration for their own worship; and the emperor, in a letter preserved by Athanasius, recommended the new prelate to the support and favour of the Alexandrians generally. But a persecution of the Trinitarian party had commenced even before the arrival of George, which took place during Lent, A. D. 355. They were dispossessed of the churches and Sebastian, commander of the troops in Egypt. publicly exposed some women, who had devoted themselves to a life of religious celibacy, naked before the flame of a large fire, to make them renounce orthodoxy. On George's arrival, the persecution continued as fiercely as before, or even more so. Widows and orphans were plundered of their houses and of their bread; several men were so cruelly beaten with fresh-gathered palm branches, with the thorns yet adhering to them, that some were long before they recovered, and some never recovered at all; and many virgins, and thirty bishops, were banished to the greater Oasis, or elsewhere: several of the bishops died in the place of exile, or on the way. Athanasius, however, escaped, and remained in concealment till George's death. George and his partisans refused at first to give up to their friends for burial the bodies of those who died, "sitting," says Theodoret," like daemons about the tombs." His perse cutions led to a revolt. The Trinitarian party rose against him, and would have killed him. He escaped, however, and fled to the emperor; and the Trinitarians re-occupied the churches. A notary was sent, apparently from Constantinople; the orthodox were again expelled; the guilty were punished, and George returned, rendered more tyrannical by this vain attempt to resist him.
While his bitter persecution of the orthodox was embittering the anger of that numerous party, his rapacity and subserviency to the court offended all. He suggested to Constantius to require a rent for all the buildings which had been erected at the public cost, and ministered to the emperor's cruelty, as well as his rapacity, by accusing many Alexandrians of disobedience to his orders. Mindful of his own interest, he sought to obtain a monopoly of nitre and of the marshes where the papyrus and other reeds grew, of the salterns, and of biers for the dead and the management of funerals in Alexandria. His luxury and arrogance tended further to increase the hatred entertained towards him. A passage in Athanasius (De Synod. 100.12) gives some reason to think that sentence of deposition was pronounced against him at the Council of Seleuceia (A. D. 359); but if so, it was not carried into effect.
The immediate cause of his downfal was his persecution of the heathens. He had excited their fears by exclaimiinlg at the view of a splendid temple, "How long shall this sepulchre stand?" But the crowning provocation was this: there was a spot in the city occupied by the ruins of a forsaken temple of Mithras, or the Sun, and still regarded by the heathens as sacred, though filled with the refuse and off-scouring of the streets. This spot Constantius had given to the church at Alexandria; and George determined to clear it out, and build a church upon it. The workmen, in clearing it out, found in the adytum, or sacred recess of the old temple, statues, sacred utensils, and the skulls of human victims, either slain in sacrifice, or that the soothsayers might examine their entrails, and foretell future events thereby. Some zealots brought these things out, and exposed them to the mockery and jeers of the Christians. This irritated the heathens; and as the news had just arrived of the death of Constantius (Nov. A. D. 361), and the accession of Julian as sole emperor, and also of the execution of Artemius, ex-governor of Egypt, they thought their time of ascendancy was come, and rose in insurrection. George, whose persecutions seem to have been directed against all who differed from him, was at the time presiding in a synod, where those who held the sentiments of Aetius [Aetius] were compelled to subscribe a condemnation of their own opinions. The rioters rushed into the church where the synod was assembled, dragged him out, and would have killed him on the spot. He was, however, rescued by the authorities, and apparently to satisfy his enemies, committed to prison. But not many days after, at day-break, the mob forced the prison, dragged him out, bound him (it is doubtful whether living or dead) on a camel, and, after parading him through the city, tore him to pieces, and burnt his mangled remains. His murder appears to have taken place about the end of the year 361. Though described by Athanasius as a man of coarse manners and ignorant, at least in theology, he left a valuable library, which the emperor Julian ordered to be sent to Antioch for his own use. He had formerly, while in Cappadocia, borrowed some books of George. The general hatred entertained towards him was evidenced by the absence of any attempt to rescue him. The Arians subsequently charged the Athanasian party with instigating his murderers; but Sozomen "rather thought" it was the spontaneous act of the Gentiles. (Amm. Marc. 22.1]; Gregor. Naz. Oratio XXI.; Epiphan. Adv. Haeres. ii. Haeres. 48, or 68, iii. Haeres. 56 or 76; Athanas. Historia Arianorum ad Monachos, 100.51, 75, De Synodis, 100.12, 37, Epistola ad Episcopos Aegypti et Lybiae, 100.7, Apolog. de Fuga sua. 100.6, 7, Ad Imp. Constantium Apolog. 100.30, Petitio ad Imper. Jovian, apud Athanas. Opera, vol. 1.782, ed. Benedictin.; Socrat. H. E. 2.14. 28, 3.2, 3, 4; Sozom. H. E. 3.7, 4.10, 5.7; Theodoret, H. E. 2.14; Philostorg. H. E. (apud. Phot.) 7.2; Vita Athanasii, apud Phot. Bibl. Cod. 258.)
It is difficult either to trace or to account for the introduction of the odious George among the saints of the Romish and Greek churches; and it is to be observed that the identification of the bishop of Alexandria with the St. George of the calendar is stoutly objected to by some Roman Catlolic and some Anglican writers -- for instance, Papebroche and Heylyn. In A. D. 494 (or perhaps 496) his rank as a canonised saint was recognized by Pope Gelasius I. at a coancil at Rome, but his "gesta" were rejected as Apocryphal, and written by heretics; a probable intimation that the facts of his history had not yet been sufficiently perverted to be received. As time proceeded, various fabulous and absurd "Acta" were produced, which Papebroche admits to be unworthy of credit. The Greek "Acta" are considered by him as more trustworthy; but he does not place even them in the first class; though a Latin version of them is given in the Acta Sanctorum, with a long Commentarius Praevius, by Papebroche. The distortions of the history are singular. St. George still appears as a Cappadocian and a layman, but he is made a soldier of Diocletian, under whom he is described as suffering martyrdom. The length, variety, and intermission of his sufferings are a probable distortion of the various inflictions of the enraged multitude before and after his imprisonment. The magician Athanasius, successively an opponent of Christianity, a convert, and a martyr, is his chief antagonist; and the city of Alexandria appears as the empress Alexandra, the wife of Diocletian, and herself a convert and a martyr. The story of the dragon appears only in later legends; the monster, who is, we suspect, nothing else than a still more distorted representation of the fugitive Athanasius, is described as lurking about a lake as large as a sea (Mareotis ?), near the city of Silena (Alexandria ?), in Lybia. St. George was known among the Greeks as τροπαιοφόρος, or the Victorious; and he was one of the saints who were said to assist the first Crusaders. He was reverenced in England in the Anglo-Saxon period; during the Norman and earlier part of the Plantagenet dynasty his reputation increased; and under Edward III., or perhaps earlier, he came to be regarded as the patron saint of the nation. (Acta Sanctorum, 23d April; Gibbon, Decline and Full, &c. ch. 21, 23; Heylyn, Hist. of St. George.)
8. Cedrenus. [Cedrenus.]
9. Cerameus. Some MSS. give the name of George to the writer, better known as Theophanes Cerameus. [Cerameus.]
10. CHARTOPHYLAX [Of NICOMEDEIA, No. 36, and OF PISIDIA, No. 44.]
11. Chartophylax, a writer so called, distinct from either George of Nicomedeia, or George of Pisidia, and sometimes designated " Callipolitanus;" lived apparently in the 13th century. He wrote some Greek iambics referring to events in the history of Italy about the middle of that century, quotations from which are given by Bandini. (Bandini, Catal. Cod. Laurent Medic. vol. i. p. 25, &c.; Allatius, Diatrib. de Georg. apud Fabr. vol. xii. p. 14.)
12. Choeroboscus. [Choeroboscus.]
13. Chrysococces. [Chrysococces.]
14. Chumnus. [Chumnus.]
15. Codinus. [Codinus.]
16. Of Corcyra, or Corfu. Two archbishops of the name of George occupied the see of Corcyra, one in the twelfth, and one in the thirteenth century. The elder of the two was in favour with the emperor Manuel Comnenus, who gave him the charge of fortifying the town of Corfu, which Manuel had taken from the Normans of Southern Italy. The emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who had hostile intentions against Manuel, endeavoured to induce George to betray the island to him, but in vain. George's answer is preserved by Baronius. George was sent A. D. 1178 by Manuel to attend the third Lateran (eleventh General) Council at Rome, and also to meet Frederick Barbarossa ; but he was detained six months by sickness at Brindisi or Otranto, and the council was closed before his recovery. He was therefore recalled by Manuel. Baronius gives a Latin version of several of George's letters. (Baron. Annal. Eccles. ad Annos 1176, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1188; Allatius, ibid. p. 38. &c.; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. p. 217; Ondin, Comment de Script. Eccles. vol. ii. col. 1536.)
17. Of Corcyra, or Corfu, the younger, was the author of several works, especially of one against the Minorite Friars, and of another on the use of leavened bread in the eucharist. Allatius and Cave confound this George of Corfu with the preceding, but Oudin has shown that they must be distinguished, and fixes the date of the younger about A. D. 1236. Allatius, in some of his works, has quoted passages from George of Corfu on the procession of the Holy Spirit, and on the fire of purgatory, but we have no means of ascertaining to which of the two these passages belong. (Allatius and Cave, ll. cc.; Oudin, l.c. and vol. iii. col. 110.)
18. Curtesius (Κουρτέση) or Scholarius, was author of some tracts on grammatical subjects extant in MS. It is doubtful if he is the same as Georgius Scholarius, afterwards Gennadius, patriarch of Constantinople. [Gennadius, No. 2.] The subject of the works ascribed to him would lead to the opinion that he is not. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 342.)
19. Of Cyprus, the elder, patriarch of Constantinople from A. D. 678 to 683. He held for a time the sentiments of the Monothelites, but afterwards, at the council of Constantinople (A. D. 680), renounced them. He was anathematized after his death at the iconoclastic council of Constantinople under Constantine Copronymus, A. D. 753 or 754. (Theophan. Chronog. vol. i. pp. 544, 554, 660, ed. Bonn; Allatius, Ibid. p. 14; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 151.)
20. Of Cyprus, the younger, afterwards Gregorius, has been said by some to have been of Latin parents, but this is shown by Rubeis, editor of the life of George, to be an error. He held the office of protapostolarius at Constantinople at the time of the accession of Andronicus Palaeologus the elder [Andronicus II.] (A. D. 1282). He was a man of learning and eloquence, and the reviver, according to Nicephorus Gregoras, of the long-disused Attic dialect. During the reign of Michiael Palaeologus, father of Andronicus, he had been favourable to the union of the Greek and Latin churches, which Michael had much at heart; and supplied the emperor with arguments with which to press the patriarch of Constantinople (Joseph) and the other opponents of the union; but on the accession of Andronicus, who was opposed to the union, it is probable that George altered his views; for on the death of the patriarch Joseph, Andronicus determined that George, though as yet a layman, should be appointed to the office. The Greek church was at this time torn by dissension. Beside the dispute about the procession of the Holy Spirit, there had been an extensive schism occasioned by the deposition of Arsenius, patriarch of Constantinople [Arsenius, No. 1] early in the reign of Michael (A. D. 1266). The emperor was anxious to heal these dissensions, and possibly thought a layman more likely to assist him in so doing than a professed theologian; and George was recommended to the office by his literary reputation. The emperor, by tampering with some of the bishops, obtained his purpose; and George, after being rapidly hurried through the successive stages of monk, reader, deacon, and priest, was consecrated patriarch (April, A. D. 1283), and took the name of Gregory. The Arsenians, however, refused to return to the church, unless upon the testimony of heaven itself; and it was arranged at a synod or conference at Adramyttium, apparently just after the consecration of Gregory, that they and the party now predominant in the church (called Josephites from the late patriarch) should each prepare a book in support of their respective views, and that the two volumes should be submitted to the ordeal of fire. Both books, as might be expected, were consumed; and the Arsenians regarding this as a token that heaven was against them, submitted, and were at once led by the emperor in person, through a violent snow storm, to receive the communion from the hands of the patriarch Gregory. They soon, however, repented of their submission, and Gregory having excommunicated the refractory, the whole party broke off from the church again. This division was followed by troubles arising out of the controversy on the procession of the Holy Spirit, aggravated by the harshness used under Gregory's influence towards the ex-patriarch, Joannes or John Beccus or Veccus, a distinguished advocate of the doctrine of the Latin church; and a book, which Gregory had been ordered to prepare on the subject, and to the sentiments of which he had procured the approval of the emperor and several of the superior clergy, excited such animadversion and opposition, that, either in disgust or by constraint, he resigned the office of patriarch, A. D. 1289, and retired to a monastery. He died in the course of the following year, as many supposed, from grief and mortification. (Pachymer, De Mich. Palaeol. 5.12, De Andron. Paleol. 1.8, 14-22, 34-37, 2.1-11 ; Niceph. Greg. Hist. Rom. 5.2, 6.1-4.) Works Published Works
The published works of George of Cyprus are as follows:-- Works published in Banduri's Imperium Orientale
These four pieces are given in Banduri's Imperium Orientale, pp. 942-961, ed. Paris. 1. Ἔκθεσις τοῦ τόμου τῆς πίστεως κατὰ τοῦ Βέκκου, Expositio Fidei adversus Beccum (seu Veccum).
This was the work which led to his troubles and consequent abdication. 2. Ὁμολογία, Confessio Fidei
Delivered in consequence of the outcry against the preceding work. 3. Ἀπολογία πρὸς τὴν κατὰ τοῦ τόμου μέμψιν ἰσχυρωτάτη, Responsio validissima ad Expositionis Censuram.
4. ΠιττάκιονThis is a letter to the emperor Andronicus, complaining of the wrong done to him. 5. Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν Θάλασσαν, Encomium Maris. Editions
Published by Bonaventura Vulcanius, with a poem of Paulus Silentiarius, 8vo., Leyden, 1591. These two pieces were published both in a separate volume, and with the Περὶ Κόσμου, De Mundo, of Aristotle. The Encomium Maris has been since reprinted. 6. Proverbia Editions
in alphabetical order, subjoined to the edition of the Proverbia of Michael Apostolius by Pantinus, 8vo., Leyden, 1619. 7. Λόγος εἰς τὸν ἅγιον καὶ μεγαλομάρτυπα καὶ τροπαιοφόρον Γεώργιον, Oratio in honored Sancti Georgii Magni Martyris ac Victoris. Editions
This encomium on St. George of Cappadocia [Georgius, No. 7. above,] is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April Vol. III. A Latin version is given in the body of the volume, pp. 123-131, and the Greek original in the Appendix, pp. xxv--xxxiv. 8. Sententiae
This is given by Fabricius as a separate work; we suspect that it is identical with the Proverbia, No. 6. Editions
8vo., Col., 1536. 9. Encomium Georgii Logothetae Acropolitae Editions
An extract from this was prefixed to the edition of the Chronicon of Acropolita [Acropolita], by Theodore Dousa, 8vo. Leyden, 1614, and to the Paris edition. 10. Vita Georgii Cyprii. Editions
This Greek memoir of George was published by J. F. Bernard de Rubeis, a Dominican, within a Latin version, notes, and dissertations, 4to. Venice,, 1753, and was shown by the editor to be an autobiography. Works still in MS.
Many other works of George of Cyprus remain in MS. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. viii. p. 57, &c.; Allaties, Ibid. p. 127, &c.; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. ii. p. 329; Oudin, Comment. de Eccles. vol. iii. Col. 556-564.
21. Diaereta (Διαιρέτης), a monk of Alexandria, of uncertain date. Works Σχόλια εἰς τὸ Περὶ Εὑρέσεως Ἑρμογένους, Commentarius ad Hermogenis Libros de Incentione
He wrote Σχόλια εἰς τὸ Περὶ Εὑρέσεως Ἑρμογένους, Commentarius ad Hermogenis Libros de Incentione. Editions
These were published by Walz, Rhetores Graeci, vol. vi. p. 504, &c., 8vo. Senttgard and Tubing., 1834.
22. Eleusius. A life of Theodore of Siceon or Syeium, for a time bishop of Anastasiopolis, in Gaiatia, in which country Siceon was probably situated, is professedly written by Georgius Eleusius, a disciple of the saint, and an ey e-witness of much that he relates. According to his own account, his parents were of Adigermarus or Adigermarum, a place otherwise unknown, but perhaps in Galatia, and had been childless for many years after marriage, and his birth was the result of the prayers of Theodore, to whose care he was assigned at a very tender age for education, and with whom he continued twelve years (Georg. Eleus. Vita Sancti Theodor. Siceotae, 100.124, in the Acia Sanctorum, April, vol. iii.; Allatius, Ibid. p. 14; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. x. p. 336.)
23. Eparchus, so called as being eparch or vicar of Africa. Works An Epistle to some Nuus of Alexandria
St. Maximus wrote in his name An Epistle to some Nuus of Alexandria, who had separated from the church. Letter from St. Maximus to George
There is also a letter from Maximus addressed to George. Editions
They are published among the works of St. Maximus. George the eparch lived in the earlier half of the seventh century. Alternate name
He is also called Georgius Panenphemus. Further Information
Photius, Bibl. cod. 192, 194; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. ix. p. 649; Allatius, Ibid. p. 23 ; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii., Dissert. i. p. 9, ed. Ox. 1740-43.
24. Gemistus, or Plettho. [Gemistus.]
25. Grammaticus, or the Grammarian. This name is sometimes given to George Choeroboscus [Choeroboscus], sometimes to other. Allatius mentions with great praise some Anacreontic poems by George the Grammarian, which he had in his possession, and which he was very desirous to publish. (Allatius, Ibid. p. 22; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vi. p. 340, 341.)
26. Hagiopolita, or of Jerusalem. Allatius cites some passages from a treatise of this writer, of whom nothing further appears to be known, on incorporeal beings--Λόγος ἐγκωμιαστικὸς εἰς τοὺς ἀσωμάτονς. Allatius, who had translated the work into Latin, condemns it, as containing many novelties and blasphemies concerning angels and their ministry. (Allatius, Ibid. p. 17)
27. Hamartolus (ἁμαρτωλὸς), or the Sinner a monk who lived about the middle of the ninth century. Works Chronicon
He is the author of a Chronicon, as yet unpublished, extending from the Creation to the reign of Michael III., the son of Theophilus and Theodora. Extracts from this Chronicon have been an given by various writers, as Allatius, Petavius, Rader, and Gretzer, and by Hody in his Dissertatio prefixed to the Chronicon of Malala, 100.41.
George Cedrenus, Theophanes, Michael Glycas, and others, have in several places transcribed passages from his Chronicon. Confusion with others Georges who wrote chronicles
This George must not be confounded with others of the same name (as George Cedrenus, George Scylitzes, George Syncellus, George of Nicomedeia, George the Monk), who have written chronicles. Further Information
Allatius, Ibid. p. 30; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. pp. 463, 685.
28. Hermonymus. [Hermonymus.]
29. Of Laodiceia, one of the leaders of the Arian, or rather Semi-Arian party in the ecclesiastical struggles of the fourth century. His family were of Alexandria, and it is probable that he was born and spent his early life there. He was a presbyter of the church of Alexandria before the council of Nice (A. D. 325), and was anxious to soothe the irritation caused by the dispute beteen Alexander, the bishop, and Arius. [Alexander, vol. i. p. 111b., Arius, Athanasius.] The letters which he wrote for this purpose, both to the bishop and to the Arian clergy, of which extracts are given by Athanasius (De Synodis, 100.17), show that he held the Son to have been produced by the Father. It was probably this opinion that led to his deposition from the office of presbyter; though. Athanasitus says (Ib.) that there were other charges against him, but does not state what they were. He elsewhere says he was deposed "for his wickednesss" διὰ τὴν κακίαν αὐτοῦ (Apol. de Fuga sua, 100.26), but this is probably only another word for heresy. George is said to have subsequently been a presbyter at Arethusa in Syria; and after that he succeeded Theodotus in the bishopric of Laodiceia, in the same province. Athanasius says that he named himself bishop; but it is difficult to understand what the charge means, except that perhaps George solicited the office, instead of affecting any coyness in accepting it. He was aided in obtaining it by his Arian friends, and must have been in possession of the bishopric before the meeting of the council of Antioch (A. D. 329 or 330), at which Eustathius of Antioch was deposed [Eustathius, No. 1] ; for he was present at the council. His account of the proceedings there was one of the authorities used by Socrates and Sozonten; though Socrates says that some of his statements were inconsistent with each other. He afforded shelter about the same time to Eusebius of Emesa or Emisa [Eusebius of Emias], when driven from his see, and succeeded in procuring his restoration. In A. D. 335 he was present at the council of Tvre. In A. D. 347 he did not attend the council of Sardica, his enemies said it was through fear: in his absence he was sentenced to be deposed and excommunicated, but the sentence does not appear to have been carried into effect. He admitted to communion Cyril of Jerustalem [Cyrillus of Jerusalem], who had been deposed (A. D. 358) by Acacius, bishop of Caesareia in Palestine, and int A. D. 359 headed the predominant party of the Semi-Arians, at the council of Seleuceia in Isauria, where Cyril was restored. George and his party had at this time to withstand the orthodox on the one hand and the Aetians or Anomoeans on the other. He wrote to the council of Ancyra (A. D. 358) a letter against Eudoxius of Antioch, whom he charged with being a disciple of Aetius; and he excommunicated the younger Apollinaris, who was a reader in the church at Laodiceia, on account of the friendship he had formed with Athanasius. He took part in the appointment of Meletius to the bishopric of Antioch, and delivered one of three discourses then preached at the desire of the emperor Constantius II. on Prov. viii, 22--" The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old." Iis exposition of the passage was the least orthodox of the three; that of Meletius, the new bishop, the most orthodox. We know nothing of George after the death of Constantius, A. D. 361. His character is not impugned, except for his heresy, by any other writer than Athanasius, who charges him with living intemperately, and thereby incurring reproach even from his own party. It is hard to determine whether there is any, or how much, truth in the charge. Fabricius states (Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 293) that George became in his latter days an Eunomian or Aetian, but he does not cite his authority, and we doubt the correctness of the statement. George of Laodiceia had studied philosophy. He wrote, 1. Letters to Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and to the Arians of Alexandria, already noticed. 2. Ἐγκώμιον εἰς Εὐσέβιον τὸν Ἐμισηνόν, Encomium Eusebii Emiseni, containing the account already mentioned of the council of Antioch. 3. A work against the Manichaeans, now lost, mentioned by Heraclian (apud Phot. Bibl. cod. 85). (Athan. Apol. contra Arian. 100.36, 48, 49, Hist. Arian. ad Monach, 100.4, 17, Apol. de Fuga sua, 100.26, Epistol. ad Episcop. Aeyypt. et Libyae, 100.7, De Synodis, 100.17; Socrates, H. E. 1.24, 2.9, 10; Sozom. H. E. 3.6, 4.13; Theodoret, H. E. 2.8, 31, 5.7; Philostorg. H. E. 8.17; Tillemont, Me/moires, vol. viii. ix.)
30. Lecapenus, a monk of Thessaly, who lived about the middle of the fourteenth century, and wrote on grammar and rhetoric. Works
A treatise, Περὶ συντάξεως τῶν ῥημάτων, De Constructione Verborum, was printed at Florence A. D. 1515 and 1520, and at Venice, by Aldus Manutius and Asulanus A. D. 1525, with the Greek grammar of Theodore Gaza. In the printed editions the work is said to be by George Lecapenus; but Allatius, on the authority of several MSS., claims it as the work of Michael Syncellus of Jerusalem. Works still in MS.
Some works of George Lecapenus remain in MS. Among them are: 1. A Grammar, or rather Lexicon of Attic Words, in alphabetical order. 2. An Exposition of the Enchiridion of Epictetus. 3. A treatise On the Figures of Homer. 4. A History. 5. A Poem, in Iambic verse. 6. Several Letters.
He also made a selection of the Letters of Libanius. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vi. pp. 191, 297, 343, vol. viii p. 79; Allatius, Ibid. p. 59.
31. Methiminensis [of MYTILENE, No. 35].
32. Metochita. [Metochita.]
33. Monachus, or The Monk. Works
Many MSS. preserved in the various European libraries bear the name of George the Monk as the author. Great perplexity has been occasioned by the vagueness of the designation, and its applicability to various persons of the name of George, but who are usually identified by some additional designation. Chronicon
There is extant in MS. a Chronicon of George the Monk. whom some have identified, but there is reason to think incorrectly. with George Hamartolus [No. 27], or George Moschampar [No. 34], or with the author of the Vitae Recentior. Imperatorum mentioned below. Scholia in Divisionem Rhetoricae
Georgius Monus, or George the Monk, who wrote Scholia in Divisionem Rhetoricae, may possibly be the Georgius Grammaticus already noticed [No. 25], but this is only conjecture. Epitome Philosophiae
The Georgius Monachus, of whom a little work, Epitome Philosophiae, is extant in MS., is probably the Georgius or Gregorius Aneponmus, or Peripateticus mentioned below [No. 41]. (Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 685, vol. xi. p. 629; Allatius, ibid. p. 120.) Vitae Recentium Imperatorum
A George the Monk is the author of a work, Βίοι τῶν νέων Βασιλέων, Vitae Recentium Imperatorum, included in the published collections of the Byzantine historians. This work is the second part of a Chronicon apparently quite different from that mentioned above. It is chiefly taken from the Chronographia of George Syncellus [No. 46], and extends from the reign of Leo the Armenian to the death of Romanus Lecapenus, from A. D. 813 to A. D. 948. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 685; Bekker, Praefatio ad Vol. quo continentur Georg. Monach. Vitae Recent. Imp. ed. Bonn. 8vo. 1838.
34. Moschampar. [Moschampar.]
35. Mytilenaeus, or of Mytilene. Works In Salutiferam D. N. Jesu Christi Passionem.
He is the author of a homily In Salutiferam D. N. Jesu Christi Passionem. A work on the same subject, extant in MS. and described as by Georgius Methiminensis, or Methinensis (of Methymna ?), has been conjectured to be the same work, but the conjecture does not appear to be well founded. Editions
This work was published by Gretser, De Cruce, vol. ii. Other possible works
A George, Metropolitan of Mytilene, probably the same with the subject of the present article, is the author of two works extant in MS., Davidis et Symeonis Confessorun et Martyrum Officium and Eorundem Vita ac Historia.
Some epigrams in praise of the writings of Dionysius Areopagita, by Georgius Patricius, a native of Mytilene, are said by the Jesuit Delrio (Vindiciae Areopagit. c. xxi.) to have been printed, but he does not say where; but whether the author is the subject of the present article is by no means clear. Further Information
Allatius, Ibid. p. 22; Fabric., Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 628
36. Of Nicomedeia. He held the office of chartophylax (record-keeper) in the Great Church at Constantinople, whence he is sometimes called Georgius Chartophylax (but he must not be confounded with Georgius Chartophylax Callipolitanus [No. 11]), and was afterwards archbishop of Nicomedeia. He lived in the latter part of the ninth century, and was the friend of Photius, many of whose letters are addressed to him. Combefis has confounded him with Georgius Pisida [No. 44], and has placed him in the reign of Heraclius, two centuries before his proper period. Works Homiliae and Idiomela Editions
Several of his Homiliae are published in the Novum Auctarium, of Combefis, vol. i.
Three Idiomela (hymns or pieces set to music peculiar to them), written by him, are contained in the same collection, and a Latin translation of several of his Homiliae, and of two of his Idiomela, one of them in praise of St. John Chrysostom, the other in praise of the Nicene Fathers, are contained in the Bibliotheca Patrum (vol. xii. p. 692, &c., ed. Lyon., 1677). Another possible Homily
Beside the homilies in Combefis, ascribed to George of Nicomedeia, another in the same collection On the Natirity of the Virgin, ascribed there to Andreas of Crete, is supposed to be by him. Chronicon and other unpublished works
Among his many unpublished works a Chronicon is enumerated; but there is difficulty in distinguishing between the Chronica of the various Georges. On the Presentation of Christ in the Temple
A homily or tract by Athanasius On the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is in some MSS. ascribed to George of Nicomedeia. Further Information
Allatius, Ibid. pp. 9-13; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. viii. p. 459, vol. x. p. 214; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. p. 63.
37. Pachymeres. [Pachymeres.]
38. Paneuphemus. [Georgius Eparchus, No. 23.]
39. Ardus. [Pardus.]
40. Patricius [of MYTILENE, No. 35.]
41. Peripateticus, or Aneponymus, or Gregorius Aneponymus. Works Epitome Philosophiae.
Fabricius speaks of two works as having been published by Jo. Voegelinus, 8vo. Augsburg A. D. 1600. One is described as Epitome Organi Aristotelici, Gr. Lat., by Gregorius Aneponymus (i. e. without a surname); the other as Compendium Philosophicae, Gr. Lat., by Georgius Aneponymus.
The two are probably one and the same work (comp. Fabr. Bibl. Gr. vol. iii. pp. 220, 494), and may probably be identified with a work noticed by Allatius (Diatrib. de Georg. apud Fabr. Bibl. Gr. vol. xii. p. 120) as extant in MS., and described by him as Georgii Monachi Epitome Philosophiae. Editions
Jo. Voegelinus, 8vo. Augsburg A. D. 1600.
It appears that a Latin version of the same work by Laurentius Valla was published in 8vo. at Basel, A. D. 1542; in which the original was ascribed to Nicephorus Blemmyda. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 630.
42. Phorbenus. [Phorbenus.]
43. Phranza, or Phranzes. [Phranza.]
44. Pisida (the Pisidian). The name of this writer occurs in the genitive case, in which it is commonly found, under the various forms, Πισσίδον, Πισίδου, Πισιδίου, Πησίδου, Πησίδη, Πισσίδους, Πισίδονς: in Latin it is written Pisides and Pisida He was, as his name indicates, a Pisidian by birth, and flourished in the time of the emperor Heraclius (who reigned from A. D. 610 to 641), and of the patriarch Sergius (who occupied the see of Constantinople from A. D. 610 to 639). In the MSS. of his works he is described as a deacon, and Χαροτοφύλαξ, Chartophylax, " record keeper," or Σκευοφύλαξ, Sceuophylax, " keeper of the sacred vessels," of the Great Church (that of St. Sophia) at Constantinople. By Nicephorus Callisti he is termed " Refendarius" (Ῥεφενδάριος a designation not equivalent, as some have supposed, to Chartophylax, but describing a different office. We have no means of determining if he held all these offices together or in succession, or if any of the titles are incorrectly given, He appears to have accompanied the emperor Heraclius in his first expedition Against the Persians, and to have enjoyed the favour both of that emperor and of Sergius, but nothing further is known of him. Works
The works of George the Pisidian are as follows: -- 1. Εἰς τὴν κατὰ Περσῶν Ἐκστρατείαν Ἡρακλείου τοῦ Βασιλέως, ἀκροάσεις τρεῖς, De Expeditione Heraclii Imperatoris contra Persas Libri tres.
This work is mentioned by Suidas, and is probably the earliest of the extant works of this writer. The three books are written in trimeter iamnbics, and contain 1098 verses. They describe the first expedition of Heraelius, whose valour and piety are immoderately praised, against the Persians, A. D. 622, when he attacked the frontier of Persia, in the neighbourhood of the Taurus. The descriptions of the author lead us to regard him as an eye-witness; and the poem was probably written not long after the events he records. 2. Πόλεμος Ἀβαρικός, or Ἀβαρικά, Bellum Avaricum, or Avarica
More fully, Εἰς τὴν γενομένην ἔφοδον τῶν Βαρβαρῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν αὐρῶν ἀστυχίαν ἤτοι ἔκθεσις τοῦ ψενομένου πολέμου εἰς τὸ τεῖχος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως μεταξὺ Ἀβάρων καὶ τῶν Πολίτων, De invasione facta a barbaris ac de frustrato eorum consilio, sive expositio belli quod gestum est ad moenia Constantinopoleos inter Abares et Cives. This poem consists of one book of 541 trimeter iambic verses, and describes the attack of the Avars on Constantinople, and their repulse and retreat (A. D. 626), while Herachus was absent, and a Persian army occupied Chalcedon, opposite Constantinople. 3. Ἀκάθιστος Ὕμνος, Hymnus Acathistus
was composed on occasion of the victory over the Avars, commemorated in No. 2. It is ascribed to George by his editor Quercius on internal evidence, which cannot, however, be regarded as conclusive. 4. Εἰς τὴς ἁγίαν το͂ Χριστον͂ τοῦ Θεον͂ ἡμῶν ἀνάστασιν In Sanctam Jesu Christi, Dei Nostri, Resurrectionem.
This poem consists of 129 trimeter iambic verses, in which George exhorts Flavius Constantine, the son of Heraclius, to emulate the example of his father. It was probably written about A. D. 627. 5. Εἰς Ἡράκλειον τὸν Βασιλέα, De Heraclio Imperalore
Commonly cited by the title Ἡρακλιάς Heraclias, or Ἡρακλιάδος Ἀκροάσεις δύω, Heracliadis Libri Duo. It has the second title, ἤτοι εἰς τὴν τέλειαν πτῶσιν Χοσπόου Βασιλέως Περσῶν sive de Extremeo Chosroae Persarum Regis Eacidio. But this title does not correctly describe it, for it takes a hasty survey of the transactions and exploits of Heraclius at home and abroad, and only slightly touches on the final overthrow of Chosröes. It was perhaps written when the intelligence of that monarch's death first reached Constantinople, about the end of A. D. 628, and before the return of Heraclius. 6. Ἑξαήμερον ἤτοι Κοσμουργία, Opus Sex Dierum seu Mundi Opificium.
This poem consists of 1910 trimeter iambic verses in the edition of Quercius, who restored some lines omitted by previous editors. It has been supposed that this work has come down to us in a mutilated condition, for Suidas speaks of it as consisting of 3000 verses. But it is possible that the text of Suidas is corrupt, and that we should read εἰς ἔπη δισχίλια, instead of τρισχίλια. The poem has no appearance of incompleteness. The Hexaemeron contains a prayer as if by the patriarch Sergius, for Heraclius and his children. The poem was probably written about A. D. 629. 7. Εἰς τὸν μάταιον Βίον, De Vanitate Vitae.
This poem consists of 262 iambic verses, but has no internal mark of the time when it was written. 8. Κατὰ Σευήρον Contra Severum or Κατὰ δυσσεβοῦς Σευήρον Ἀντιοχείας, Contra Imperium Severum Antiochiae
This poem consists of 731 iambic verses. A passage of Nicephorus Callisti (Hist. Eccl. 18.48) has been understood as declaring that George wrote a poem against Johannes Philoponus, and it has been supposed that Philoponus is aimed at in this poem under the name of Severus, while others have supposed that Nicephorus refers to the Hexaemeron, and that Philoponus is attacked in that poem under the name of Proclus. But the words of Nicephorus do not require us to understand that George wrote against Philoponus at all. This poem against Severus contains the passage to which Nicephorus refers, and in which the Monophysite opinions which Philoponus held are attacked. 9. Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Ἀναστάσιον μάρτυρα, Encomium in Sanctum Anastasium Martyrem;
or, more fully, Βίος καὶ πολιτεία καὶ ἄθληδις τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ ἐνδόσου ὁσίον μάρτυρος Ἀναστασίου τοῦ μαρτυρήσαντος ἐν Πέρσιδι, Vita, Institutum, et Certamen Sancti, Gloriosi, et Venerabilis Martyris Anastasii, qui in Perside Martyrium passes est. This piece is in prose. 10. Εἰς τὸν ἐν Βλαχέρναις ναὸν In Templum Deiparae Constantinopoli in Blachernis situm;
A short poem in iambic verse. Lost works
These are all the extant works of George; but that he wrote others appears from the quotations which are found in ancient writers, and of which a considerable number have been collected from the Chonographia of Theophanes, the Lexicon of Suidas, the Compendium of Cedrenus, the Historia Ecclesiastica of Nicephorus Callisti, and the Commentaries of Isaacius Tzetzes. George is mentioned also by Johannes Tzetzes. Works ascribed to George
Some works known or asserted to be extant have been ascribed to George, but without sufficient reason. Usher and others have conjectured that he was the compiler of the Chronicon Paschale, but Quercius refutes the supposition. Possevino mentions a MS. work of his, De Gestis Imperatorum Constantinopolitanorum; but the supposition of the existence of such a work probably originated in a mistake. A MS. in the Imperial Library at Vienna is described by Nesselius and Reimannus as Georgii Pisidae Diaconi et Chartophylacis magnae Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae et Cyrilli Monachi Breviarium Chronographicum ex Variis Historiis concinnatumn, &c. This MS. is probably the same which Raderus mentions as having been read by him. It is a modern MS., probably of the latter part of the sixteenth century and an examination of the title of the MS. itself shows that the Chronological Compendium is ascribed to Cyril alone. But to the proper title of this work is prefixed the inscription Γεωργίου τοῦ Πισίδου καὶ Κυρίλλου; an indication, perhaps, that the writer of the Codex intended to transcribe some of the works of George. The astronomical poem known as Empedoclis Sphaera, consisting of 168 iambic verses, has been conjectured to be George's; but it has been observed by Fabricius, that the writer speaks in one place like a polytheist, while all the known writings of George are distinct expressions of Christian belief; and Quercius thinks this objection is decisive. Le Long speaks of Greek Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul by George of Pisidia as being extant in the Imperial Library at Vienna, but they are not noticed in the catalogues of Lambecius and Reimannus; and it is probable that Le Long's statement is erroneous. Some persons have improperly confounded George of Pisidia with George of Nicomedeia, who lived two centuries later [Georgius, No. 36]; and Cave erroneously makes George of Pisidia archbishop of Nicomedeia, although he correctly fixes the time in which he lived. Assessment
The versification of George is correct and elegant, and inharmonious verses are very rare. He was much admired by the later Byzantine writers, and was very commonly compared with Euripides, to whom some.did not hesitate to prefer him. But his poems, however polished, are frequently dull, though in the Hexaemeron there are some passages of more elevated character. Editions
The Hexaemeron and De Vanitate Vitae with such fragments as hao been then collected, with a Latin version by Fed. Morel, were first published in 4to. Paris, 1584. Some copies of the edition have the date 1585 in the title-page.
The Hexaemeron was also published by Brunellus, as a work of Cyril of Alexandria, together with some poems of Gregory Nazianzen and other pieces, 8vo. Rome, 1590.
Both pieces, with the fragments, were reprinted in the appendix to the Bibliotheca Patrum of La Bigne, fol. Paris, 1624, and with the version of Morel, and one or two additional fragments, in the Paris edition of the Bibliotheca Patrum, fol. 1654, vol. xiv. p. 389, &c.
The Latin version of Morel is in the edition of the Bibliotheca, fol. Lyon. 1677, vol. xii. p. 323, &c.
The De Expeditione Imperatoris Heraclii contra Persas, the Bellum Acaricum, the Hymnus Acathistus, the In Sanctam Jesu Christi D. N. Resurrectionem, the Heraclias, the Hexaemeron, the De Vanitate Vitae, the Contra Severum, the Encomium in S. Anastasium Martyrem, and a much-enlarged collection of fragments, with a valuable preface, introductions to the several pieces, a Latin version and notes by Joseph Maria Quercius of Florence, were published in the Corporis Historiae Byzantinae Nova Appendix, fol. Rome, 1777.
The Appendix comprehends also the works of Theodosius Diaconus and Corippus Africanus Grammaticus by other editors.
The De Expeditione contra Persas, Bellum Avaricem, and Heraclias are edited by Bekker and included in the Bonn reprint of the Byzantine writers.
The little poem In Templum Deiparae, &c., was printed by Ducange in p. 65 of the notes to his Zonaras, in the Paris edition of the Byzantine historians. Bandurius printed it with a Latin version in his Imperium Orientale, lib. vii. p. 177; and Fabricius, with another Latin version, in his Bibl. Gr. vol. viii. p. 615. Further Information
Quercius, ut sup.; Fabric. Bill. Gr. vol. i. p. 185, vol. vii. pp. 450, 472, &c., vol. viii. pp. 612, 615; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. i. p. 583.
45. Scholarius. [GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, No. 2.]
46. Syncellus; termed also Abbas and Monachus, lived in the latter part of the eighth and beginning of the ninth century. He obtained his distinguishing epithet from having been syncellus or personal attendant of Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople, who died A. D. 806. Theophanes, who was his friend, describes him as a man of talent and learning, especially well versed in chronographical and historical subjects, which he had studied very deeply. He died in "the orthodox faith," without completing his principal (and indeed only known) work, the completion of which he strongly urged, as his dying request, upon his friend Theophanes. Works
He is the author of a chronography, or chronicle, the title of which in full is as follows: Ἐκλογὴ Χρονογραφίας συνταγεῖσα ὑπὸ Γεωργίον Μοναχοῦ Συγκέλλου γεγονότος Ταρασίον Πατριάρχον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Διοκλητιανοῦ, A select Chronicle, drawn up by George the Mork, syncellus of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Adam to Diocletian. The author states that he intended to bring his work down to A. D. 800; but, as already stated, he was cut off by death, and the work only comes down to the accession of Diocletian, A. D. 284. The work is included in the various editions ot the Byzantine writers. Goarus, the Parisian editor, contended that we have the work of Syncellas in a complete form, but the contrary opinion seems to be the better founded. Possevino, Vossius, and others have identified Syncellus with Georgius Hamartolus [No. 27]; but Allatius has shown that this identification is erroneous. Syncellus has transcribed verbatim a considerable part of the Chronicon of Eusebius, so that his work has been employed to restore or complete the Greek text of the Chronicon. The Chronographia of Theophanes, which extends from A. D. 285 to A. D. 813, may be regarded as a continuation of that of Syncellus, and completes the author's original design. Editions
The Bonn edition of Syncellus is edited by W. Dindorf, and, with the brief Chronographia of Nicephorus of Constantinople, occupies two volumes 8vo., 1829. Further Information
Theophanes, Prooemium ad Chronog.; Cedren. Compend. sub init.; Allatius, Ibid. p. 24 ; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 457; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. i. p. 641.
47. Syracusanus. Some of the hymns in the Menaea, or services for the saints' days in the Greek church, are ascribed to George, who was bishop of Syracuse about A. D. 663, and who is said to have studied Greek literature at Constantinople, and to have become an accomplished scholar. He wrote also Troparia, or hymns for the feasts of the Nativity and the Epiphany. (Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. x. p. 629.)
48. Trapezuntius (Τραπεζούντιος) of Trapezus or Trebizond. The surname of George Trapezuntius is taken, not from the place of his birth, for he was a native of Crete (Nic. Comnenus Papadopoli says of Chandace (Candia ?), the capital of the island), but from the former seat of his family. His contemporary, Cardinal Bessarion, commonly designates him " Cretensis." He was born 4th April, A. D. 1396, and came into Italy probably about A. D. 1428, as he was invited into that country by Franciscus Barbarus, a Venetian noble, to teach Greek in Venice after the departure of Franciscus Philelphus who left that city in that year. George received the freedom of the city from the senate. It appears from his commentary on Cicero's Oration for Q. Ligarius, that he learned Latin (Nic. Comnenus Papadopoli says at Padua) under Victorinus of Feltre, who was also the teacher of Theodore Gaza. After a few years he removed from Venice, and, after several ineffectual attempts to establish himself as a teacher in different towns, settled at Rome, where he was made professor of philosophy and polite literature, with a salary from the Papal government; and where his lectures were attended by hearers from Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. The year of his settlement at Rome is not ascertained. The account of Boissardus, who says (Icones Viror. Illustr.) " Primus omnium Graeccrum Graecas literas docuit summa cum laude utpote qui clarebat A. Chr. 1430 Eugenio IV. pontificatum tenente," is not accurate, as Eugenius did not become pope till 1431. Trithemius says that he flourished at Rome in the time of Eugenius IV., A. D. 1435, which may be true ; at any rate, he was at Rome before the council of Florence, A. D. 1439. He had become eminent in Italy before 1437, when he wrote to the Byzantine emperor, .oannes or John II., exhorting him to disregard the promises of the council of Basel, and to attend the council which was to be summoned at Ferrara, in Italy; but it is not clear from what part of Italy the letter was written. He was secretary, according to Hody, to the two popes, Eugenius IV. and Nicholas V. (who acceded to the papal crown A. D. 1 447),but according to other statements he received the appointment from Nicholas V. apparently about A. D. 1450. He occupied for many years a position of unrivalled eminence at Rome, as a Greek scholar and teacher, and a translator of the Greek authors; but the arrival of many scholars whom Nicholas invited to that city, and the superior reputation of the version of Aristotle's Problemuta, made by Theodore Gaza subsequently to George's version of the same treatise, and the attacks of Laurentius Valla, threw him into the shade. Valla attacked him because he had censured Quintilian; and this literary dispute led to a bitter personal quarrel between Valla and George ; but after a time they were reconciled. Poggio, the Florentine, had also a dispute with George, who boxed his antagonist's ears, in the presence of the pope's other secretaries, a tolerable proof of the greatness of the provocation, or the irritability of George's temper. For some time George had Bessarion for his patron, but he lost his favour by his attack on the reputation of Plato, in maintaining the rival claims of Aristotle. George ceased to teach as professor in A. D. 1450, perhaps on his appointment as papal secretary.
Beside the duties of his professorship and his secretaryship, he was much engaged in translating into Latin the works of Greek authors; but, from the haste with which they were brought out, arising from his anxiety to receive the promised payment for them, they appeared in an imperfect or mutilated form.
Having lost the favour of Nicholas, who was alienated from him, as George himself states, because he refused to allow his versions of certain Greek philosophers and fathers to appear under the names of others, and perhaps also by the intrigues of his rivals, lie went to Naples, to the court of Alfonso the Magnanimous, who gave him a respectable salary; but he was, after a time, reconciled to the pope by the friendly offices of Franciscus Philelphus, and returned to Rome about A. D. 1453.
In A. D. 1465 he visited his native island, and from thence went to Constantinople. On his return by sea from Constantinople to Rome, he was in imminent danger of shipwreck, and, in his peril, he besought the aid of the martyr, Andreas of Chios, who had a few months before suffered martyrdom at Constantinople; and he made a vow that if he escaped and came safely to his destination, he would write in Latin the narrative of his martyrdom. He fulfilled his vow about two years afterwards, and embodied in the narrative an account of the circumstances which led him to write it.
In his old age George's intellect failed, and he sunk into second childhood. His recollection was completely lost in literary matters, and he is said to have forgotten even his own name. In this crazy condition he wandered about the streets of Rome in a worn cloak and with a knotted staff. According to some accounts, this wreck of his intellect was the result of a severe illness; others ascribe it to grief and mortification at the trifling reward which he received for his literary labours. A store is told of him (Boissard, l.c.), that having received of the pope the trifling sum of 100 ducats for one of his works which he had presented to him, he threw the money into the Tiber, saying, Periere labores, pereat et eorum ingrata merces (" My labours are lost, let the thankless recompense of them perish too "): but the similarity of the story to an anecdote of Theodore Gaza destroys, or at least much impairs its credibility. George's son, Andreas Trapezuntius, in his prefatory address to Pope Sixtus IV., prefixed to George's translation of the Almagest of Ptolemy, declares that his life was shortened by the malignity of " his powerful enemy;" but who this enemy was Andreas does not mention. It could hardly have been Theodore Gaza, the rival of George, for he died A. D. 1478, while George himself did not die until A. D. 1485 or 1486, at the age of about 90. He was buried near his residence, in the Church of the Virgin Mary, formerly the Temple of Minerva at Rome, where was a monumental inscription in the floor of the church; but it had been so worn by the feet of the persons frequenting the church, that even in Allatius's time nothing was visible but the traces of the name.
George of Trebizond left a son, Andreas or Andrew, who, during his father's lifetime, wrote in his defence against Theodore Gaza; but he was a person of no talent or eminence. A daughter of Andrew was married to the Roman poet Faustus Magdalena, who was killed at the sacking of Rome by the troops of Charles V., A. D. 1527. Faustus, who was a friend of Leo X., used to speak much of his wife's grandfather.
The character of George is unfavourably represented by his biographers Allatius and Boerner, the latter of whom describes him as deceitful, vain, and envious. The disputes in which he was involved with the principal scholars with whom he had any thing to do confirm these unfavourable representations. Works
The works of George of Trebizond are numerous, consisting partly of original works, a few in Greek, the rest in Latin; partly of translations from Greek into Latin. many of them, however, remain in MS. We notice only those that have been printed; arranging them in classes, and giving the works in each class chronologically, according to the date of their earliest known publication. I. Original Works. 2. In Greek. 1. Πρὸς τὸν ὑψηλότατον καὶ Θειώτατον Βασιλέα Ῥωμαίων Ἰωάννην τὸν Παλαιολόγον, Epistola ad excelsissimum sacratissimumque Regem Romanorum Joannem Palaeologum. Editions
Subjoined by Pontanus, together with a Latin version, to his Latin versions of Theophylact Simocatta and Phranza, 4to. Ingolstadt, 1604. 2. Πρὸς Ἰωάννην τὸν Κουβοκλήσιον περὶ τῆς ʼεκπορεύσεως τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (Ad Joannem Cuboclesium de Processione Spiritus Sancti.) and 3. Περὶ τῆς ʼεκπορεύσεως τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ περὶ τῆς μιᾶς ἁγίας καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τοῖς ἐν Κρήτῃ Δείοις ἀνδράσι ἱερομονάχοις τε καὶ ἱερεῦσι (De Processione Spiritus Sancti, et de Una Sancta Catholica Ecclesia, Divinis Hominibus, qui in Creta Insula sunt, Hieromonachis et Sacerdotibus.) Editions
Both of these were published with a Latin version in the Graecia Orthodoxa of Allatius, vol. i. pp. 469-582. Rome, 1652. II. In Latin 4. Rhetorica, Libri V. Editions
fol. Venice, 1470. This date is fixed by the chief bibliographical authorities, but is not given in the work.
The Rhetorica has been often reprinted. Valentine Curio, in the preface to his edition, 4to. Basil, 1522, states that the work was left by the author in so imperfect a state that its revision had cost the editor much labour. He adds that it embodied a translation of a considerable part of the rhetorical works of Hermogenes. 5. De Octo Partibus Orationis ex Prisciano Compendium, Editions
4to. Milan, 1472. The same work appears to have been printed in 1537 in 8vo. at Augsburg, under the title of De Octo Partibus Orationis Compendium, omitting ex Prisciano; though some of our authorities hesitate about identifying the two works. 6. De Artificio Ciceronianae Orationis pro Q. Li-gario
(sometimes described as Expositio in Orationem Ciceronis pro Q. Ligario); Editions
Printed with the commentaries of some other writers on some of the orations of Cicero, fol. Venice, 1477, and several times reprinted. 7. Commentarius in Philippica Ciceronis, Editions
4to. Venice. The year of publication is not known. These two works have been reprinted in some collections of commentaries on Cicero's orations. 8. Dialectica, Editions
4to. Strasburg, 1509. Twelve editions of this little work were published between 1509 and 1536.
The work entitled Compendiuum Dialectices ex Aristotele, by George of Trebizond, published without note of time or place, is probably the same work. 9. Comparationes Philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis, Editions
8vo. Venice, 1523.
We are not aware that the work was printed before this date, but it must have been circulated in some form, as it was the work which drew upon George the anger of Cardinal Bessarion, who published a reply to it under the title Adversus Calumniatorem Platonis, Libri Quinque, fol. Rome, 1469. In this reply he criticises George's translation of Plato's treatise De Legibus, which has never been printed. 10. De Antisciis in quorum Rationem Fata sua rejicit and 11. Cur Astrologorum Judicia plerumque falluntur Editions
These two works were printed with Omar De Nativitatibus, 8vo. Venice, 1525. 12. Expositio in illud "Si eum volo manere donec veniam,"
In this exposition of a passage (100.21.22) in the Gospel of John, George contended that the evangelist was still living on the earth. Editions
8vo. Basil. 1543; and reprinted in both editions of the Orthodoxographa (Basil. 1555 and 1569) and in the Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. vi. ed. Paris, 1576. 13. In Claudii Ptolemaei Centum Sententias (or Centiloquium) Commentarius Editions
with a reprint of Nos. 10 and 11, and with the treatise of Joannes Pontanus, Quatenus credendum sit Astrologis,8vo. Cologne, 1544. 14. Acta Beati Andreae Chii; Editions
printed in the De Probatis Sanctorum Vitis of Surius, Maii, 29. p. 324, fol. Cologne, 1618, and in the Acta Sanctorum of Bollandus, Maii, tom. vii. p. 184, &c. II. Translations 15. Eusebius Pamphili de Praeparatione Evangelica a Georgio Trapezuntio traductus Editions
fol. Venice, 1470. In this version the whole of the fifteenth book is omitted; yet it obtained great reputation, as was shown by its being reprinted nine or ten times during the fifteenth century. 16. Joannes Chrysostomus super Matthaeum, Editions
Fol. Cologne, 1487. There is an edition without note of time or place, but which, from the character of the type, is supposed to be printed by Mentelius of Strasburg, whose other works bear date from 1473 to 1476. This translation is not wholly original ; in some of the homilies it is only the ancient version of Anianus revised. 17. Rhetoricorum Aristotelis ad Theodecion Libri Tres Editions
A version of this work of Aristotle, which some of our authorities state to be by George of Trebizond, but which does not bear his name in the title, was published in fol., Leipsic, 1503, and Venice, 1515; but his version was certainly printed, at Paris, 8vo. 1539, and with the rest of Aristotle's works at Basel, 1538. 18. Opus insigne Beati Patris Cyrilli Patriarchae Alexandriae in Evangelium Joannis Editions
fol. Paris, 1508. Of the twelve books of which this work consists George translated the first four and the last four; the remainder were translated by Jodocus Clichtoveus, who edited the work. 19. Joannis Chrysostomi de Laudibus et Excellentia Sancti Pauli Homiliae quatuor per Georq. Trapezuntium e Graeco traductae Editions
fol. Leipzig, 1510. 20. Praeclarum Opus Cyrilli Alex. qui Thesaurus nuncupatur Editions
fol. Paris, 1513. This version of the work of Cyril on the Trinity has been often reprinted. 21. Almagesti Ptolemaei Libri XIII., Editions
fol. Venice, 1515. 22. Sti Gregorii Nysseni De Vitae Perfection, sive Vita Moysis Editions
4to. Vienna, 1517. 23. Sti Basilii Mayni adversus Apologiam Eunomii Antirrheticus, Libri V. Editions
The version of the third book was printed with the Acta Concilii Florentini, and other pieces, fol. Rome, 1526; and the whole version has been printed in some Latin and Graeco-Latin editions of the works of Basil. 24. Historia Sanctorum Barlaam et Josaphal Editions
subjoined to the works of Joannes Damascenus, fol. Basel, 1548. So wretchedly is this version executed, that doubts have been cast upon its authorship. The reputation of George as a translator is, however, very low. Beside the errors which resulted from haste, he appears to have been very unfaithful, adding to his author, or cutting out, or perverting passages almost at will. Unpublished Translations
Among his unpublished translations are several of Aristotle's works, including the Problemata, Physica, De Anima, De Animalibus, De Generatione et Corruptione; also the De Legibus and the Parmenides of Plato. His version of Plato's work, De Legibus, was severely criticised by Bessarion in his Adversus Calumniatorem Platonis; and his version of Aristotle's De Animalibus is said to have been used by Theodore Gaza, though without acknowledgment, in the preparation of his own version. Further Information
Boissard, Icones Viror. Illustr., pars i. p. 133., &c.; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii., Appendix, by Gery and Wharton, p. 149; Hody, De Graecis Illustribus Linguae Graecae, &c., Instauratoribus; Boernerus, De Doctis Hominibus Graecis, Litterarum Graecarum in Italia Instauratoribus; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 102, 242, vol. vii. p. 344, vol. viii. pp. 76, 552, 571, vol. ix. pp. 22, 103, 454, vol. xi. p. 397; Allatius, Diatrib. de Georgiis, apud Fabric. vol. xii. p. 70, &c.; Panzer, Annales Typographici.
49. Xiphilinus. [Xiphilinus.]
50. Zegabenus. [Zegabenus.] [J.C.M]