Xiphilinus

(Γεώργιος ὁ Ξιφιλῖνος), patriarch of Constantinople, A. D. 1193-1199. Works Constitutions

A few constitutions of his are mentioned, of which the most important is De Juribus Territoriorum. Editions

This is published by Leunclavius in his Jus Graeco-Romanum, vol. i. p. 283. Further Information

Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. xii. pp. 41. 42.

(Ἰωάννης ὁ Ξιφιλῖνος).

1. Patriarch of Constantinople, A. D. 1066-1075, was of a noble family of Trapezus (Trebizond). Works Constitutions on Ecclesiastical Matters

He published a few constitutions on ecclesiastical matters. Editions

These are printed by Leunclavius in his Jus Graeco-Romanum. Oration on the Adoration of the Cross

He also wrote an Oration on the Adoration of the Cross. Editions

This is printed in Gretser's work on the Cross, Ingolstadt, 1616. Other Orations Editions

There are also some orations of this Xiphilinus published by Ch. Fr. Matthaei under the title of " Xiphilini, Joannis, et Basilii Magni aliquot Orationes," Mosquae, 1775; but the writer is unable to state what these orations are, as he has not seen the book. Confusion with his nephew

This Xiphilinus has been frequently confounded with his nephew. Further Information

Cave, Hist. Lii. ad ann. 1066.

2. Of Trapezus, the nephew of the preceding, was a monk at Constantinople, and made an abridgement of Dio Cassius from the thirty-sixth to the eightieth hook at the command of the emperor Michael VII. Ducas, who reigned from A. D. 1071 to 1078. Xiphilinus did not preserve the original arrangement of Dio Cassius, who divided his work into books, but he distributed it into sections (τμήματα), each of which contained the life of an emperor. He omitted the names of the consuls, which Dio Cassius always inserted, and sometimes he took the liberty to alter and amend the original. The work is executed with the usual carelessness which characterizes most epitomes, and is only of value as preserving the main facts of the original, the greater part of which is lost. As an example of the carelessness of Xiphilinus, we may mention a passage (71.32) in which lie refers the reader to a previous statement, which is, however, omitted in the Epitome. That he omitted many statements of considerable importance, and which certainly ought to have been preserved even in an abridgment, is evident from Zonaras, who has preserved many passages of Dio Cassius which are omitted by Xiphilinus. [Zonaras.] For editions and further particulars see Dion Cassius.

(Ξιφιλῖνος). A native of Trapezus, who was a monk at Constantinople, and made an abridgment of Dio Cassius, from the thirty-sixth to the eightieth book, at the command of the emperor Michael VII. Ducas (A.D. 1071 to 1078). The work is executed with carelessness, and is of value only as preserving the main facts of the original, the greater part of which is lost. It is printed in most of the editions of Cassius (q.v.).