Johannes Lyes – Wikipedia

Johannes Lydos (* 490 in Philadelphia, † before 565) was a late anti -Eastern Roman civil servant and writer.

Flavius ​​Laurentius (?) Iohannes, called “Der Lyder”, came from Polis Philadelphia in Lydien and came to Constantinople at the time of the Emperor Anastasios I at the time of the Emperor Anastasios I to make a career in the central administration. The language of the Eastern Roman administration was still Latin around this time, and Johannes emphasizes in his preserved works – only those written in ancient Greek – and proudly his bilingualism. His career was initially through the The Praefectus Zoticus, a compatriot. Under Emperor Justinian I and his The Praefectus Johannes von Kappadocia, Johannes ’career, after the initially rapid rise, apparently stalled around 530. The Cappadocier is therefore very negative at Lydos. After falling the prefect, 542 broke up for Lydos better times. 543 Justinian praised him in a letter to the new one The Praefectus For his education, his literary works and his legal competence and promised a salary increase. A little later, the city prefect gave him a rhetoric chair for Latin language at the University of Constantinople. ^[first] 552 then retired Lydos and probably died around 560.

Johannes Lydos wrote a whole series of literary works, including a description of the Persian wars of the Emperor Justinian, which was completely lost today, who played the official view of things, as well as some Latin speeches that also did not come up with us. ^[2] Only three works written in Greek are preserved: “over the months” ( About months ), “About Symptoms of Heaven” ( The display ) and “about the offices of the Roman state” (short: Of officials ). Above all, the latter, which was created according to Johannes ’departure from the civil service, offers numerous valuable information about the imperial administration in late late antiquity. Lydos describes the changes that were introduced during his service and some of which already predicted the center -byzantine period – in addition to Latin, Greek was also approved as an official language among Justinian – with skepticism and rejection. Among other things, he refers to a prophecy that the Romans will leave the luck if they should unlearn the language of their fathers. ^[3]

• Michel Dubuisson and Jacques Schamp (ed.): Jean the Lydian: Magistrates of the Roman State , Les Belles Lettres, Paris 2006 (critical edition of the Greek text with detailed introduction, French translation and comment)
• Thomas Francis Carney (transl.): John the Lydian, de magistrabus. On the Magistracies of the Roman Constitution. Coronado Press 1971.
• Anastasius C. Bandy (ed.): Ioannes Lydus on powers, or: The magistracies of the Roman state. introduction, critical text, translation, commentary, and indices. Philadelphia 1983.

Overview representations

Studies

• Sviatoslav Dmitriev: John Lydus’ knowledge of Latin and language politics in sixth-century Constantinople. In; Byzantine magazine Bd. 111, 2018, S. 55–70.
• Michel Dubuisson: Jean the Lydian and the forms of personal power in Rome . In: Gustave Glotz notebooks Bd. 2, 1991, S. 55–72.
• Michael Maas: John Lydus and the Roman Past . London/New York 1992.

1. ↑ Johannes Lydos, Of officials 3.29.
2. ↑ Johannes Lydos, Of officials 3.28.
3. ↑ Johannes Lydos, Of officials 3.42.