Aenobarbus A [one] of the notables in Rome; upon whose death, Claudius took his widow, who also had a child, Domitius, sharing the name of his father. For he had previously put to death his wife Messalina out of jealousy, by whom he had children, Britannicus and Octavia. He also had Octavia, the eldest of the sisters, from a prior wife, whom he matched with Nero; for this was the name the Caesar later gave to Domitius, son of Agrippina, when he adopted him. Therefore, so that his mother Agrippina might secure the sovereignty for him, she killed Claudius with poison. But these matters shall be told in their proper times and places. Let the narrative of the sequence proceed.
B XVI. After the death of Claudius and Nero’s accession to the empire, Jewish affairs were continually declining into a worse state, the province being filled with brigandage and with impostors who were deceiving the populace, many of whom Felix seized and put to death. Felix, holding a hatred for the high priest Jonathan because of his frequent admonitions to him concerning the importance of presiding better over affairs in Judea, sought a pretext by which he might get rid of the man who was constantly bothering him, and he had him removed by means of the brigands. These had arrived at the temple as if to worship, and carrying daggers under their garments, they mingled with the crowd and slew Jonathan. As the crime remained unavenged, the brigands ascending without fear were killing, some their own enemies, others those of others for hire. Furthermore, magicians and deceitful men were persuading the mob to follow them into the wilderness, where they would show them clear signs and wonders brought about by God; many of these Felix punished. The brigands, however, were inciting the people to war against the Romans, wishing them not to obey them, and were pillaging and destroying the fields of those who would not be persuaded. Now, as Syrians and Jews were inhabiting Caesarea, the Jews laid claim to being first, as Herod, their own king, had built the city; but the Syrians, while they acknowledged the matters concerning Herod, said that formerly it was called Straton’s Tower, and that no Jew lived in the city at that time. Because of this, since the Caesareans were rioting, those who were in charge of the province punished the guilty with scourges and quieted the disturbance for a short time. However, the Jews, being superior to the Syrians in wealth, and for this reason despising them, were reviling them. They, being defeated in money but confident because most of those serving under the Romans were Caesareans, for a while even themselves were insulting the Jews with words; then they pelted one another with stones, until many were wounded and fell on both sides; but the Jews were victorious. Felix, however, commanded the Jews to stop, and when they would not obey, he let the soldiers loose upon them; and many he slew, and more he took alive, and he permitted the soldiers to plunder their houses. But the more moderate and prominent of the Jews besought Felix to call back the soldiers and to spare them, and to grant them repentance for what had been done. And Felix was persuaded. King Agrippa granted the high priesthood to Ishmael, son of Phabi. The high priests, together with the first of the C Jerusalemites, felt enmity toward one another, and they engaged in certain mutual recriminations and stone-throwing, nor was there anyone to chastise them or suppress the sedition. And the high priests reached such a point of impudence that they sent their servants into the threshing floors to seize the tithes owed to the priests. Whereupon the poorer priests were reduced to destitution,
CATHOLIC TRADITION.
TWELFTH CENTURY, YEAR 1190.
LIST OF AUTHORS AND WORKS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME CXXXIV.
JOANNES ZONARAS.
Charles Du Cange's Preface, in which [he treats] of the writings and deeds of Joannes Zonaras. col. 9 Jerome Wolf's Preface ........................................................................................ 27 Joannes Zonaras's Annals .................................................................................. 39
OF JOHN THE ASCETIC: THE CHRONICLE OF ZONARAS, FORMERLY GRAND DRUNGARY OF THE VIGLA AND FIRST SECRETARY
JOANNIS ZONARAE MONACHI MAGNI ANTEA VIGILUM PRAEFECTI ET PRIMI A SECRETIS ANNALES
CAROLUS DU FRESNE, DOM. DU CANGE, COUNSELOR TO THE KING AND TREASURER OF FRANCE AT AMIENS, COLLATED THE WOLFIAN EDITION WITH WRITTEN CODICES, REVISED THE LATIN VERSION, AND ILLUSTRATED THE ANNALS WITH NOTES.
DUCANGE’S PREFACE
There is no one, neither among our own people nor among foreigners, who does not admire the royal edition of the Byzantine writers as an extraordinary monument to Gallic magnificence. And justly so, and with the best of right, since, besides the fact that it presents to the eyes a history hitherto less known, and one that is varied with such a multitude of events, and shows the causes of the decline and ruin of the Roman Empire, which once dominated almost the entire world, it is published with such elegant type and in such a large format that it carries a certain majesty before it, and in a way entices and invites all who love letters to read it. But when many of the learned had pointed out that, among so many distinguished works in that royal collection, the Annals of John Zonaras — having been printed only once and not very cleanly, and being rare at present — were a desideratum, the most illustrious Marquis de Louvois, of the King’s privy council and secretarial cabinet, to whose care the royal buildings, the arts, and the Royal Printing House itself have been entrusted, together with his most illustrious brother, the Archbishop of Rheims and First Peer of France, who concurred in the same plan, signified that because of their innate and uncommon regard for letters, they thought it would be an excellent achievement if an author so worthy of a royal edition were published. The task having been then assigned to me—a task which I do not in the slightest doubt that other, more learned men would have performed far better—I immediately set my hand to it; I collected and collated ancient codices insofar as time permitted, and I added notes: I trust that kind readers will accept this, whatever its quality, with fairness and good will.
Truly, to premise some things concerning these Annals which now appear and their author, Zonaras, it is above all the erudition of the writer that commends them—which can be gathered not only from these, but also from many other works, a list of which we have appended to this Preface; in these works, no one could wish for a greater knowledge of affairs, or a keener and more solid judgment, nor indeed for greater piety. Moreover, if the splendor of his birth and the status of the office he held in the imperial palaces can procure for a writer some esteem—a thing which perhaps no one will call into doubt—this is especially true of him who wrote on political matters, in which he was truly...