Malalas’ Antioch

63

at the very beginning of his Chronography.14 From Zeno’s reign onwards, he explains,
he will use oral sources and personal testimonies. Indeed, for the reigns of Zeno,
Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian, the narrative is much more detailed, and, as it seems,
much more accurate and reliable than in the previous books.15 On the other hand, in
this third part, Malalas accords much less place to Antioch by comparison with the
rest of the empire than in the second part. Moreover, in this third part, the incidental
occurrences are much more numerous than the focused occurrences and the most
common occasions for Malalas to speak about Antioch are riots or urban disasters like
earthquakes or fires (see below).
We have seen that in the three parts of Malalas’Universal History the modes of oc-
currence and the functions of the references to Antiochean urban space are different.
However, there are some elements of continuity which testify to the unity of Malalas’
project and the unity of Malalas’ Antioch. Common to parts I and II are the narra-
tive of the successive extensions of the City Wall and the phrase: “until now”, which
concludes some focused mentions of monuments (V 37; VIII 21; X 8; XIV 8; XIV
13).16 Common to parts I, II and III are the explicit references to a canonical list of six
earthquakes from the Seleucid period (VIII 24) to Justinian’s reign (XVIII 27),17 and
mentions of some buildings or places, for instance the church named Kerataion, which
occurs in the first and third parts (VIII 23; XVII16), or the theatre (9 references from
IX 5 to XVIII 67)18. Common to parts II and III are mentions of the Xystos (XII 2, 6,
16; XV 15), the praetorium of the consularis Syriae (XIII 30 and XV 15), and Constan-
tine’s Church (XIII 3,14,17; XVII16).
Some peculiarities of style are also common to the three parts.
First, the emphasis on spatial connections between places and buildings, or in
other words the frequency of the topological references, with the use of topological
vocabulary sometimes obscure, but consistent throughout the text.19
Second, the emphasis on place names. In Book V Malalas, referring to the statue

14 Praefatio, ed. Thurn, p. 3,11. 4-14.
15 Cf. for instance Feissel, “Dates et durees de regne selon Malalas de Iheodose II ä Justinien”, pp. 187-196;
Puech, “Malalas et la prosoprographie du vie siecle.Un eclairage sur le regne de Justinien”, pp. 213-226.
16 For an exhaustive list of such mentions in the Chronography, cf. Jeffreys, “Malalas’sources”, pp. 206-207,
fn 25.
17 See also: X 18; XI 8; XIV 36; XVII 16. Cf. Jeffreys, “Chronological structures in Malalas’ Chronicle”,
PP- Ϊ55-Ϊ59·
18 IX, 5, ed. Thurn, p. 163,1. 58; IX14, p. 169,11. 81-83; X10, pp. 78,11.55-60; X 20, p. 185,11.49-52; X 46, p. 198,
11. 24-26; XI 9, p. 208,11. 41-46; XII16, p. 220,11. 42-43; XVIII 62, pp. 390-391,11. 9-11; XVIII 67, p. 393,
11. 76-78.
19 It is the case for instance with κατέναντι and άντικρυς, both of which mean «opposite»: VIII 12
(κατέναντι τού όρους); IX15 (κατέναντι τού ιερού τού Άρεως); XII 2 (τό κατέναντι αύτού);
XII 7 (κατέναντι τού ιερού τού Άρεως) ; XIII 30 (κατέναντι τού Κομμοδίου); XIV 13
(κατέναντι (...) των Λεγομένων Άθλων) ; VIII ΐ2 (άντικρυς τής Ίωπόλεως); XVII 19
(άντικρυς τής Λεγομένης 'Ρουφίνου βασιλικής). See also Agusta-Boularot,“Les livres I äXII de
la Chronique de Jean Malalas et leur apport ä la connaissance du paysage urbain d’Antioche”, p. 139.