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Anne-Marie Bernardi, Emmanuele Caire

Part π
An outgrowing narrative
Anne-Marie Bernardi
It’s within the chronological frame which has just been defined that the narrative of
the Chronicle of John Malalas unfolds, book after book. Despite the numerous distor-
tions of the chronology mentioned above, the narrative sequences follow on from each
other according to a general outline resembling the one found in most later Greek
chroniclers (save for the Chronicon Pasch ale). The continuity of the narration is stressed
by the titles of the books and the pauses allowing for chronological recapitulation, but
also by the stereotypical phrases opening each chapter such as: “In the time of (...)”,
“After the reign of “During his reign (...)”.
These methodical reminders make the chronicler’s lapses from the linear plan all
the more visible. Not only does he resort, on several occasions, to flashbacks, under-
lined by internal references, but the rhythm of the narrative itself is marked by surpri-
sing variations. Sometimes the narration speeds up, at the risk of becoming elliptical;
sometimes it slows down, leading to singular outgrowths, contrary to the usual brevity
required by the genre.
The shortcuts and movements of acceleration have often been stressed. Some
could, of course, be explained by the fact that the text available to us seems to have
been partly abbreviated.22 On the other hand, some omissions are not imputable to
Malalas, but reveal the lack of interest of the Byzantines for Classical Greece or the
history of the Roman Republic, which is mentioned, as we have seen, by four lines
in Book VII, Chapter 14, and again by two lines at the beginning of Book IX, which
opens with Julius Caesar, the “dictator”. Other silences can be attributed to the ext-
reme consideration the chronicler had for imperial power, especially when it comes to
usurpations. It’s not on these omissions or shortcuts that we will focus here, but on
the outgrowths of the narrative, so as to try and ascertain the motives behind them.
Given the importance of the material, we won’t be able to consider here more than a
few samples carefully chosen. The purpose of this selection is to underline that, because
of those rhythmic variations, and especially of the long digressions inserted within the
chronological development of the narrative, John Malalas’ Chronicle does not exclusi-
vely fall into the chronicle genre, but rather belongs to a composite genre, which doesn’t
refrain from borrowing from various kinds of sources. In an attempt to exemplify the
various kinds of material that the chronicler chose to incorporate in his narrative, we
present here a few cases pertaining to mythical times, then to historical times.
22 See Jeffreys, “Byzantine Chroniclers”, pp. 218-21 and Jeffreys et al., “The transmission of Malalas’ chro-
nicle”, pp. 245-248.