Malalas’ Sources for the Contemporary Books

227

death Eustathius had left his chronicle unfinished (of which Evagrius was seemingly
unaware), so in effect forcing Malalas to fill in the gap between 503 and the elevation
of Justin in 518 from “the things that came to my hearing”, which he may not have
expected that he would need to do.20 The lack of even a single precise year date in this
latter part of Book XVI again suggests Malalas may have found that filling in the gap
was quite a struggle. That struggle is also shown by Malalas devoting as much space to
Justin’s nine-year reign as he does to Anastasius’ 27 years.
4. Book XVIII, Justinian
Book XVIII is obviously the problem book, but despite the problems I still agree with
Elizabeth Jeffreys’ comment that there is no convincing case for assuming any change
of author.21 Certainly much at the end of the book is rather desultory in contrast to
the early part, but it is not consistently desultory with a quite lengthy account of the
Bankers’ revolt almost at the very end (XVIII141). To examine Book XVIII in detail
would require a separate study, which I am not currently able to undertake, so I will
conclude by drawing attention just to one small intriguing section at the very begin-
ning.
Following the almost standard physical description of Justinian in the opening
paragraph, the very next paragraph as the very first event of the reign is about the ap-
pointment of a Comes Orientis with troops to restore Palmyra and protect Jerusalem.
It continues as follows:
ή δε Πάλμυρα πρώην μέν μεγάλη ύπήρχεν, επειδή ό Δαβίδ εν αύτώ
τώ τόπω προ του κτισθήναι πόλιν έμονομάχησε μετά του Γολιάθ
ώπλισμένω όντι. όστις Γολιάθ λίθω λαβών έπεσεν, καί δραμών ό
Δαβίδ άπεκεφάλισεν αυτόν εις ό έπεφέρετο ό Γολιάθ ξίφος, καί
τήν κεφαλήν αύτοΰ λαβών κατέσχεν επί ή μέρας, καί είθ' ούτως εν
Ίεροσολύμοις είσήγαγεν αυτήν μετά νίκης έμπροσθεν αυτού εις
κοντόν βασταζομένην. διά τούτο Σολομών ό βασιλεύς ύπέρ τής νίκης
τού αύτού πατρός Δαβίδ έποίησεν αύτήν πόλιν μεγάλην, έπιθείς αύτή
τό όνομα Πάλμυραν, ώς γενομένην μοίραν τώ Γολιάθ.
Palmyra had formerly been great, for in that place, before the city was built, David
fought with the fully armed Goliath in single combat. David struck Goliath with a
stone and felled him and, running up, beheaded him with the sword which Goliath
had been carrying. He took his head and kept it for some days, and then brought
it into Jerusalem in victory, raised on a pole before him. So the emperor Solomon
made Palmyra a great city because of his father David’s victory and gave it its name,
since it had been the death (moira) of Goliath.22
20 This is the only occasion, apart from the preface, where Malalas mentions Eustathius. The other eight
of the chroniclers listed in the preface all get several mentions during the chronicle.
21 Jeffreys (1990c), pp. 211-213, 216.
22 Malalas, ChronographiaXVIII 2 (p. 355,19-27Thurn); translation by Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. 245.