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Peter van Nuffelen

3. Transmission and innovation
The picture I have just drawn is relevant for Quellenforschung in another way. We do
not have to suppose that Malalas (or another author) necessarily had direct access
to all of these texts individually John Malalas knew of authors such as Didymus
and Bruttius through the chronicle tradition, in all likelihood through updated and
changed versions of Eusebius or works written in response to his chronicle. Given the
absence of full chronographic texts in Greek before Malalas, we can only presuppose
that such texts existed, but the presence of authors like Bruttius and Didymus in the
Latin, Greek and Syriac chronographic traditions makes this very likely. Indeed, we
must think of chronography in the 4th and 5th century as a very lively field, and as
Malalas as one of the earliest witnesses to that.20
I would like to add another, albeit somewhat hypothetical, example related to
Malalas: Palaiphatus. In late ancient historiography, the name seems to refer to at least
two persons: a 4th-century BC peripatetic, the probable author of the Unbelievable tales
and a Trojan history (FGrHist 44 = BNJ44); and another Palaiphatus who also seems
to have written proper historical works and which references in Malalas (Ghrono-
graphia VIII 27) and Moses Khorenat’si (Historia II 69 Mahe) oblige to situate in the
3rd century AD (FGrHist 660 = BNJ 660). The confusion in the Palaiphatus-tradition
is hard to disentangle21 and for the purpose of my argument of little importance. All
references to Palaiphatus in Malalas are to mythological subjects, except one:
Μετά ταύτα δέ έγένετο ύπατος Μάγνος ό καί Παύλος ό Μακεδών
όστις έφόνευσεν εν πολεμώ τον βασιΛέα τής Μακεδονίας όνόματι
Πέρσην καί παραλαβών τήν Μακεδονίαν χώραν έποίησεν αύτήν ύπό
'Ρωμαίους· περί ού Σαλλούστιος μέμνηται εις τήν Κατελλιναρίαν
έκθεσιν, μνημονεύων τής δημηγορίας τού Καίσαρος. καί μετά ταύτα
βασιλεύει τής ιδίας χώρας Περσεύς ό Ήπειρώτης ό νεομάχος καί
τοπάρχης Θεσσαλίας, όντινα Περσέα ώνόμασε τή ιδία εκθέσει
Εύτρόπιος ό συγγραφεύς Ρωμαίων εν τή μεταφράσει αύτού. τούτου
δέ καί Παλαίφατος μέμνηται. τον δέ αύτόν Περσέα πολέμω άνεΐλε
Λούκιος Παύλος, ύπατος Ρωμαίων.22
After this, Magnus, also called Paulus, the Macedonian became consul. He killed
in battle the king of Macedonia, named Perses. He captured the land of Macedonia
and made it subject to the Romans. Sallust mentions this in his Catilinarian histo-
ry, in recording Caesar’s speech. After this, Perseus of Epirus, the sea-warrior and
toparch of Thessaly, reigned in his own land. Eutropius the Roman writer named
this Perseus in his account, in the translation. Palaiphatos mentions him too. Lu-
cius Paulus, the Roman consul, killed Perseus in battle.23
20 This will be detailed in a planned edition of fragmentary Greek chronicles from Late Antiquity.
21 It is, however, illogical that the authors of BNJ 44 and BNJ 660 do not ascribe BNJ 44 F9 and BNJ 660
Fi to the same author.
22 Malalas, Chronographia VIII 27.
23 Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. no, adapted.