Malalas and erudite memory in sixth-century Constantinople

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currency,39 on the history of the alphabet40 and on the minutiae of the administrative
process such as different writing materials41 and the fences of the law courts or cancel-
They exhibited special interest in the foundation and earliest history of cities such
as Rome, Antioch and Constantinople, and digressed on the hippodrome and horse
racing.43
This extensive list allows for the hypothesis that the outlook of these authors as
bureaucrats living and working in Constantinople is one of the fundamental factors
determining their antiquarian interest.44 Their focus on different departments of state
and their own department of the praetorian prefecture was a result of and informed
their pride and identity as parts of the administration.45 This identity was shielded
from the outsider or from hostile cliques in other bureaus by a cultivation of intellectu-
alism, which explains their focus on different arts and sciences.46 For the same reason,
the different attributes and minutiae of the administrative process are emphasised
and even sacralised in their analyses.47 Finally, their focus on important administrative
centres and on the hippodrome unveils their mental horizon - in my opinion, it is not
a coincidence that the hippodrome featured extensively in the writings of our three
authors, as this building in Constantinople also housed the imperial archives,48 and
was therefore fixed in the daily routine of these three administrators with historio-
graphical interests. This paper will focus on one case study which happens to be one
of the fundamental trappings of the Roman state present in all three authors, namely
the colour purple. We will analyse how the three authors use the colour to indicate
whom they consider to be the true heir to the Roman Empire and the possible threats
to these claims. Furthermore, this case study demonstrates how the three authors se-
en architecture Variae VII 5; on astronomy Variae 110,1 45, XI 36, XII 25; on geometry Variae III 52, III
53; on mathematics Variae 110; on mechanics Variae I 45; on music Variae I 20, II 40.
39 On the origin of currency see Malalas, Chronographia XVIII14; Lydus, de Mensibus IV 157, de Mensibus
IV 9, de Mensibus 117, de Magistratibus I 21; Cassiodorus, Variae 110, VII 32.
40 On the history of the alphabet see Malalas, Chronographia 11, II 9, II14, III 5, IV 3; Lydus, de Mensibus
I 8, de Mensibus I 9, de Ostentis 3; Cassiodorus, Variae VIII12.
41 On writing materials see Lydus de Mensibus I 28, de Magistratibus III 14; Cassiodorus, Variae XI 38.
42 On the fences at the law courts or cancelli see Lydus, de Magistratibus III 11, III 36-37; Cassiodorus,
Variae XI 6.
43 On the hippodrome and horse racing see Malalas, Chronographia IV11, IV14, VII 4-6, IX 21; Lydus, de
Mensibus 112, de Mensibus IV 30, de Magistratibus 112, de Magistratibus I 30; Cassiodorus, Variae I 20,
III 51, XI35·
44 Apart from this bureaucratic outlook, we can also mention the personal and local interests which in-
form the antiquarian writings of the three authors, and which will be treated in my PhD dissertation.
On Malalas’localist focus on Antioch, see Croke (1990), pp. 4,6-11, Jeffreys (1990a), pp. 55-59,64, Lieb-
eschuetz (2004), p. i43,Beaucamp (2006), p. 20, Saliou (2006), pp. 69-70, Saliou (2016), pp. 59,62, Agus-
ta-Boularot (2006), pp. 134-135), Cabouret (2006), pp. 182,184, Bernardi and Caire (2016), pp. 128-131
and Greatrex (2016), p. 176.
45 Kelly (2004), pp. 18-26.
46 Kelly (2004), pp. 26-36.
47 Kelly (2004), pp. 22-23,3I-32·
48 Rapp (2005), pp. 381-382. See, for instance de Magistratibus III 19. For John the Lydian’s use of these
archives, see de Magistratibus III 35.