This book explores the writing of church history during the early Byzantine period, reconsidering the evidence for the nature and authorship of a hypothetical 'Arian' source for many surviving medieval histories of the fourth century. It considers surviving ecclesiastical histories written between the fifth and early thirteenth centuries to draw out commonalities apparently owed to this 'lost' source and discusses attempts by modern historians to reconstruct it. In doing so, it convincingly argues that this 'Arian' material likely belongs not to one work, but three: two chronicles and a martyrology. This book therefore provides a vital reassessment of fourth-century Christian historiography, as well as important insights on chronicle writing in the Middle Ages.
1. Introduction.- 2. Bidez's Sources Revisited.- 3. The Early Ecclesiastical Historians.- 4. The
Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates and Sozomen.- 5. The
Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret.- 6. Consideration of Other Sources, From Ammianus To Zonaras.- 7. Towards a New Reconstruction.- 8. Conclusion.- Appendix 1. An Analysis of Bidez's Reconstruction.- Appendix 2. Two Reconstructions.
Joseph J. Reidy is Senior Lecturer of History at Kennesaw State University, USA.
Reidy retains the necessary balance and so offers a possible reconstruction of an important lost historical source from the mid-fourth century . Even those who disagree with Reidy s approach will need to rethink their argu-ments in the light of his work, while all those studying the historiography of the fourth century will benefit from his analyses of specific passages in his chosen authors. (Michael Whitby, Plekos Elektronische Zeitschrift für Rezensionen und Berichte zur Erforschung der Spätantike, Issue 27, 2025)
