Michael Attaleiates, The History

660 Pages·2012·35.71 MB·English, Greek

by  Kaldellis, Anthony & Krallis, Dimitris (trans.)

Introduction
THE LIFE OF MICHAEL ATTALEIATES
Michael Attaleiates was born in or near Attaleia (on the
southern coast of Asia Minor) sometime around rn25. Upon
completion of his early education, which he credits to his
pious parents, he left his hometown and moved to the cap
ital in order to pursue more advanced studies. As the empire
was lavishing social and economic advantages upon the
members of its civilian administration, Attaleiates sought to
join the expanding ranks of functionaries. He studied law in
Constantinople's vibrant intellectual scene at a time when
the stimulating lectures of Michael Psellos were attracting
youths born into families of means.
Between his arrival in the city; in the late rn3os, and the
closing years of the rn6os, when he assumed a prominent
role in Constantinople's public life, Attaleiates completed
his studies in law (probably before Konstantinos IX's reor
ganization oflegal education in rn47), obtained a post in the
legal bureaucracy, and wed his first wife, Sophia, and then,
after her death, his second wife, Eirene, who gave him a son,
Theodoros. He rose steadily in the system of justice, but not
too fast and without much by way of provincial appoint
ments.1 In rn63, when a great earthquake struck Thrace,
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INTRODUCTION
causing serious damage to property he owned in Raidestos,
he was still on the threshold of his career.2
Under Konstantinos X Doukas (r. rn59-rn67), Attaleiates
entered the Senate as a ranking member of the Constanti
nopolitan law courts. Soon after that emperor's death, he at
tained a modicum of notoriety by sitting on the court that
tried the conspirator and future emperor Romanos IV Diog
enes. 3 In the following months, Romanos moved from the
docket to the throne (r. 1067-1071) and Attaleiates entered
his close circle, promoted to the previously unattested posi
tion of "judge of the army." This was the beginning of four
years of intense military activity that the judge personally
experienced by accompanying three long campaigns along
the eastern frontier. His presence in the field as well as his
involvement in the planning and execution of Romanos's
ambitious attempt to push back the Turks turned Attaleiates
into a supporter of, and eventual apologist for, that em
peror.
A new phase of his career began after the Byzantine de
feat by the Seljuks at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, when
Romanos's efforts came to a crushing end, possibly as a re
sult of treason orchestrated by members of the Doukas fam
ily. It is a testament to Attaleiates' political acumen and his
connections that he was able to sail straight back to the cap
ital and claim a position at the new imperial court. A timely
dedication of a treatise on law, the Ponema Nomikon, to the
emperor Michael VII Doukas (r. rn71-1078) and loyal ser
vice in the face of personal sacrifice ensured his continued
rise in the social and political scene. 4 In this period of impe
rial retrenchment and political chaos, Attaleiates kept scour
ing the empire's political horizons for the man who would
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