The Chronicle of John of Nikiu: Coping with Crisis in Post-Roman EgyptIn the midst of profound political changes in late seventh-century Egypt, after the end of Roman hegemony and during Islamic rule, a bishop named John from the city of Nikiu sat down to pen a chronicle. It is a puzzling and fascinating work that reimagines the established Roman genre of Christian world history as a dialectic between a Roman state that often failed to maintain Christian orthodoxy and Roman citizens who attempted to nudge the state in the direction of correct theology. Felege-Selam Solomon Yirga treats the bishop's text as a historical artifact of Egyptian cultural and intellectual history, one of the last works of an educated elite forced to use the tools of Roman education to tackle the crisis brought on by the end of Roman Egypt. Placing the Chronicle in its broader setting, Yirga positions the text as quintessentially post-Roman, arguing that it was a rearticulation of imperial ideology for and by post-Roman subjects that allowed them to explain and cope with the failure of the Roman state to maintain control of Egypt. |
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Alexandria Anastasius anti-Chalcedonian appears Arab conquest argument Aristomachus army ascetic practice asceticism audience bishop of Nikiu Carile century Chalcedon Chalcedonian chapter Chronicle of John Chronicle's Chronique de Jean conquest of Egypt Constantine Constantinople Cyrus demons described Diocletian divine Domitianus earthquake Ecclesiastical History edited Egyptian emperor Ethiopian Ethiopic Eudocia évêque de Nikiou explicitly genre Gəʻəz God’s Greek Hagiography Hermann Zotenberg historian historical writing Historiography holy Honorius human identity imperial Islamic Egypt Jeremias John Malalas John of Nikiu John’s Justin Justinian Late Antiquity magician Malalas's martyr Menas mention Miaphysite monasteries monastic monks Muslim conquest narrative natural disasters notes Nuffelen orthodox pagan Papaconstantinou patriarch persecution Philanthropia Philip Booth philoponoi pious political Procopius R. H. Charles reader reign religious role Roman Empire Rome Satan Severus of Antioch Socrates of Constantinople Sozomen story suggest tells Theodoret Theodosius theological Theophylact Theophylact Simocatta tion tradition translation University Press uprising Wipszycka Zotenberg