Ancient Library
The Greek and Latin classics — every word parsed, every form defined

Priscus of Panium: Testimonia

Library › Greek: History › Testimonia

These Testimonia are ancient statements about Priscus of Panium, the fifth-century AD historian and rhetor from Thrace, rather than fragments of his own writings. They include the Suda's notice that he wrote a Byzantine History and an account of the affairs of Attila in eight books, together with rhetorical exercises and letters, a reference to him as 'the most learned Priscus the Thracian', and remarks by Evagrius and the Paschal Chronicle.

Brief as they are, these notices supply most of what is known about Priscus' works and reputation. They help frame the surviving fragments of his History, the chief Greek account of Attila and the Huns, and show how later Byzantine readers regarded him as a learned and trustworthy writer.

About this edition. The Greek text comes from the Eulogikon open corpus of public-domain editions (standard reference: FHG IV p. 69). Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).

Ancient Greek · History
Testimonia
Priscus of Panium · every word parsed
1
ἔγραψεν ἱστορίαν Βυζαντιακήν, καὶ τὰ κατὰ Ἄτταλον ἐν βιβλίοις ηʹ· μελέτας τε ῥητορικάς, καὶ ἐπιστολάς. Suid. Περὶ οὗ πολέμου συνεγράψατο ὁ σοφώτατος Πρίσκος ὁ Θρᾷξ. [5]
Chronic. Pasch. Ἐν τούτοις τοῖς χρόνοις ὁ πολὺς τῷ λόγῳ πόλεμος ἐκεκίνητο Ἀττίλα τοῦ τῶν Σκυθῶν βασιλέως· ὃν περιέργως καὶ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα λογίως Πρίσκος ὁ ῥήτωρ γράφει, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς κομψείας διηγούμενος ὅπως τε κατὰ τῶν ἑῴων καὶ ἑσπερίων ἐπεστράτευσε μερῶν, οἵας τε καὶ ὅσας πόλεις ἑλὼν κατήγαγε, καὶ ὅσα πεπραχὼς τῶν ἐντεῦθεν μετέστη. [5]
Evagr. I 17. Μαρκιανὸς τοίνυν, ὡς ἄλλοις τε πολλοῖς καὶ μὴν καὶ Πρίσκῳ ἱστόρηται τῷ ῥήτορι, ἦν μὲν Θρᾷξ γένος.
Evagr. II 1. Ἱστορεῖ δʼ οὖν Πρίσκος ὁ ῥήτωρ φθῆναι τηνικαῦτα τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τῆς Θηβαίων ἐπαρχίας κτλ.
5
Evagr. II 5. Καὶ ὄμβρους δὲ ἐξαισίους ὁ Πρίσκος ἱστορεῖ γενέσθαι ἀνὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν κτλ.
Evagr. II 14. Ἐκ πρεσβείας δὲ τῶν ἑσπερίων Ῥωμαίων, Ἀνθέμιος βασιλεὺς τῆς Ῥώμης ἐκπέμπεται· ᾧ Μαρκιανὸς ὁ πρώην βεβασιλευκὼς τὴν οἰκείαν κατενεγγύησε παῖδα.
Ἐκπέμπεται δὲ στρατηγὸς κατὰ Γιζερίχου Βασιλίσκος, ὁ τῆς Λέοντος γυναικὸς Βερίνης ἀδελφός, μετὰ στρατευμάτων ἀριστίνδην συνειλεγμένων. Ἅπερ ἀκριβέστατα Πρίσκῳ τῷ ῥήτορι πεπόνηται· ὅπως τε δόλῳ περιελθὼν ὁ Λέων μισθὸν ὥσπερ ἀποδιδοὺς τῆς ἐς αὐτὸν προαγωγῆς ἀναιρεῖ Ἄσπαρα τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῷ περιθέντα, παῖδάς τε αὐτοῦ Ἀρταβούριόν τε καὶ Πατρίκιον, ὃν Καίσαρα πεποίητο πρότερον ἵνα τὴν Ἄσπαρος εὔνοιαν κτήσηται. Evagr. II 16. Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἑξῆς χρόνων Ζωσίμῳ ἱστόρηται μέχρις Ὀνωρίου καὶ Ἀρκαδίου τῶν βασιλέων. [10]
καὶ ὅσα μετʼ αὐτοὺς συνείλεκται Πρίσκῳ τῷ ῥήτορι, καὶ ἑτέροις. Ἅπερ ἅπαντα Εὐσταθίῳ τῷ Ἐπιφάνει ἐπιτέτμηται πανάριστα ἐν δύο τεύχεσιν, ἑνὶ μὲν ἕως ἁλώσεως Ἰλίου, τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ ἕως δωδεκάτου ἔτους τῆς Ἀναστασίου βασιλείας. Evagr. V 24. Εἰσὶ καὶ Σαλῶναι πόλις Δελματίας, ὧν Σαλωνεὺς τὸ ἐθνικὸν, ὡς Πρίσκος ἐν ἕκτῳ. [5]
(= frg. 46) Steph. Byz. Apud Joradanem Get.
10
«Priscus istoricus» laudatur.
Click or tap any word for its parse and dictionary entry.
Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Liddell, Scott & Jones (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: odyCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
Scroll to Top