Photius and μεταγραφειν: Some notes on the linguistic aspect of Photius’ testimony to the nature of Zosimus’ drawing upon the Histories by Eunapius of Sardis
Photius and μεταγραφειν: Some notes on the linguistic aspect of Photius’ testimony to the nature of Zosimus’ drawing upon the Histories by Eunapius of Sardis

Summary/Abstract: Photius’ statement, if understood literally, seems to indicate Zosimus’ New History to have been a virtual transcription of the Histories by Eunapius of Sardis. Some of the modern scholars mistrust his authority, yet one of them, J. A. Ochoa, tried to analyse Photius ’ statement in order to achieve a more nuanced interpretation that would even allow for a non-literal reading. In this paper, Photius’ usage of the verb μεταγράφειν is re-examined, as well as other reviews of his Bibliotheca are pointed to, in which there are compared the authors who are known to have drawn upon one another, yet not exclusively. Both clearly testify that what Photius had in mind was that Zosimus had drawn solely upon Eunapius in the relevant section of the New History. One minor observation corroborates the hypothesis that also the opening chapters of the first book are in fact part of this section.

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