The Political Thought of Psellos in the Chronographia: the Wise Advisor, the Clever General, and the City
The Political Thought of Psellos in the Chronographia: the Wise Advisor, the Clever General, and the City

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with political theory that Michael Psellos expresses in his programmatic work, the Chronographia, exploring it on its own merits and separating it from his alleged social and political “biases”. Psellos’ history is analyzed from several perspectives and on several narrative layers. The paper dwells on his views on the imperial ideal, as well as his opinions on participants in the political life of the empire (mainly imperial advisors and generals), from both horizontal (Constantinopleprovinces; center-periphery) and vertical (the masses and the aristocracy) perspective, reflecting upon his stance on what constitutes aristocracy. Finally, it reexamines Psellos’ “Constantinopolitan bias” by distinguishing his attitudes from his perspective, identities and alliances, and exploring in which ways exactly his metropolitan upbringing and education shaped his narrative.

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