Towards the compilation principles of Excerpta historica Constantiniana
Towards the compilation principles of Excerpta historica Constantiniana

Summary/Abstract: Our knowledge about the mechanisms underlying the creation of Excerpta historica Constantiniana (EC) – an encyclopedia commissioned by the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in 10th century Byzantium – is still insuffi cient, despite a number of important studies. This paper sets out to approach this question on the basis of textual repetitions present in the text of EC. The overall goal is to shed light on the principles and methodology that were guiding the compilers of EC. In particular, the focus of this study lies on repetitions, i.e. those text passages of the same author that appear in at least two diff erent places in EC; Such pairs of passages are denoted as reiterations in the following. Overall, 54 pairs of reiterations were identifi ed by using automated tools and then analyzed. The respective length of the reiterated passages ranges from 8 to 150 words per reiteration; the reiterated passages were found in 101 excerpts. The subsequent analysis reveals two main types: the subset type and the intersection type. The former is found when the excerpt attesting the reiteration also contains a text not present in the counterpart excerpt. In turn, the latter type is found when only one of the excerpts contains a text not present in the counterpart excerpt. The two main types can be further classifi ed into two subtypes each: transition, patchworking, extraction, and duplication. The analysis of these types allows to reconstruct the workfl ow of the excerptors, in turn illuminating the methodology of the entire EC project.

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