ABSTRACT
Niketas wrote the history of the Byzantine Empire up to the Fourth Crusade seeking the cause of this catastrophe. The work is often described as a classicizing history, yet the ancient author most often cited is Homer. The language is difficult to translate and to understand, and readers are left puzzling over what Niketas thought himself about the events. There are innumerable places where Niketas uses words that have only one attestation in Liddell and Scott. But it is not only the style that presents difficulties. The meaning of the text at times seems contradictory and paradoxical. The situation is not helped by the fact that Niketas revised his work and was noticeably more critical in the comments he added later. The chapter looks at the problems of the text and gives brief details about the author’s life and times, an overview of the history and a brief literature review.
