ABSTRACT
A sylloge of passages taken from a number of historical works is known under the conventional title Epitome of the Seventh Century. The Epitome comprises excerpts from the ecclesiastical histories by Eusebius of Caesarea, Gelasius of Caesarea, and Theodorus Anagnosta as well as excerpts from John Diacrinomenus and Philip of Side, and a series of anonymous fragments. This chapter considers the manuscript tradition of the Epitome and demonstrates that the text is a collection of passages excerpted from different sources, contrary to the widely held opinion that the Epitome was the summary of a single work. It reflects on the original structure of the Epitome, and examines the use of Eusebius’ HE by the compiler of the Epitome. In particular, the examination of the Eusebian excerpts helps to establish how the manuscripts of the Epitome are related to each other and what distinctive contribution was made by the compiler, and to determine the working method applied in the sylloge.
