Iōsēph Genesios

I have finished the Genesios. I have never read a book whose translator was so dubious about the value of the work he had just finished working on. The introduction begins with the information that but a single copy of the book exists and even the authorship is in some doubt, as the only clear connection is that the name 'Genesios" is scrawled on a margin of the text. The translator, Anthony Kaldellis, only uses that name for the author "For the sake of convenience". Also, there seems to be only one direct reference to this work anywhere else in the body of Byzantine histories. So far as Kaldellis is concerned the last two books of the work are confused chronologically and many episodes appear to be doubling and tripling of real incidents with the addition of colourful moments drawn from some hagiographies, and some other episodes such as the references to a man named Constantine, most likely an Armenian, are fictitious, or very special pleading.
It seems to me that the "Genesios" could have the kind of status in Byzantine studies that in the world of Medieval studies is accorded "A history of the kings of Britain" by Geoffrey of Monmouth, had it only obtained some circulation. Perhaps the author quietly stored the book away after a reread of the manuscript.… (mehr)