Βίβλος ζώντων or Libro dei viventi. The Reception of Niketas Choniates' History in Umberto Eco's Baudolino

Abstract

Umberto Eco’s Baudolino , a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical accounts to have come down to us from the Byzantine period: Niketas Choniates’ History . Choniates himself features as one of the key characters in the novel. The History and its contents furnish Eco with abundant biographical material to help him establish the background of the hero Chonia­tes and develop his story. The historian’s personality and ideas, as reflected in his History , as well as his musings and practices on the recording of the past are also a source of inspiration for Eco. It is noteworthy that the Italian novelist enthusiastically embraces Choniates’ rhetorical and literary style. He translates almost verbatim or freely paraphrases the Byzantine historian’s text, in addition to enriching his novel with a variety of metaphors and images taken from Choniates’ laments. Eco acknowledges the performative qualities of Choniates’ narrative, essentially inviting modern readers and scholars to pay tribute to Choniates not only as a remarkable historian, but also as a gifted storyteller.