A Few Words about Ch. 72 of Antirrheticus III, Written by Nikephoros I (806–815), Patriarch of Constantinople

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It is beyond reasonable doubt that church hierarchs had huge and multifaceted influence on the communities in the Orthodox world. Due to his particular writing activity and his anti-iconoclastic views, Patriarch Nikephoros I (806–815) of Constantinople made no exception. The hierarch’s influence was felt not only by his contemporaries, but also by the next generations in Byzantium. However, it is worth noting that, in comparison with Breviarium‘s text, Patriarch Nikephoros offered quite a different viewpoint in Ch. 72 of Antirrheticus III in terms of the rule of Emperor Constantine V (741–775). In fact, this peculiarity provoked scholars who have paid attention to the large, complex, and often divergent topic concerning the use, reuse, and sometimes misuse or overuse of history and historical knowledge in Byzantium. It is a characteristic that cannot be perceived as extremely odd or surprising at all, especially if we take into consideration some questionable aspects of the iconoclastic period. In terms of Ch. 72 of Antirrheticus III, the major question is whether the prominent Byzantine hierarch stuck to the truth or he presented the facts in a tendentious way, because his version is more useful, and because the past is too important to be simply described for its own sake.