Layers of Authorship in the Tenth Century: Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and his Excerptor(es)

Abstract

Multilayered authorship can be found in the Excerpta Historica Constantiniana (EC), a Byzantine collection from the tenth century. The contribution focuses on the tension between the EC primary sources and the EC context as such, exploring the conceptual tool of Distributed Authorship and engaging both with the sender/receiver functions and with the power relations between the emperor and the excerptor(es). The EC Prooemium draws on the New Testament, namely, on the Epistle to the Ephesians, which in turn sheds light on Constantine VII’s cultural, political and religious agenda.