John Skylitzes

John Skylitzes (Greek: Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, Latin: Ioannes Scyllitzes; early 1040s – after 1101), was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century.

Quotes

• οἶδε γὰρ ἡ ἀνάγνωσις ἀνάμνησιν ἐμποιεῖν, ἡ δ᾽ ἀνάμνησις τρέφειν καὶ μεγαλύνειν τὴν μνήμην, ὥσπερ τουναντίον ἡ ἀμέλεια καὶ ῥαστώνη ἐπιφέρειν ἀμνηστίαν, ἦτινι πάντως ἕπεται λήθη ἀμαυροῦσα καὶ συγχέουσα τὴν μνήμην τῶν πεπραγμένων.
  • Reading provokes recollection; recollection nourishes and expands memory, just as, quite the contrary, negligence and laziness provoke forgetfulness which darkens and confuses the memory of what has happened in the past.
  • Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν (Synopsis of Histories), Foreword, 53–57 (ed. Hans Thurn, 1973; tr. John Wortley, 2010)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on John Skylitzes on Wikipedia