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Natural Disasters in the Chronographia ofJohn Malalas

Reflections on their Function—An Initial Sketch

Mischa Meier is in Department of History, University of Tübingen. E-mail: mischa.meier{at}uni-tuebingen.de.

Christian chronicles have been regarded for a long time as an inferior sub-genre of historiography. One of the intentions of this article is to contribute towards a revision of this assessment—it does so through analysing the way natural disasters have been handled in the Chronographia of the Byzantine chronicler John Malalas. In accordance with the norms specific to the genre of Christian chronicles, Malalas too writes within a mould of salvation history, and interprets events as a manifestation of the workings of divine will. Especially during the reign of the emperor Justinian (527–65) the author observes the occurrence of several natural disasters, yet adheres to the view that these were not to be regarded as signs of an approaching end of the world. Instead, it would seem, that he wished to characterise the age of Justinian as an age of fear. As God spread fear through natural disasters so as to induce people to lead a life pleasing to God, the emperor too, at another level, disseminated fear in order to live up to his role as God's representative. Malalas interpreted contemporary events in terms of a retributive theology rooted in the Old Testament and for whose currency evidence could be found at different places during the sixth century.

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