PROLOGUE

TO THE BOOK OF JOANNES LYDUS

ON THE ROMAN MAGISTRATES,

COMMENTARY

CONCERNING JOANNES LAURENTIUS LYDUS OF PHILADELPHIA,

LYDUS,

AND HIS WRITINGS.

I. What has been widely rumored for a long time now, not only in
France, but also in Germany, and in almost all of
literary Europe: namely, that the hitherto unpublished works of
Joannes Lydus John the Lydian (490–c. 565 AD), a Byzantine administrator and scholar whose works provide a rare glimpse into the transition from Roman to Byzantine governance. would be brought to light from an ancient manuscript
original: "Codice" brought from Constantinople;
a prospect which has been both highly approved and
eagerly desired by many scholars: that promise is now being fulfilled.
And since that most noble gentleman—to whom these works
rightfully belong by right of discovery, and who is now
overseeing their publication—requested that
Dominic Fuss, a young man most devoted to the study of
Greek literature, should The sentence continues on the next page, likely explaining that Fuss was asked to assist in the editing or translation process.