On the Magistrates of the Roman Republic

Register page 186. B. original Greek: "Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρωπομόρφων καὶ Νειλώων ζώων καὶ τοῖς πάλαι ἱσόρηται. τίνος δὲ σημαντικὸν ἡ τούτων ἐνδημία καθέστηκεν, εἰπεῖν ἐθάῤῥησεν ὁ Λυδὸς, τῶν ἄλλων λίαν νεώτερος καθεστὼς, ὃς κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους ἐγνωρίζετο Ἰουστινιανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος." Concerning human-shaped creatures and those from the Nile, the ancients have also recorded stories; however, Lydus—who was much more recent than the others and was known during the time of the Emperor Justinian—had the courage to explain what their presence signifies. Regarding this passage in the Greek Vatican Codex 977 (recently moved to Paris), which contains the history by Theophylactus Theophylactus Simocatta (7th century), a Byzantine historian. along with unpublished scholia Ancient or medieval marginal notes and commentaries on a text., the following is read: original Greek: "Σημείωσον, ὅτι ὁ Λυδὸς, ὁ περὶ κομητῶν, καὶ ἴριδος, καὶ λοιπῶν περὶ τὸν ἀέρα παθῶν ἑρμηνεύσας, ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις ἦν Ἰουστινιανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος." Note that Lydus, who provided interpretations concerning comets, the rainbow, and other phenomena in the atmosphere, lived in the times of the Emperor Justinian.

Moreover, the fact that Lydus’s volumes had even penetrated across the ocean by the end of that same century is evidenced by the Venerable Bede An English monk and scholar (672–735 AD) known as the "Father of English History." in Britain. Before the year 735, Bede published a portion of Lydus's book On Portents, shortened and translated into Latin, under the title: A Little Book on Thunder, addressed to Herenfrid, from the Complete Works, published at Cologne, Volume I, 1612, folio columns 387–390. In the preface of this work, Bede asks this Herenfrid:

...that by the anchor of your holy discourse, and that of your faithful followers, you might cause this little work—translated into Latin from [speech] by your faithful servant—to remain stable and unharmed by the disparagement of envious people or enemies.

In this passage, instead of the words "from speech," one should write "from Greek," or "from the Greek speech." That these excerpts were taken from the book On Portents had already been conjectured by J. A. Fabricius in his Latin Library Johann Albert Fabricius (1668–1736), a German classical scholar and bibliographer..