John Lydus: On the Months

The first of these, the calendrical work De mens., will be discussed in greater detail below. De ost. is a compilation of material relating to discovering signs of future events in celestial phenomena such as comets, eclipses, and in astrological observation.82. The reference edition is still C. Wachsmuth (ed.), Ioannis Laurentii Lydi Liber de ostentis et Calendaria Graeca omnia, 2nd ed. (Leipzig, 1897). See now also the annotated Italian translation, I. Domenici (ed., intr.) and E. Maderna (tr.), Giovanni Lido: Sui segni celesti (Milan, 2007); on the content, see further J. M. Turfa, Divining the Etruscan World: The Brontoscopic Calendar and Religious Practice (Cambridge, 2012), including an English translation (pp. 86ff. with Greek text preceding) of the section attributed to Nigidius Figulus / Tages based on Bekker's (1837) Greek text; C. Macías Villalobos, "Terremotos y astrología en el mundo antiguo: El papel de los Etruscos," MHNH 10 (2010), pp. 246-66. D. Lehoux, Astronomy, Weather and Calendars in the Ancient World (Cambridge, 2007), pp. 357ff., gives a translation of the parapegma section attributed to Clodius Tuscus (based on Wachsmuth's Greek text). A. C. Bandy (ed., tr.), Ioannes Lydus: On Celestial Signs (De ostentis) (Lewiston, 2013), is problematic but is the sole English translation of the whole work to date. Appendix A below quotes his translation of the section of De ost. counted as fr. 8 of Cornelius Labeo by Mastandrea. De mag. is an account of the various magistracies of the Roman state across the centuries, focusing especially on the Praetorian prefecture (Book 2), its history, and John's personal experience within this branch of government (Book 3).83. Because this is a major source of information on Byzantine governmental structures (as well as the main source on John's life), nearly all scholarship that deals with John in any way treats this work—see especially the contributions of Kelly, Maas, Carney, and Caimi. The standard edition of the Greek text (with French translation) is now Dubuisson-Schamp; cf. also D. Feissel, "Traduire Lydos: Notes en marge de la nouvelle édition de Jean le Lydien, Des magistratures de l'état romain," L'Antiquité Tardive 17 (2009), pp. 339-57. Bandy's original edition, Ioannes Lydus: On Powers or The Magistracies of the Roman State (Philadelphia, 1983), is worth consulting, as is Carney's translation, Bureaucracy (Lawrence, Kansas, 1971).

The absolute chronology of the works is not firm, but although Photius lists De ost. first, it seems clear that De mens. was actually the first of these to be written. Both De ost. and De mag. refer to it explicitly.84. De ost. 7, 25; De mag. proem, 1.8, and repeatedly thereafter. More particularly, at De mens. 4.79, in a discussion of the interpretation of earthquakes mentioning the legendary Etruscan Tages, John appears to be announcing the work that would become De ost. as currently in progress.85. Cf. John's material attributed to Tages in De ost. 27-38, 55-58.

De ost. 1, quoted above for John's apparently sincere belief in the possibility of celestial indicators of terrestrial events, provides a terminus post quem (the limit after which) for the work on signs. John says that he was prompted to take signs more seriously—and write about them—after the appearance of a comet and a Persian invasion of Syria ("as far as the Orontes") roused him from his prior skeptical attitude; this event is identifiable as the