, was one of the Byzantine historians, but biographers are not agreed
, was one of the Byzantine historians, but biographers are not agreed as to the period when
he lived. Some years ago, professor Walchius published
in the Gottingen Transactions an inquiry into this subject,
but was obliged to confess that he could arrive at no probable conclusion. Some place Glycas in the twelfth, and
some in the fifteenth century. No ancient record or writer
mentions even his name, and all that is known of him has
been gleaned from his works. It appears that he was a
native of Constantinople; but passed a great part of his
life in Sicily. Some have thought he was a monk, but this
is uncertain, nor do we know whether he lived in public
life, or in retirement. His letters, however, show that he
was a grammarian, and was acquainted with theology, history sacred and profane, and other branches of knowledge; and such was his reputation that he was frequently
consulted by monks, bishops, and the most celebrated
doctors of his time. His “Annals,
” by which only he is
now known, contain an account of the patriarchs, kings,
and emperors, and, in a word, a sort of history of the
world as far as the emperor Alexis Comnenus, who died in
1118, including many remarks on divinity, philosophy,
physic, astronomy, &c. Leunclavius first translated this
work into Latin, and the whole was published by father
Labbe, Paris, 1660, fol. Some of his letters have been
published in the “Deliciae eruditorum,
” Florence,