History

   Genuine history as inherited from ancient Greek and Roman historians (e.g., of the sort written by Thucydides) declined after Prokopios of Caesarea (q.v.), to be replaced largely by the chronicle (q.v.). Nevertheless, the influence of classical models was never lost, as seen in the 11th-century works of Psellos and Anna Komnene (qq.v.). However, Psellos calls his Chronographia (q.v.) a chronicle, which points to a conceptual difference between history and chronicle that seems more apparent to us than it did to the Byzantines. The distinction between church history, as begun by Eusebios of Caesarea (q.v.), and secular history was maintained. Still, reference to divine intervention is not uncommon in secular histories. Psellos's Chronographia is unusual in this respect, for his analysis of events is focused on human motives and behavior.