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Secondary sourceBook630

Chronicon Paschale

Anonymous · 630

A 7th-century Greek chronicle that preserves a near-verbatim record of the shouting match before the Nika revolt against Justinian.

Preserves a quoted message attributed to Attila demanding Rome treat him as equal to its emperors.

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Title page of the 1729 Venice edition of the Chronicon Paschale, in Greek and Latin text, printed by Bartholomaei Javarina. Below the text is an engraved view of a walled city with spires, with two figures in period dress and armor in the foreground.
Chronicon Paschale, 1729 Venice printed edition (original composed c. 630).

About this source

What it is

The Chronicon Paschale is a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of world history, written by an anonymous author during the reign of Emperor Heraclius. It survives mainly in a damaged 10th-century manuscript.

Why it matters

Among its anecdotes and dated entries, it preserves the 'Acta dia Kalopodion', an almost word-for-word record of an angry exchange between Justinian's herald and the Green chariot-racing faction in the Hippodrome, just before the violent Nika revolt broke out. This makes it a rare window into the tensions that nearly toppled Justinian's rule.

Look closer

  • Why might a chronicler decades later choose to record an argument almost word for word?
  • What does the survival of ordinary people's shouted words tell us about life under an emperor like Justinian?
  • What might such a chronicle leave out or get wrong, given it was written so long after the events?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Attila the Hun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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