Malalas on the Maccabees: A Reappraisal
Choose format
RIS BIB ENDNOTEPublication date: 24.04.2026
ELECTRUM, 2026, Volume 33, pp. 311-325
https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.26.015.23128Authors
Malalas on the Maccabees: A Reappraisal
The article examines the account of John Malalas of Antioch concerning the reign of Antiochos IV Epiphanes and the events preceding the Maccabean revolt. In Book VIII of the Chronographia, Malalas combines elements of local Antiochene historiography, pro-Seleukid dossiers, and Christian interpretations. Particularly significant are those sections of Book VIII that present a Seleukid version of events in Palestine prior to the outbreak of the revolt, emphasizing economic crisis and fiscal disputes with Egypt, in which Antiochus appears as the defender of the Jews against Ptolemaic taxation. This narrative constitutes a characteristic Malalan interwinning of local legend and historical detail, which should not be dismissed, as it preserves a tradition independent of the 1 and 2 Books of the Maccabees.
Beaucamp, J. (2006), Le passé biblique et l’histoire juive: la version de Jean Malalas, in: Recherches sur la chronique de Jean Malalas II, Paris: 19–33.
Berthelot, K. (2004), La chronique de Malalas et les traditions juives, in: Recherches sur la chronique de Jean Malalas I, Paris: 37–51.
Bickerman, E. (1951), Les Maccabées de Malalas, Byzantion 21: 63–83 (= E. Bickerman, The Maccabees of Malalas, in: Studies in Jewish and Christian History: A New Edition in English Including The God of the Maccabees, vol. 1, Leiden–Boston 2007: 465–482).
Caire, E. (2017), Jean Malalas et la mémoire d’Antioche. Construction de l’espace et du temps dans la Chronique, l’exemple d’Épiphaneia, in: J. Borsch, O. Gengler, M. Meier (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas im Kontext spätantiker Memorialkultur (Malalas Studien 3), Stuttgart: 171–189.
Carrara, L., Gengler, O. (2017), Zu den Quellen der Chronik des Johannes Malalas: Eine Einleitung, in: Carrara – Meier – Radtki-Jansen 2017: 9–24.
Carrara, L., Meier, M., Radtki-Jansen, Ch. (eds.) (2017), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas. Quellenfragen, Stuttgart.
Croke, B. (1990), Malalas, the Man and His Work, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 1–27.
Downey, G. (1938), Seleukid Chronology in Malalas, AJA 42: 106–120.
Downey, G. (1961), A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest, Princeton.
Franklin, S. (1990), Malalas in Slavonic, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 276–287.
Hahn, J. (2012), The Veneration of the Maccabean Brothers in Fourth Century Antioch: Religious Competition, Martyrdom, and Innovation, in: G. Signori (ed.), Dying for the Faith, Killing for the Faith: Old-Testament Faith-Warriors (1 and 2 Maccabees) in Historical Perspective, Leiden: 79–104.
Honigman, S. (2014), Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion against Antiochos IV, Oakland, CA.
Istrin, V. M. (1994), Slavjanskij tekst Chroniki Ioanna Malaly [Slavonic Text of Malalas’ Chronicle], Moscow.
Janiszewski, P. (2006), The Missing Link: Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD, Warszawa.
Jeffreys, E. (1990a), Malalas’ Sources, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 167–216.
Jeffreys, E. (1990b), Malalas’ Use of the Past, in: G. W. Clarke et al. (eds.), Reading the Past in Late Antiquity, Canberra: 121–146.
Jeffreys, E. (1990c), Malalas in Greek, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 245–268.
Jeffreys, E. (1990d), Chronological Structures in Malalas’ Chronicle, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 111–166.
Jeffreys, E. (1996), The Chronicle of Malalas, Book I: A Commentary, in: P. Allen, E. Jeffreys (eds.), The Sixth Century: End or Beginning?, Brisbane: 52–74.
Jeffreys, E. (2003), The Beginning of Byzantine Chronography: John Malalas, in: G. Marasco (ed.), Greek and Roman Historiography in Late Antiquity, Fourth to Sixth Century A.D., Leiden–Boston: 497–527.
Jeffreys, E. (2010), Old Testament History and the Byzantine Chronicle, in: P. Magdalino, R. Nelson (eds.), The Old Testament in Byzantium, Washington, DC: 153–174.
Jeffreys, E., Croke, B., Scott, R. (eds.) (1990), Studies in John Malalas, Sydney (reprint Leiden 2017).
Jeffreys, E., Jeffreys, M., Scott, R. (1986), The Chronicle of John Malalas, Melbourne (reprint Leiden 2017).
Jones, C. P. (2011), The Historian Philostratus of Athens, CQ 61: 320–322.
Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, D. (2009), Christian Memories of the Maccabean Martyrs, New York–Basingstoke.
Kaye, N., Amitay, O. (2015), Kleopatra’s Dowry: Taxation and Sovereignty between Hellenistic Kingdoms, Historia 64: 132–168.
Kisbali, T. P. (2024), A Mask Looking Towards the City and the Valley: Observations on the “Charonion” in Antioch, Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art 14: 50–61, https://www.academia.edu/143568366/_A_Mask_Looking_Towards_the_City_and_the_Valley_Observations_on_the_Charonion_in_Antioch?sm=b (accessed on: December 30, 2025).
Marasco, G. (1997), Giovanni Malala e la tradizione ellenistica, Museum Helveticum 54: 29–44.
Pamir, H. (2017), An underworld Cult Monument in Antioch: The Charonion, in: Ç. Maner, M. T. Horowitz, A. S. Gilbert (eds.), Overturning Certainties in Near Eastern Archaeology: A Festschrift in Honor of K. Aslıhan Yener, Leiden–Boston: 543–556.
Roberto, U. (2017), The Influence of Julius Africanus’ Chronographiae on Malalas’ View of Ancient History, in: Carrara – Meier – Radtki-Jansen 2017: 49–69.
Rojas, F. (2021), The Charonion in Antioch: History, Magic, Antiquarianism, Archaeology, in: J. Ben-Dov, F. Rojas (eds.), Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East Carvings in and out of Time, Leiden–Boston: 161–185.
Sage, E. T., Schlesinger, A. C. (1935), Livy, History of Rome, vol. XI: Books 41–42, transl. E. T. Sage, rev. A. C. Schlesinger, Cambridge, MA.
Sartre, M. (2014), Histoire et mémoire(s) des Maccabées, in: M.-F. Baslez, O. Munnich (eds.), La Mémoire des persécutions: autour des livres des Maccabées, Leuven: 1–20.
Schultz, F., Meier, M. (2024), The Chronographia of John Malalas, in: R. Tocci (ed.), A Companion to Byzantine Chronicles, Leiden: 235–264.
Schwartz, D. (1998), Josephus’ Tobiads: Back to the Second Century?, in: M. Goodman (ed.), Jews in the Graeco-Roman World, Oxford: 47–61.
Spinka, M. (1940), The Chronicle of John Malalas, Books VIII–XVIII Translated from the Church Slavonic, Chicago, IL.
Stebnicka, K. (2015), L. Phlavios Philostratos, in: P. Janiszewski, K. Stebnicka, E. Szabat, Prosopography of Greek Rhetors and Sophists of the Roman Empire, Oxford: 295–296.
Stevenson, J. (1990), Malalas in Latin, in: Jeffreys – Croke – Scott 1990: 287–299.
Szabat, E. (2015), Ioannes Malalas, in: P. Janiszewski, K. Stebnicka, E. Szabat, Prosopography of Greek Rhetors and Sophists of the Roman Empire, Oxford: 180.
Thurn, I. (2000), Ioannis Malalae Chronographia, Berlin–New York.
Triebel, L. (2006), Die angebliche Synagoge der makkabäischen Märtyrer in Antiochia am Orontes, Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum 9: 464–495.
Whitby, M. (2007), The Biblical Past in John Malalas and the Paschal Chronicle, in: H. Amirav, B. Romeny (eds.), From Rome to Constantinople, Leuven–Paris–Dudley, MA: 279–302.
van Henten, J. W. (1997), The Maccabean Martyrs as Saviours of the Jewish People: A Study of 2 and 4 Maccabees, Leiden–Boston.
van Nuffelen, P. (2017), Malalas and the Chronographic Tradition, in: Carrara – Meier – Radtki-Jansen 2017: 261–272.
Information: ELECTRUM, 2026, Volume 33, pp. 311-325
Article type: Original scientific article
University of Warsaw
Poland
Published at: 24.04.2026
Article status: Open
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Article financing:
Percentage share of authors:
Article corrections:
-Publication languages:
English