PHOTIUS

A Greek scholar of the Byzantine period, Patriarch of Constantinople A.D. 857-867 and 871-886; died 891. Besides playing a prominent part in the ecclesiastical controversies of his time, he was conspicious for his wide reading of ancient literature. Apart from theological writings, he left two works which are of great service to the student of antiquity. The one, the Bibliotheca, is an account of 280 works, some of which are now lost, some only imperfectly preserved, which he read on his embassy to Assyria, with short notices and criticisms of matter and style, and in some caqes more or less complete abstracts; the other a Lexicon or alphabetical glossary, of special value in connexion with the Greek orators and historians.