Leo the Mathematician

Leo the Mathematician, the Grammarian or the Philosopher (

archbishop of Thessalonica and later became the head of the Magnaura School of philosophy in Constantinople,^[4] where he taught Aristotelian logic

.

Life

Leo was born in

Byzantine emperor Theophilos, who, impressed by his international repute, conferred on him a school (ekpaideutērion) in either the Magnaura or the church of the Forty Martyrs.^[13]

In the version of the story recorded by

Symeon the Logothete, who makes Leo teach at the Magnaura from late 838 to early 840 and was paid handsomely.^[14]

Leo, an iconoclast sometimes accused of paganism, lost his metropolitancy with the end of the

automata, such as trees with moving birds, roaring lions, and a levitating imperial throne.^[2] The throne was in operation a century later, when Liutprand of Cremona witnessed it during his visit to Constantinople.^[21]^[22]

Works

Most of Leo's writings have been lost. He wrote book-length works, poems, and many

Paul of Alexandria, Theon of Alexandria, Proclus, Porphyry, Apollonius of Perga, the lost Mechanics of Quirinus and Marcellus, and possibly Thucydides.^[9] He composed his own medical encyclopaedia. Later Byzantine scholars sometimes confused Leo with the scholar Leo Choirosphaktes and the emperor Leo VI the Wise, and ascribe to him oracles

.

Primary sources

Recent years have seen the first translations into English of a number of primary sources about Leo and his times.

Featherstone, Jeffrey Michael and Signes-Codoñer, Juan (translators). Chronographiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur Libri I-IV (Chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus Books I-IV, comprising the reigns of Leo V the Armenian to Michael III), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2015.
Kaldellis, A. (trans.). On the reigns of the emperors (the history of Joseph Genesios), Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies; Byzantina Australiensia 11, 1998.
Ševčenko, Ihor (trans.). Chronographiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur Liber quo Vita Basilii Imperatoris amplectitur (Chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus comprising the Life of Basil I), Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011.
Wahlgren, Staffan (translator, writer of introduction and commentary). The Chronicle of the Logothete, Liverpool University Press; Translated Texts for Byzantinists, vol. 7, 2019.
Wortley, John (trans.). A synopsis of Byzantine history, 811-1057 (the history of
John Scylitzes
, active 1081), Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Notes

^ Symeon the Logothete, Chronographia 132.4. Symeon the Logothete as well as the separate recension of the Chronographia written by Pseudo-Symeon the Logothete mentions that Leo survives the 869 AD Earthquake of Byzantium, which occurred during the Feast of St. Polyeuktos on January 9th, 869.
^
ISBN 0-313-32437-9
), 294–95.

^ "History of the Pianola". Pianola Institute.
^
ISBN 978-0-19-285435-3
.

^ Штокало И. З., История отечественной математики. Том 1. С древнейших времен до конца XVIII в., Киев, Наукова Думка, 1966, p. 447
^ Философская Энциклопедия [ред. Ф. В. Константинова], Лев Математик, т. 3, Москва, 1964, pp. 156—157
^ Trkulja J., Lees C. Armenians in Constantinople, in: Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη, 2008
^ H. C. Evans, W. D. Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843—1261. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997, p. 351
^
doi:10.1093/past/28.1.3
.

^ Lemerle, Paul (2017). Byzantine Humanism: The First Phase: Notes and Remarks on Education and Culture in Byzantium from Its Origins to the 10th Century. Translated by Helen, Lindsay. Leiden: Brill. p. 172.
^ According to the Pseudo-Symeon, this student was Boïditzes, who betrayed Amorium to the caliph.
JSTOR 1291437
.

^ Symeon says the Magnaura, Continuatus the Forty Martyrs (Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 186).

^ Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 172.

^ Warren T. Treadgold (1997), A history of the Byzantine state and society (Stanford University Press), 447.

^ Warren T. Treadgold (1988), The Byzantine Revival, 780–842 (Stanford University Press), 372.

^ Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 187, believes, on the basis of the Logothete's account, that this occurred in 843 and was a re-founding of Theophilos' school.

ISBN 90-04-10811-4
.

^ Vlasto, A. P. (1970). The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33.

JSTOR 1861467
.

ISBN 0-271-01670-1
. Records Liutprand's description.

^ For a detailed discussion of Leo's telegraph and his automata, see Leone Montagnini (2002), "Leone il Matematico, un anello mancante nella storia della scienza", Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine Studi sull'Oriente Cristiano, 6 (2), 89–108.

ISBN 9788478002085
, p. 120-179.

External links

Katerina Ierodiakonou and Börje Bydén (2008), "Byzantine Philosophy." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leo_the_Mathematician&oldid=1208446321"

[1] Symeon the Logothete, Chronographia 132.4. Symeon the Logothete as well as the separate recension of the Chronographia written by Pseudo-Symeon the Logothete mentions that Leo survives the 869 AD Earthquake of Byzantium, which occurred during the Feast of St. Polyeuktos on January 9th, 869.

[rautman-2] 
ISBN 0-313-32437-9
), 294–95.

[3] "History of the Pianola". Pianola Institute.

[Holmes-4] 
ISBN 978-0-19-285435-3
.

[5] Штокало И. З., История отечественной математики. Том 1. С древнейших времен до конца XVIII в., Киев, Наукова Думка, 1966, p. 447

[6] Философская Энциклопедия [ред. Ф. В. Константинова], Лев Математик, т. 3, Москва, 1964, pp. 156—157

[7] Trkulja J., Lees C. Armenians in Constantinople, in: Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη, 2008

[8] H. C. Evans, W. D. Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843—1261. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997, p. 351

[browning-9] 
doi:10.1093/past/28.1.3
.

[10] Lemerle, Paul (2017). Byzantine Humanism: The First Phase: Notes and Remarks on Education and Culture in Byzantium from Its Origins to the 10th Century. Translated by Helen, Lindsay. Leiden: Brill. p. 172.

[11] According to the Pseudo-Symeon, this student was Boïditzes, who betrayed Amorium to the caliph.

[12] JSTOR 1291437
.

[13] Symeon says the Magnaura, Continuatus the Forty Martyrs (Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 186).

[14] Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 172.

[15] Warren T. Treadgold (1997), A history of the Byzantine state and society (Stanford University Press), 447.

[16] Warren T. Treadgold (1988), The Byzantine Revival, 780–842 (Stanford University Press), 372.

[17] Treadgold, "Chronological Accuracy ", 187, believes, on the basis of the Logothete's account, that this occurred in 843 and was a re-founding of Theophilos' school.

[Tougher1997-18] ISBN 90-04-10811-4
.

[Vlasto1970-19] Vlasto, A. P. (1970). The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33.

[Treadgold1979-20] JSTOR 1861467
.

[Safran1998-21] ISBN 0-271-01670-1
. Records Liutprand's description.

[22] For a detailed discussion of Leo's telegraph and his automata, see Leone Montagnini (2002), "Leone il Matematico, un anello mancante nella storia della scienza", Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine Studi sull'Oriente Cristiano, 6 (2), 89–108.

[23] ISBN 9788478002085
, p. 120-179.

[4]

[13]

[14]

[2]

[21]

[22]

[9]