Menander Protector wrote a history of the Roman empire’s wars and diplomacy from 557 or 558 to 582.[1] It survives only in fragments.[2] It is the fullest account of the embassies that passed between the Göktürks and Constantinople from 568 to 576.

Author

Almost everything known of Menander comes from the preface of his history, which the Suda preserves.[3] His father, Euphratas, came from Byzantium and had no literary education.[4] His brother Herodotus began to train for the law and lost interest. Menander finished his studies but never took up the profession.[4] Instead, he says, he spent his time on the gang fights of the colours, the chariot races and the pantomimes. He lost his money and his good sense with them.[4] Maurice became emperor in 582. He loved poetry and history and offered rewards to writers.[4] Menander then began his history. He took up the story where Agathias had ended it.[4] The byname Protector is a court rank. The interests his history shows point to a career in diplomacy.[5]

Content and transmission

The history began where Agathias broke off, with the events of 557 or 558.[1] Theophylact Simocatta names Menander as the historian of the loss of Sirmium to the Avars.[6] Modern accounts take 582 as the last year of the history.[1] A manuscript note places the embassy of 576 in the eighth book. The whole may have run to ten books.[7]

One copy of the history survived into the tenth century. The compilers of the Excerpta de Legationibus and the Excerpta de Sententiis cut it up for their collections. These collections preserve almost everything that remains.[2] The Suda adds many short passages.[2] Most of what concerns the Göktürks comes from the excerpts on embassies. A smaller part comes from the excerpts on sentences, which are short pieces cut loose from their context.[8]

The Göktürk fragments

Two sentences belong to the early history of the Göktürks.[9] In the first, Silzibul, the leader of the Göktürks, hears that the Avars have fled after plundering Göktürk land.[10] He says that they are neither birds nor fish, to escape him through the air or under the sea. He says that he will fall on them once the Hephthalite war is over.[10] In the second, the Hephthalite Katulph holds his ruler back from an advance. He does so with a proverb: one dog on its home ground is mightier than ten strangers.[11]

Fragment 10 covers the embassies of 568 to 571.[12] It begins with the embassies to Persia. It tells of the Sogdian request to sell silk in Persia, Khosrow’s council and the burning of the silk, and the poisoned Göktürk embassy.[13] It goes on to the embassy of Maniakh to Justin II and the emperor’s questions.[13] It ends with the embassy of Zemarchos: the purification by fire, the court on the mountain Ektag, the march toward Talas, and the return by the Volga, the Alans and Trapezus.[14] Fragment 13.5 names the Göktürks as the power that most encouraged Justin to go to war with Persia.[15]

The letter that Maniakh brought to Justin II is described as written in Scythian.[13] Menander does not say whether the letters were runiform or Sogdian.[16] Some scholars set the letter beside the Zhou Shu’s remark that the Göktürks wrote like the Hu, and beside the Sogdian stone of Bugut.[17] They conclude that a script based on the Sogdian alphabet probably existed under the first khans.[17]

Fragment 19 covers the embassy of Valentinos in 576.[18] It names the hundred and six Göktürks he took home. It also names the eight parts into which the Göktürk realm was divided.[19] It gives the speech of Turxanthos and the mourning for his father. It reports the sending of the envoys on to Tardush and the taking of Bosporos.[18] In a later fragment the emperor Tiberius tells Avar envoys that the Göktürks are encamped at Cherson.[20]

Names and words

Istemi’s name is written Sizabulos in the account of 568 to 571, and Dizabulos in older editions.[21] The sentence on the Avars and the account of 576 write Silzibulos.[21] The name is the Sinjibu of the Arabic sources. Modern accounts identify it with Istemi.[21] Menander calls him the leader of the Göktürks. Once, where Zemarchos is led to his camp, he calls him the Chagan.[22] Menander also records a word of the Göktürks’ own, dochia. It is their name for the rites owed to the dead.[19]

Menander uses Scythian loosely for the peoples of Central Asia.[23] He calls the Göktürks Turks. Twice he adds a word about the name: once that they had formerly been called Sacae, once that they were Scythians of the people called Turks.[24]

Reliability

Menander is contemporary with the events he reports. He is independent of the Chinese tradition. Every Chinese history of the Göktürks was compiled at least eighty years after Bumin’s death. All of them stand in one line of transmission. Menander stands outside that line entirely.

His accounts of the embassies rest on the reports of the envoys Zemarchos and Valentinos.[25] He dates the departure of Zemarchos by reign year, indiction year and Latin month. This points to an official record. He also appears to have had ready access to the imperial archives.[26] The speeches of the Göktürks in his fragments are short and plain, with little of the rhetoric of the schools. They seem to follow the boastful oratory of the steppe.[27] The strange details of the journeys have parallels in other accounts of travel among the nomads. There is therefore no reason to think them invented.[25] For Istemi’s dealings in the west, that makes him the closest witness there is.

Relation to other sources

Menander did not copy another surviving work for his Göktürk material. John of Ephesus wrote his Syriac account of the embassy of Zemarchos before Menander began. The two differ too much for either to derive from the other.[28] Theophanes of Byzantium wrote a history of the same years. Only the summary of the patriarch Photios survives.[2] The summary is too brief to show whether Theophanes drew on Menander or Menander on Theophanes.[2] John of Epiphania also covered some of the same events. He appears to be independent of Menander.[2]

Theophylact Simocatta wrote a generation later. He knew Menander and used him to supplement his main source, John of Epiphania, above all on diplomacy.[1] Theophylact’s Var and Chunni, the supposed ancestors of the Avars, may be no more than the Uarkhonitai of Turxanthos’s speech in Menander.[29]

Editions

The Greek text stands in the edition of Ludwig Dindorf and, with a facing Latin translation, in that of Karl Müller. R. C. Blockley gives the text with an English translation and historiographical notes. Blockley’s fragment 10 corresponds to Müller’s fragments 18 to 22. His fragment 19 corresponds to Müller’s 43 to 45. Henry Yule gave English extracts of the Göktürk fragments.

Open questions

The transmission is fragmentary, so what survives was selected by later excerptors for their own purposes. A silence in Menander is not evidence of absence.

The passage

Menander Protector, fragment 10.3: Zemarchos at the court of Dizabulos

ἔπειτα ἐπορεύοντο ξὺν τοῖς ἐς τὸ τοιόνδε τεταγμένοις, ἵνα ὁ Χαγάνος αὐτὸς ἦν, ἐν ὄρει τινὶ λεγομένῳ Ἐκτάγ, ὡς ἂν εἴποι χρυσοῦν ὄρος Ἕλλην ἀνήρ.

καὶ τοίνυν αὐτοῦ ἀφικόμενοι, ὅπῃ τηνικαῦτα τῷ Διζαβούλῳ ἦσαν αἱ διατριβαί, κατὰ δὴ κοιλάδα τινὰ τοῦ προσαγορευομένου χρυσοῦ ὄρους, ἐπεὶ οὖν οἱ περὶ Ζήμαρχον ἐκεῖσε ἐφοίτησαν, μετάκλητοι γενόμενοι παραχρῆμα τοῦ Διζαβούλου ἦλθον ἐς ὄψιν.

ἦν δὲ ἄρα ἔνδον σκηνῆς, καθῆστο δὲ ἐπὶ διτρόχου καθέδρας χρυσῆς, ἑλκομένης, ὁπηνίκα ἔδει, ὑφ᾽ ἵππου ἑνός.

προσειπόντες δὲ τὸν βάρβαρον, ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς, τὰ δῶρα προΐσχοντο.

καὶ τοίνυν οἷς γε τοῦτο ἐν φροντίσιν ἦν ὑπεδέξαντο.

ἀτὰρ ὁ Ζήμαρχος “σοὶ δῆτα, ἔφη, ὦ τοσούτων ἐθνῶν ἡγεμόν, ὁ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας, ἀγγελιαφόρῳ χρησάμενος ἐμοί, ἐσήμηνεν εἶναι ἐς ἀεὶ τὴν τύχην αἰσίαν τε καὶ ἀγαθήν, ἐν ἡδονῇ ποιουμένῳ σοι τὰ Ῥωμαίων, καὶ πρός γε φιλοφρονουμένῳ ἡμᾶς.

ἔστω δέ σοι κρατεῖν ἀεὶ τῶν δυσμενῶν καὶ λαφυραγωγεῖν τὸ πολέμιον.

ἀπέστω δὲ βασκανία τις ὡς πορρωτάτω ἡμῶν οἵα τε οὖσα διαρρηγνύναι τοὺς τῆς φιλίας θεσμούς.

ἐπιτήδεια ἔμοιγε τῶν Τούρκων τὰ φῦλα καὶ ὅσα κατήκοα Τούρκων·

ἕξετε δὲ τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἄλλως.”

τοιαῦτα ἄττα ἔλεξεν ὁ Ζήμαρχος· ὁ δὲ δὴ Διζάβουλος καὶ αὐτὸς προσρήσεσιν ἐχρήσατο ὁμοίαις.

εἶτα τὸ λοιπὸν ἐτράπησαν ἐς θοίνην, καὶ πανημέριοι εὐωχούμενοι διετέλουν ἐν αὐτῇ δήπου τῇ σκηνῇ.

Then they travelled, with those appointed for this purpose, to where the Chagan himself was, on a mountain called Ektag, which a Greek would call the Golden Mountain.

They arrived at the place where Dizabulos was then staying, in a valley of the so-called Golden Mountain. When Zemarchos and his men had come there, they were summoned and at once came into the presence of Dizabulos.

He was inside a tent, seated on a golden seat with two wheels, which, when necessary, was drawn by a single horse.

They greeted the barbarian and, as was the custom, held out the gifts.

And those whose task it was received them.

Then Zemarchos said: “To you, ruler of so many peoples, our great emperor, using me as his messenger, has declared that your fortune shall be favourable and good for ever, since you regard the affairs of the Romans with pleasure and show kindness to us.

May you always prevail over your foes and plunder the enemy.

May any envy that is able to break the bonds of friendship stay as far from us as possible.

To me, at least, the tribes of the Turks and all who are subject to the Turks are friends.

And you, too, will regard us in no other way.”

Such were the words of Zemarchos, and Dizabulos for his part answered in similar words.

Then they turned to feasting for the rest of the time, and spent the whole day feasting in that same tent.

[22] Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.3

References

  1. ^ a b c d Blockley 1985, p. 4
  2. ^ a b c d e f Blockley 1985, p. 3
  3. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 1
  4. ^ a b c d e Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 1.1
  5. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 1–2
  6. ^ Theophylact Simocatta; Whitby 1986, I.3.5
  7. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 4–5
  8. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 4.1–4.3, 10.1–10.5, 19.1–19.2
  9. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 4.2–4.3
  10. ^ a b Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 4.2
  11. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 4.3
  12. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.1–10.5
  13. ^ a b c Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.1
  14. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.2–10.5
  15. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 13.5
  16. ^ Menander Protector
  17. ^ a b Vásáry 1993, p. 53
  18. ^ a b Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1–19.2
  19. ^ a b Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1
  20. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 25.2
  21. ^ a b c Blockley 1985, p. 262
  22. ^ a b Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.3
  23. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 9
  24. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.2, 19.1
  25. ^ a b Blockley 1985, p. 13
  26. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 1, 6
  27. ^ Blockley 1985, p. 10
  28. ^ Dickens 2021, p. 543
  29. ^ Whitby 1986, p. 189

Sources

Literature

  • R. C. Blockley, The History of Menander the Guardsman: Introductory Essay, Text, Translation, and Historiographical Notes (1985)
  • Ludwig Dindorf (ed.), Historici Graeci minores, Bd. II: Menander Protector et Agathias (1871)
  • Karl Müller (ed.), Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, Bd. IV (darin: Menandri Protectoris fragmenta, griechisch mit lateinischer Übersetzung) (1851)
  • Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, vol. I (1866)
  • Étienne de la Vaissière, Sogdian Traders: A History (2005)
  • Szabolcs Felföldi, A prominent Hephthalite: Katulph and the fall of the Hephthalite Empire (2001)
  • Mark Dickens (Turkish trans.), Zemarkhos'un elçiliği hakkında Efesli Yuhanon (John of Ephesus on the Embassy of Zemarchus) (2021)
  • Michael Whitby, Mary Whitby (trans.), The History of Theophylact Simocatta (1986)
  • István Vásáry, Doğu Avrupa'nın Runik Alfabe Sistemleri Üzerine (1993)

Articles resting on this source 108

Alans · Anagai · Anankhast · Ancestor Cult · Animism · Apa Tarkan · Arsilas · Avar Craftsmen · Avars · Battle of Bukhara · Bochan · Bosporos · Bukhara · Bulgars · Bumin Khan · Burial and the balbal · Byzantium · Captives and the Unfree · Cherson · Culture of the Turkic Peoples · Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires · Dochia · Ektag · Embassy of Valentinos (576) · Envoys and Embassies · Fire Worship · First Göktürk Khaganate · Flight of the Avars (557) · Following in Death · Funeral of Istemi (576) · Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road · Göktürk Expansion into Europe · Göktürk Face-Cutting · Göktürk Ironworking · Grape Wine in Central Asia · Hephthalites · History of the Turkic peoples · Istemi · Istemi's campaign against Persia, 569 · Iye · John of Ephesus · Justin II · Kam (Turkic Shaman) · Katulph · Khan (Khagan) · Khosrow I · Kumys · Kutrigurs · Maniakh · Maniakh's embassy to Constantinople, 568 · Millet Beer · Ogurs · Omens and Divination · Onogurs · Oxus · Post and Communication · Purification by Fire · Raw Materials and Trade among the Turkic Peoples · Rouran · Rouran Khaganate · Sabirs · Sacred Mountains · Sacrifice and the year · Sasanian Persia · Seating at the Feast · Shamanism · Siege of Bosporos, 576 · Silk in the Steppe · Sogdiana · Sogdians · Steppe Diet · Strava · Subjugation of the Alans and Onogurs (before 576) · Tagma Tarkhan · Tardush · Tarkhan · Tengrism · The Economy of the Steppe Empires · The embassies to Ctesiphon, 568 · The embassy of Zemarchos, 569 · The Göktürk Feast · The Göktürk Oath · The Göktürk–Byzantine alliance · The Göktürk–Hephthalite war, 555–563 · The Göktürk–Rouran Wars · The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict · The Göktürks before Cherson (579) · The Great Empires of the Steppe · The origin of the Avars · The Sogdian language · Theophanes of Byzantium · Trade Routes of the Steppe · Transoxiana · Türk-shad · Turkic Tribes in Europe · Turkic-Sogdian Synthesis · Utigurs · Valentinos · Volga · Wagons of the Steppe Peoples · Warfare of the Steppe Empires · Water Cult · Western Göktürk Khaganate · Women among the Turkic Peoples · Wood and Woodworking · Yabgu · Yenisei Kirghiz · Zemarchos

Related

What links here55

Persons
Anagai · Anankhast · Arsilas · Bochan · Istemi · Justin II · Katulph · Khosrow I · Maniakh · Tagma Tarkhan · Valentinos · Zemarchos
States
Byzantium · First Göktürk Khaganate · Sasanian Persia · Western Göktürk Khaganate
Conflicts
Göktürk Expansion along the Silk Road · Göktürk Expansion into Europe · The Göktürk–Sasanian Trade Conflict
Battles & Events
Battle of Bukhara · Istemi's campaign against Persia, 569 · Siege of Bosporos, 576 · The embassies to Ctesiphon, 568 · The Göktürk–Byzantine alliance
Places
Bosporos · Cherson · Ektag · Volga
Peoples
Kutrigurs · Ogurs · Onogurs · Sabirs · Turkic Tribes in Europe · Utigurs
Institutions and Titles
Göktürk Ironworking · Raw Materials and Trade among the Turkic Peoples · The Economy of the Steppe Empires · The Göktürk Oath · Warfare of the Steppe Empires
Religions
Animism · Dochia · Following in Death · Göktürk Face-Cutting · Purification by Fire · Sacred Mountains · Shamanism · Water Cult
Foods
Grape Wine in Central Asia
Customs & Pastimes
Seating at the Feast · The Göktürk Feast
Sources
John of Ephesus · Tabari · Theophanes of Byzantium · Theophylact Simocatta
Controversies
The origin of the Avars

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Menander Protector.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/sources/menander-protector/

Last revised: 8 November 2026