Thomas, surnamed Magister or Magistros ( el, Θωμάς Μάγιστρος), also known by the

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...

Theodoulos Monachos, was a native of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

scholar and grammarian and confidential adviser of Andronikos II Palaiologos (ruled 1282–1328). His chief work, , is a collection of selected Attic words and phrases, partly arranged in alphabetical order, compiled as a help to Greek composition from the works of Phrynichus, Ammonius,

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death o ...

, and Moeris. He also wrote ''

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

'' on

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

(with a life), and three of the comedies of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

; the ''scholia'' on

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

, attributed to him in two manuscripts, are now assigned to

Demetrius Triclinius Demetrius Triclinius ( el, Δημήτριος Τρικλίνιος; b. ca. 1300), a native of Thessalonica, was a Byzantine scholar who edited and analyzed the metrical structure of many texts from ancient Greece, particularly those of Aeschylus, S ...

. His speeches and letters consist partly of declamations on the usual

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

ical themes, partly dealing with contemporary historical events: an argument between the fathers of

Cynaegirus Cynegirus or Cynaegirus ( grc, Κυνέγειρος ''Kunégeiros'' or ''Kunaígeiros''; died 490 BC) was an ancient Greek general of Athens and had three siblings. His two brothers were the playwright Aeschylus and Ameinias, hero of the battl ...

and

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...

(two Athenians who fell at the

Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of ...

) as to which had the better claim to have the funeral oration pronounced over him first; Thomas is the writer of a mirror of prince addressed to Andronikos II Palaiologos; a defence of the Byzantine general

Chandrenos Chandrenos ( el, Χανδρηνός; ) was a Byzantine general who distinguished himself in his successful expeditions against the Catalan Company. Very little is known about Chandrenos, as his life and deeds are recorded only in an oration to Empe ...

addressed to the emperor; a letter on the cruelties of the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan language, Catalan, French language, French and Occitan language, Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian language, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to Cataloni ...

and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

and Macedonia; a congratulatory letter to

Theodore Metochites Theodore Metochites ( el, Θεόδωρος Μετοχίτης; 1270–1332) was a Byzantine Greek statesman, author, gentleman philosopher, and patron of the arts. From c. 1305 to 1328 he held the position of personal adviser ('' mesazōn'') to e ...

; and a panegyric on the

king of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Anat ...

References

*Paola Volpe Cacciatore. ''Toma Magistro. La Regalità. Testo critico, introduzione e indici''. Naples: M. D'Auria, 1997. *Niels Gaul. ''Thomas Magistros und die spätbyzantinische Sophistik''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2008. Eastern Orthodox Christians from the Byzantine Empire Byzantine Thessalonian writers Byzantine grammarians 14th-century Byzantine writers Byzantine letter writers 14th-century Byzantine monks {{Byzantine-bio-stub

See also

References