The Alexiad () is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. puts the date of the composition after 1148 without arguing his case. explains that "Anna was working on the Alexiad after the mid-1140s because in it she comments obliquely on the politics surrounding the Second Crusade (1145–1149)." It was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek, the literary dialect of classical Greece. Anna described the political and military history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of her father, thus providing a significant account on the Byzantium of the High Middle Ages. Among other topics, the Alexiad documents the Byzantine Empire's interaction with the Crusades and highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early 12th century. It does not mention the schism of 1054 – a topic which is very common in contemporary writing. It documents firsthand the decline of Byzantine cultural influence in eastern and western Europe, particularly in the West's increasing involvement in its geographic sphere. The Alexiad was paraphrased in vernacular medieval Greek in the mid-14th century to increase its readability, which testifies to the work's lasting interest.
Structure
The book is divided into 15 books and a prologue. Its scope is limited to the duration of Alexios' reign, which it is thus able to depict in full detail, especially regarding political relations between the Byzantine Empire and western European powers.
1. Attacks against the Byzantine empire by the Normans, under their leader Robert Guiscard (Books 1–6):
Book 1 addresses Alexios' becoming general and Domestikos ton Scholon. It also discusses the Normans' preparation for their invasion. Book 2 addresses the Komnenian revolt. Book 3 addresses Alexios as Emperor (1081), the internal problems with Doukas family, and the Normans' crossing the Adriatic Sea. Book 4 addresses war against the Normans (1081–1082). Book 5 also addresses war against the Normans (1082–1083) and their first clash with the "heretics". Book 6 addresses the end of war against the Normans (1085) and the death of Robert Guiscard.
2. Byzantine relations with the Turks (Books 6–7, 9–10, and 14–15):
Book 7 addresses war against the Scythians (1087–1090). Book 9 addresses operations against Tzachas and the Dalmatians (1092–1094) and the conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes (1094). Book 10 addresses war against the Cumans and the beginning of the First Crusade (1094–1097). Book 14 addresses Turks, Franks, Cumans and Manicheans (1108–1115). Book 15 addresses the last expeditions — The Bogomils — Death of Alexios (1116–1118).
3. Pecheneg incursions on the northern Byzantine frontier (Books 7–8)
Book 8 addresses the end of the Scythian war (1091) and plots against the Emperor.
4. The First Crusade and Byzantine reactions to it (Books 10–11)
Book 11 also addresses the First Crusade (1097–1104).
5. Attacks on Byzantine frontiers by Robert Guiscard's son, Bohemond I of Antioch (Books 11–13)
Book 12 addresses domestic conflicts and the Norman preparation for their second invasion (1105–1107). Book 13 addresses Aaron's conspiracy and the second Norman invasion (1107–1108).
Themes The central focus of the Alexiad is the reign of Alexios Komnenos from 1081 to 1118. Anna presents an idealised portrait of her father's reign centering on his struggles with rivals such as Normans, Pechenegs, Turks, and the Latins of the First Crusade. While she acknowledges some of her father's faults and repeatedly emphasises her desire to achieve the objectivity suitable to a historian, Anna repeatedly praises him as a model ruler. His victories are credited to his guile and to divine support, while his defeats are usually softened by accounts of personal valor or of later success resulting from initial setbacks. He is often compared to figures from classical antiquity, with historians such as Leonora Neville emphasising how "the characterization of Alexios as wily sea captain steering the empire through constant storms with guile and courage strongly recalls Odysseus".
Narrative style The Alexiad was written in Greek in around 1148 and first edited by Possinus in 1651. Anna Komnene described herself in the text and openly acknowledges her feelings and opinions for some events, which goes against the typical format of historiography. She differed widely from Greek prose historians and because of this the book was initially well received; it was subjected to criticism later. The Alexiad interests many historians because Anna wrote it in a different format to the norm of the time. Anna Komnene is the only female Greek historiographer of her era and historians are keen to believe that her style of writing owes much to her being a woman. Despite including herself in the historiography and the other qualities that make her style vastly different from the typical historiography of the era, Anna Komnene's Alexiad has been seen as a "straightforward" history.
Influences Dates for the composition of the Alexiad range from the 1130s into the early 1150s, but scholars generally prefer a later composition since numerous aspects of the text seem to be critical of Manuel I Komnenos, who only took power in 1143. The Alexiad is an important source for the history of the First Crusade, but Anna wrote shortly after the Second Crusade's passage through Byzantine territory. She defended the actions of her father half a century earlier, likely in response to criticism of Alexios that sought to contrast the events to Manuel's more recent dealings with the crusaders. Similarly, her treatment of personages in the 1107-1108 Norman invasion by Bohemond makes indirect reference to the attack on the southern Balkans by Roger II in 1147. Clear parallels between the Alexiad and the Gesta Roberti Wiscardi, a Latin history of Robert Guiscard and the Normans in Italy up to the late 1090s, are indicative that Anna had access to either the text or notes by the author, but the precise chain of transmission is unclear. The relationship between the Alexiad and the work of John Zonaras is similarly not clear: John and Anna were writing at the same time and while it is possible that they saw drafts of the other's work, direct influences have been difficult to trace. The strong overlap in content between parts of the Alexiad and the Hyle Historia by Anna's husband Nikephoros Bryennios has been explained by the use of common materials as Anna directly disputes many of Bryennios’ ideas. The reception of Michael Psellos was important in the 1130s-1150s and Anna was part of the literary circle engaging with his works.
Bias In her introduction, Anna Komnene stated her intention to record true events and to give an account of her father's deeds which "do not deserve to be consigned to forgetfulness". She is aware that in writing her father's history she may be accused of using panegyric language and often tries to remind the reader of her integrity as an impartial reporter of past events. Emphasis on Alexios as a "specifically Christian emperor", and a moral as well as politically laudable one, is pervasive. Peter Frankopan compares Alexios' treatment in the text to the techniques of the hagiographical tradition, while contrasting it with the negative portrait of or the absence of, his successors John II and Manuel I. Anna discussed the Latins (Normans and "Franks"), whom she described as barbarians. This distaste extends to the Turks and Armenians. The Alexiad also criticized John II Komnenos for his accession to the throne (in place of Anna herself) following Alexios' death. From a modern reader's point of view, the inconsistencies in the descriptions of military events and the Empire's misfortunes (partially due to these literary and especially Homeric influences) may seem exaggerated and stereotypical. Despite these issues, George Ostrogorsky emphasizes the importance of the Alexiad as a primary document.
Questions of authorship There has been some debate as to whether the Alexiad was in fact written by Anna Komnene. It is largely agreed that Anna Komnene was the author. Mentions in the text of her engagement, her role as a wife and the commentary on her female modesty that influences her writing make Anna's authorship of the Alexiad "unmistakable", according to some scholars. The predominance of military matters is argued to match Anna's choice to write history in the epic genre, reflecting the cultural influence of her family. She certainly could have written about military affairs, since she was able to accompany her father, the emperor, on military campaigns. She names her sources explicitly as "those who accompanied the emperor on campaign", as well as Alexios Komnenos and George Palaiologos, so that "[i]t is not necessary to imagine that she left out a reference to her most important source". Many scholars believe that the great detail about her father's home life and military style, combined with her experiences and mentions of femininity, provide a strong case for her authorship of the Alexiad.
The few passages in the text that can be identified as the author's subjective commentary, aside from emotionally charged references to her husband, hardly betray the author's gender or any other aspect of her background. This feature was seized on by James Howard-Johnston who argued, controversially, that the Alexiad could not have been written by a woman. Drawing attention to the extensive military sections of the Alexiad and suggesting that Anna was merely working from her husband's field notes, Howard-Johnston proposed to rename the work "Nicephoros's Alexiad". However, as Peter Frankopan pointed out, no comparable work by a woman survives from the Byzantine period and "there is no reason why this author should conform to a model set out by the reader" (i.e. to contemporary assumptions about gender).
Representations of emotion Women of the aristocracy had more opportunities to pursue higher education, in comparison to those of humble origins, whose education was mainly learning to write and read, memorizing psalms and studying the scriptures. Some female aristocrats had an interest in literature and would be praised for their depth of knowledge by contemporary writers. Despite that, Komnene's high education and expertise in secular literature – the study of which was typically discouraged – remained exceptional.
In the Alexiad, Anna Komnene portrays the human condition with vivid imagery: