ROLE OF THE VIRGIN MARY AT THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN 626

of the article by M. Hurbani , The so-called Feast of Akathistos and the tradition of the Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626, in: M. Kulhánková, K. Loudová (eds.), Epea pteroenta. R zen Dostálové k narozeninám. (Epea pteroenta. Festschri in Honour of R zena Dostálová.) (Brno, 2009) 140­141. here, is a ributed to Theodore Syncellus.6 This is the first time when this text is introduced as an evidence of the mutual relationship between the siege of 626 and the Akathistos and its prooemium, though the homily is well known amongst Byzantinists.7 The fundamental historical commentary on the homily, day by day, with all parallel sources is given by F. Barisi .8 The French translation by Ferenc Makk provides a modest commentary, with the focus on Biblical references.9 Paul Speck, in his analysis of the poem Bellum Avaricum by George of Pisidia, refers repeatedly to the homily of Theodore Syncellus, taking also the Akathistos into consideration,10 but his remarks confine just to the passages which relate directly to the lines in the poem of George of Pisidia. From this it is clear that the essential part of the homily, the miracle of the Theotokos in Byzantine understanding, would need a thoroughgoing investigation, but this paper is concerned only with the dating of Prooemium . The homily on the siege is rather long, having in printed form a length of 904 lines. The composition is highly rhetorical and extravagantly panegyrical. Distangling all the intertwisted threads and (6) The extant manuscripts give no...