The Alexiad of Anna Komnene

Abstract Anna Komnene, eldest child of Alexios Komnenos, wrote a history of her father’s reign (1081–1118), relying on various materials left by her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios (d.1138). Bryennios had received the commission from Alexios’ widow. Husband and wife were both noted intellectuals, but with very different interests—theological and philosophical for Anna, military and diplomatic for Nikephoros. The campaign narratives, which dominate the Alexiad (after the initial Komnenian coup), and associated diplomacy, originated as notes, drafts, and near-finished text inherited by Anna from Nikephoros. He used official sources to supplement his own direct knowledge. His hand is detectable through a particular style of anecdote scattered across the text. Anna was responsible for Constantinopolitan material (some political, some dealing with trials of noted intellectuals), for plugging gaps and for giving shape to the whole. It was she who conceived of presenting Alexios as a Homeric hero, beset by threats from without.