Theophylact Simocatta

Theophylact Simocatta was an early seventh-century Byzantine historian, who wrote about the late Emperor Maurice and his wars against the Persians, the Slavs, and the Avars. He is considered the last historian of Late Antiquity, and his work is a valuable source of information for the history and culture of his time. He was also a secretary and a prefect at the imperial court of Heraclius, and a friend of Patriarch Sergius I. He wrote in a classicizing style that imitated the Attic historians, but his lack of judgment and his excessive use of allegory and rhetoric made his work difficult to read. He also wrote a work on natural history and a collection of letters. He was influenced by John of Epiphania and was translated by Copernicus.