Chronographia

The Chronographia is a work by the Byzantine statesman Michael Psellos, written in medieval Greek around the year 1078 and divided into seven volumes. In it Psellos traces the reigns of the fourteen emperors of his time, from Basil II to Michael VII Doukas, covering a span of about a century, from 976 to 1078.

The work focuses mainly on affairs at the Byzantine court and on the author's own deeds, since Psellos witnessed and took part in much of what he describes. For this reason it blends political narrative with a personal perspective on those who ruled and on how imperial power worked.

The Chronographia has become a fundamental source for understanding Byzantine history in the eleventh century. It has been edited and translated into several modern languages, which has allowed it to be studied by historians and by specialists in medieval literature alike.