CHRONICON PASCHALE. — Anonymous Byzantine chronicle of the 7th century, with a predominantly chronological interest. It is commonly called "Paschale" because of the author's effort to relate chronological data to the recurrence of Easter; however, it is also known as the *Chronicon Alexandrinum*, *Constantinopolitanum*, or *Fasti Siculi*. The author's name is unknown, but from the content it can be reasonably inferred that he was an ecclesiastical figure in Constantinople, living in the circle of Patriarch Sergius (610–38). This date is indicated both by references to that patriarch and by the title prefixed by the author to the work: *Chronological Summary from Adam to the Twentieth Year of the Reign of Heraclius* (629).
The *Chronicon Paschale* belongs to the genre of universal histories, which were widely disseminated in the Middle Ages. According to this chronicle, the era of the world began 5,509 years before the birth of Christ, and the first Easter was celebrated on April 13 in the year 1272 BC. The birth of the Redeemer occurred on a Wednesday, December 25, and His death would have fallen on March 23, thirty-three years later. The calculation of Easter follows a cycle of 19 lunar years and one of 28 solar years, so that every 532 Julian years they return with the same rhythm.
The foundations of this world history, whose pillars are fixed according to a distinctly religious vision, are naturally constituted by biblical texts, although the chronological systems of ancient peoples—from the Babylonians to the Romans—are not ignored. In keeping with the usage of the time, the author does not strictly adhere to his stated purpose, but historical narrative provides him with opportunities for various digressions. The tone of the chronicle changes at a certain point; after the bare schematism of the years 532–600, a more detailed narrative follows for the last thirty years, filled with events and matters to which the author was evidently contemporary or close. This section contains all our interest in the chronicle, since the rest is a very mediocre compilation, not even diligent. Besides the Bible, for the most ancient part it relies on Julius Africanus (v.), then on Eusebius (*History and Chronicle*), on Malalas,
and on the so-called Idacian Fasti. It thus follows a path quite different from the Chronography of 354 and from other chronicles that derive from the compilation of Hippolytus.
This work, of little historical or literary merit, enjoyed great popularity in the Middle Ages and exerted a strong influence on later Byzantine chronicles. For the common people, it was, along with Malalas (v. GIOVANNI MALALA), what Eusebius, Syncellus, and Zonaras were for the educated class.