Menander Protector (Μένανδρος ὁ Προτέκτωρ) was a Byzantine historian of the late 6th century CE. His epithet indicates he held the court title of protector domesticus [1]. A contemporary of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602 CE), he abandoned a legal career for history at the encouragement of his patron, the magister officiorum Theodorus [1][3]. He explicitly wrote as a continuator of the historian Agathias [1][4].

His work is a history (Historia) covering the period from approximately 558 to 582 CE [1][2][4]. It survives only in fragments, primarily preserved in the 10th-century Byzantine compendium Excerpta de legationibus [1][3][4]. These excerpts provide detailed accounts of diplomatic relations between the Byzantine Empire and neighboring peoples like the Avars, Turks, and Persians [1][2].

Menander is a crucial source for late 6th-century Byzantine diplomatic and political history [1][2][4]. His fragments offer invaluable insight into foreign policy and are considered reliable for an otherwise poorly documented period. His methodology was modeled on classical historians like Thucydides, and his work forms an important link in Byzantine secular historiography between Agathias and Theophylact Simocatta [1][3].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4069 2. Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Menander-Protector 3. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/menander-protector/ 4. World History Encyclopedia: https://www.worldhistory.org/Menander_Protector/