Cometas was a medieval classicist (9th cent. AD), based in Constantinople, and active within the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire (=“Byzantium”). According to the testimony of Theophanes Continuatus (4.29, p.192, 17-20 Bekker) and Ioseph Genesios (4.17, p.70 Lesmueller-Werner-Thurn, p. 98, 8 Lachmann), he was appointed Professor of Grammar at the newly-founded Magnaura school: this was probably the highest educational institution in the Eastern Roman Empire, established with the personal patronage of
caesarBardas and most probably also the Emperor. [On the Magnaura and its establishment by
caesarBardas after AD 843, see esp. Lemerle 1971: 160; Speck 1974: 7-9.]
Cometas appears to have been an epigrammatist and a number of his epigrammes have been preserved in the Anthologia
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Citation: Papanikolaou, Dimitrios. "Cometas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 May 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14458, accessed 12 October 2024.]