Bisanzio e gli Arabi nel contesto della Vita sancti Michaelis Syncelli (BHG 1296)

This contribution examines the connections between Byzantium and the Arabs found in the lexicon of an anonymous hagiographic work, which is titled Vita Michaelis Syncelli (BHG 1296) and was written in the second half of the IXth C. Primary focus is placed on the use and different meanings of the word “Hagar” in the aforesaid source and others, earlier and later ones. This paper examines two versions existing in the Byzantine tradition: “Hagar and Saracens”. A similar analysis is devoted to the word “fatherland”. Then there is a shift from the linguistic level to the historic and literary context which testifies a kind of interchange between the Palestinian monastic society and Arabs before Harun al-Rashid’s death (809). In the end, looking back to religious and hagiographic works perhaps appears the real glance of imperial power concerning the whole question: the religious conflicts among Christians regarding the right dogma were a possible means for adopting a protective policy against Arabs.