This is the most important and comprehensive monograph written to date on Timothy i, East Syrian patriarch from 780 to 823. It completes, corrects and replaces in many respects the works of Bidawid (Studia Theologica clxxxvii [1956]) and Putman (Recherches publiéee sous la direction de L'Institut de Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth B 3, 1975). Berti portrays Timothy for the first time in detail in the context of Syrian monachism and Syrian educational tradition, showing him at the peak of the development that begins with the school reform of Babai the Musician (pp. 90–110). Berti does not aim to provide an overall picture of Timothy's life and theology, but focuses precisely on the context of education and its politics (the title of his doctoral thesis, ‘Contesto formativo e vita culturale di Timoteo i’, Padua 2006, which was thoroughly revised and expanded for publication, reinforces this point). As for Timothy's biography, up to his controversial election as a patriarch, Berti's study is exhaustive. The history of Thomas of Marga, widely underestimated until now, is taken into account for the first time in its profundity with many important corrections to the works of Fiey. Also the introductory questions concerning the letter corpus including transmission, numbering, further fragments and – in contrast to Bidawid – precise dating are treated exhaustively. A brilliant hypothesis suggests that the letter corpus as transmitted to us goes back to the collection of Timothy's friend Sergius and should be distinguished from the 200 letters mentioned by ‘Abdisho’. Thus Berti explains why forty-two of the fifty-nine letters are addressed to Sergius (pp. 62–3). Also, for the remaining letters, he demonstrates convincingly why they entered Sergius' collection (pp. 63–4). Throughout the book, Berti quotes innumerable important and often even longer translated passages of letters that have only been accessible in Syriac or in Latin until now. By doing this, he does not only provide a summary, but he contextualises these passages in a way that throws light on many topics such as Sergius' activity in Elam. These translations also contain passages from the thirteen as yet unpublished letters (letters 42, 44–6, 49 and 51–8). Some of them, as for instance letter 45 (p. 247), are quoted almost in their entirety. This book therefore replaces Bidawid's summaries, which until now had to be consulted for the content of these letters. Even after the publication of the critical edition and translation of letters 42–58 (Heimgartner, forthcoming end of 2011), Berti's translations and explications of the texts will remain important. The debate with Islam is deliberately omitted (for more on this see Timotheos I., ostsyrischer Patriarch: Disputation mit dem Kalifen Al-Mahdi, ed. Martin Heimgartner, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium dcxxxi and dcxxxii, Leuven 2011).

It is my hope that this outstanding monographFootnote ¹, though written in Italian, will be widely read and perhaps even translated into other languages.