The Historia Acephala ("Headless History") is an anonymous 4th or early 5th century ecclesiastical chronicle primarily concerning the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the activities of Athanasius.
[edition 3]:p. 63-65 The work was originally written in Greek, but survives only in a single 8th century unical quarto containing a partial Latin translation.
The manuscript was discovered in Verona by Scipione Maffei in 1738, who gave the then-unknown chronicle the title Historia Acephala in reference to the missing first section of the work.
[1][edition 1]:p. 22 The Historia Acaphala is an important source for clarifying the often confused chronology of Athanasius' life and career.
Its usefulness is thanks, in large part, to the unusual diligence and accuracy of the annalist: editor Archibald Robertson writes, "The Latin text [...] is very imperfect, but the annalist is so careful in his reckonings, and so often repeats himself, that the careful reader can nearly always use the document to make good its own gaps or wrong readings.