John of Nikiû (fl. 680–690) was an Egyptian Coptic bishop of Nikiû (Pashati) in the Nile Delta and general administrator of the monasteries of Upper Egypt in 696. He is the author of a Chronicle extending from Adam to the end of the Muslim conquest of Egypt. John of Nikiû's Chronicle contains important historical details otherwise unknown.
The Albanoi (also Albani; Ancient Greek: Ἀλβανοί, Albanoi; Latin: Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi. Their central settlement was called Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις) and was located roughly between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, in central Albania. The archaeological site of Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. Stephanus of Byzantium who reproduced Hecataeus added an entry for another settlement named Arbon in Illyria whose inhabitants were called Arbonioi or Arbonites. Another Arbon was recorded by Polybius. John of Nikiû wrote in the 7th century CE about a people known as Arbanitai in the Greek translation of the manuscript.
In the Middle Ages, the names Albanoi and Arbanitai/Albanitai referred to medieval Albanians as an ethnic group. The equivalent terms in Latin are Albanenses/Arbanenses, in Slavic Arbanasi and later in Turkish Arnaut. These names reflect the Albanian ethnic endonym Arbëreshë/Arbëneshë, which itself derives from Albanoi. In the archaeological record, the Albanoi are mentioned on a funeral inscription in Stobi and Albanopolis is mentioned on another funeral inscription near Scupi. Another ethnonym, Arbaios found in Phoenice is likely linked to them.
Saint Glyceria (Greek: Γλυκερία; died ca. 177 in Perinthus, Propontis) was a Roman virgin of the early church.
According to Christian tradition, she was forced to pay tribute to a stone statue of Jupiter but it was destroyed while she stood before it. The virgin was imprisoned for this, then sentenced to be torn apart by wild animals. She, however, was not torn apart. Before the animals could render her any harm, Glyceria died a virgin martyr in Heraclea. Her relics reputedly poured forth the substance known as the Oil of Saints, and her name means "sweetness". Theophylact Simocatta and John of Nikiu report that the flow of sacred oil was temporarily stopped when a silver basin which was used for witchcraft by a man named Paulinus was used to receive it. This event led to Paulinus and his sons execution and removal of the bowl at which time the oil resumed flowing.