Publius Herennius Dexippus ( el, Δέξιππος; c. 210–273 AD),

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, statesman and general, was an hereditary priest of the

Eleusinian Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

family of the Kerykes, and held the offices of ''

archon basileus ''Archon basileus'' ( grc, ἄρχων βασιλεύς ') was a Greek title, meaning "king magistrate": the term is derived from the words '' archon'' "magistrate" and '' basileus'' "king" or " sovereign". Most modern scholars claim that in Class ...

'' and ''

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

'' in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Life

When the

Heruli The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several " Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking ...

overran

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and captured Athens (267), Dexippus showed great personal courage and revived the spirit of patriotism among his fellow-countrymen. A statue was set up in his honour, the base of which, with an inscription recording his services, has been preserved. It is remarkable that the inscription is silent as to his military achievements. Photius speaks very highly of the style of Dexippus, whom he calls a second

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

Works

Photius (''cod''. 82) mentions three historical works by Dexippus, of which considerable fragments remain: #Τὰ μετ᾽ Ἀλέξανδρον (''The Events after Alexander''), apparently an epitome of a work by Arrian #Σκυθικά (''Scythica''), a history of the wars of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

(called

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

in archaizing language) in the 3rd century #Χρονικὴ ἱστορία (''Chronike Historia'') in twelve books, probably covering a thousand years to the reign of the emperor

Claudius Gothicus Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle ...

(270) The ''Chronicle'' was continued by Eunapius of Sardis, who opens his own history with a critique of his predecessor. The ''Chronicle'' also appears to be the primary source of the '' Historia Augusta'' between 238 and 270, but Paschoud has demonstrated that the author of the ''Historia Augusta'' sometimes attributes material to Dexippus falsely, and so this evidence must be used with caution.Paschoud, "L'Histoire Auguste et Dexippe".

References

Sources

* Gunther Martin: ''Dexipp von Athen. Edition, Übersetzung und begleitende Studien''. Tübingen 2006 (edition and German translation). * Laura Mecella, Dexippo di Atene. Testimonianze e frammenti. Introduzione, edizione, tradizione e commento. Tivoli 2013. *

Fergus Millar Sir Fergus Graham Burtholme Millar, (; 5 July 1935 – 15 July 2019) was a British ancient historian and academic. He was Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford between 1984 and 2002. He numbers among the most influ ...

(1969) "P. Herennius Dexippus: The Greek World and the Third-century Invasions," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 59: 12–29. *François Paschoud (1991) "LHistoire Auguste'' et Dexippe," in G. Bonamente et al., eds., ''Historiae Augustae Colloquium Parisinum'', 217–69.

External links

Dexippus' Fragments in Dindorf's 1870 Minor Greek Historians
{{Authority control 210 births 273 deaths 3rd-century historians 3rd-century clergy 3rd-century Greek people 3rd-century Romans Eleusinian hierophants Roman-era Greek priests Roman-era Athenians Ancient Roman generals Roman-era Greek historians Dexippus, Publius Eponymous archons