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

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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 species; as well as the ...

, statesman and general, was an hereditary priest of the Eleusinian family of the Kerykes, and held the offices of ''

archon basileus ''Archon basileus'' (, ') was a Greek title, meaning "king magistrate"; the term is derived from the words ''archon'' "magistrate" and ''basileus'' "king" or "sovereign". Background. Most modern scholars claim that in Classical Athens, the ''a ...

'' and ''

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'' in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Life

When the

Heruli The Heruli (also Eluri, Eruli, Herules, Herulians) were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity, known from records in the third to sixth centuries AD. The best recorded group of Heruli established a kingdom north of the Middle Danu ...

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 Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

speaks very highly of the style of Dexippus, whom he calls a second

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

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 Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of ...

#Σκυθικά (''Scythica''), a history of the wars of

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with the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

(called

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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 – August/September 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 Batt ...

(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 The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...

'' between 238 and 270, but Paschoud has demonstrated that the author of the ''Historia Augusta'' sometimes attributes material to Dexippus falsely and so that evidence must be used with caution.Paschoud, "L'Histoire Auguste et Dexippe".

References

Sources

* Martin, Gunther (2006). ''Dexipp von Athen. Edition, Übersetzung und begleitende Studien''. Tübingen (edition and German translation). * Mecella, Laura (2013). Dexippo di Atene. Testimonianze e frammenti. Introduzione, edizione, tradizione e commento. Tivoli. * Millar, Fergus (1969). "P. Herennius Dexippus: The Greek World and the Third-century Invasions," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 59: 12–29. * Paschoud, François (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 210s births 273 deaths 3rd-century historians 3rd-century clergy 3rd-century Greek writers 3rd-century Romans Eleusinian hierophants Roman-era Greek priests Roman-era Athenians Ancient Roman generals Greek-language historians from the Roman Empire Dexippus, Publius Eponymous archons