Xanthus of Lydia (, ''Xanthos ho Lydos'') was a

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 ...

, logographer and citizen of

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

who, during the mid-fifth century BC, wrote texts on the history of

known as ''Lydiaca'' (Λυδιακά), a work which was highly commended by

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

. Xanthus also wrote occasionally about geology. It is believed that Xanthus was the earliest historian to have written a significant amount on the topic of Lydian history. He is also believed to have written a work entitled ''Magica'' (Mαγικά), as well as one entitled ''Life of

Empedocles Empedocles (; ; , 444–443 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is known best for originating the Cosmogony, cosmogonic theory of the four cla ...

''. It is believed that Xanthus had some knowledge of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

traditions, and it is plausible that he, a Lydian, would write about Persian religion, but it seems unlikely due to the available evidence. His seat was believed to be at

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

, the capital. A contemporary and colleague of

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, most of his writings concerned the lineage and deeds of the Lydian kings. Xanthus was known for writing in the traditional Ionian style of trying to establish the scene of popular myths. One example of Xanthus using this type of writing style is when he placed the scene of the "giant's punishment" in

Katakekaumene Katakekaumene or Catacecaumene () was a name for a district in Lydia (modern western Turkey), and a decapolis (disambiguation), union of ten cities in the area, during the Hellenistic and Roman Empire, Roman periods. The name means "burnt land" ...

. Xanthus was also known for adapting historical events that were often considered boring into passages that the general

public would enjoy. Xanthus was one of the chief authorities used by

Nicolaus of Damascus Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: , ''Nikolāos Damaskēnos''; Latin: ''Nicolaus Damascenus''; – after 4 AD) was a Greek historian, diplomat and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his ...

Lydiaca

According to references from

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

, the ''Lydiaca'' (, ''Ludiaka'') is believed to be composed of four different books. Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell how Xanthus arranged his material within the books as well as what amount of it would deal with pre- Mermnad dynasty times (i.e. before 700 BC). Due to his tendency of using anecdotes, it is believed that his historical arrangements within his works may have been loose, like Herodotus. According to a reference from Stephanus of Byzantium, it is believed that part of book IV of the ''Lydiaca'' describes the founding of

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

, a centre for the cult of

Atargatis Atargatis (known as Derceto by the Greeks) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Primarily she was a fertility goddess, but, as the ''baalat'' ("mistress") of her city and people she was also responsible for their prot ...

, from the point of view of a Lydian named Ascalus, the son of Hymenaeus (also known as Tymenaeus) during the rule of king Alkimos (also known as Akiamos). The credibility of ''Lydiaca'' has been questioned numerous times due to conflicting quotations and due to the fact that only fragments of Xanthus' works have survived.

, gives Xanthus the most credibility, because in his paper about

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 ...

, he mentions that most historians earlier than

had “mythographic tendencies,” but gives Xanthus a fair amount of praise. Dionysius of Halicarnassus refers to Xanthus as “a man with an exceptionally sound knowledge of early history, who must be considered second to none in establishing the history of his own country” (I. 28.). For an intelligent writer like Dionysius to give such a strong statement about Xanthus and his works, it is inferred that he came to his conclusion by studying the original Lydiaca'' ''or at least

epitome An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." A ...

Menippus Menippus of Gadara (; ''Menippos ho Gadareus''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. His works, all of which are lost, were an important influence on Varro and Lucian, who ranks Menippus wi ...

, and not by reading the unreliable quotations by Scytobrachion. Many interpret this as evidence that Xanthus’s work was substantive and legitimate, and not just a fabrication of some other writer such as Scytobrachion who attributed quotes to Xanthus that were never said and were actually his own statements. According to

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, in the first book of the Lydiaca Xanthus mentions finding rocks in the shape of seashells in many inland areas, such as

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Matiene Matiene was the name of a kingdom in northwestern Iran on the lands of the earlier kingdom of the Mannae. Ancient historians including Strabo, Ptolemy, Herodotus, Polybius, and Pliny mention names such as Mantiane, Martiane, Matiana, Matiani, ...

, and Lower Phrygia, and from this observation he speculates that the entire

Anatolian Peninsula Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

was once under water (I. 3, 4).

Magica

The ''Magica'' (, ''Magika'') is referenced once by

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...

, but this reference’s credibility is often questioned since Clement of Alexandria also unreliably referenced Xanthus for the date of the founding of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...

.Pearson, L: ''Early Ionian Historians'', pages 117-120. Cambridge UP, 1939.

Notes

Works cited

* Easterling, P. E. and

Bernard Knox Bernard MacGregor Walker Knox (November 24, 1914 – July 22, 2010Wolfgang Saxon ''The New York Times'', August 16, 2010.) was an English classicist, author, and critic who became an American citizen. He was the first director of the Cente ...

. Greek Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985. Google Books. Web. 29 Jan. 2010
Greek Literature
* Marincola, John. Greek Historians. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. Google Books. Web. 29 Jan. 2010
Greek Historians
* Pearson, Lionel. Early Ionian Historians. London: Oxford UP, 1939. Print. * * Seters, John Van. In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History. New Haven: Yale UP, 1983. Google Books. Web. 29 Jan. 201
In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History
* Tozer, Henry Fanshawe, and Max Cary. A History of Ancient Geography, Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, n.d. Google Books. Web. 29 Jan. 2010
A History of Ancient Geography, Volume 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xanthus Classical-era Greek historians Historians from ancient Anatolia 5th-century BC Greek historians Lydia Historians from the Achaemenid Empire Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources