Appian

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Appianus
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Appian
Roman Egypt
Diedc. 165 (aged around 70)
Occupation(s)Historian, lawyer

Appian of Alexandria (

Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius
.

He was born c. 95 in

equestrian order
(the "knightly" class), his possession of this office tells us about Appian's family background.

His principal surviving work (Ρωμαϊκά Romaiká, known in

The Civil Wars, books 13–17 of the Roman History, concern mainly the end of the Roman Republic and take a conflict-based view and approach to history. Despite the lack of cited sources for his works, these books of the Roman History are the only extant comprehensive description of these momentous decades of Roman history. The other extant work of Appian is his "The Foreign Wars", which includes an ethnographic style history recounting the various military conflicts against a foreign enemy in Roman history, until the time of Appian.

Life

Little is known of the life of Appian of Alexandria. He wrote an autobiography that has been almost completely lost.

Roman citizens
capable of paying for their son's education, it can be inferred that Appian belonged to the wealthy upper classes.

It is believed that Appian moved to Rome in 120, where he became a

co-regency of Marcus Aurelius and his brother Lucius Verus
between 147 and 161. Although Appian won this office, it is unclear whether it was a real job or an honorific title. The only other certain biographical datum is that Appian's Roman History appeared sometime before 162. This is one of the few primary historical sources for the period.

Works

Appian: Historia Romana. Printed in Venice 1477 by Erhard Ratdolt

Appian's Roman History and The Civil Wars

Appian began writing his history around the middle of the second century AD. Only sections from half of the original 24 books survive today of a much larger history known as The Roman History, namely books 6-7, much of 8, 9, and 11, and 12-17 (only fragments of books 1-5 and of the remainder of 8 and 9 are preserved, while books 10 and 18-24 are lost entirely).

Caesar and Pompey, to break off in the time of the Second Triumvirate
. These five books stand out because they are one of the few comprehensive histories available on the transition of the Roman state from Republic to Empire and the ensuing civil and military strife.

Besides Appian, this period is also covered by a handful of ancient authors with varying degrees of detail and viewpoints. The commentaries of Julius Caesar record his personal, mainly military, observations of the

Velleius' history examines Roman history from the city's foundation until AD 29. This history is more detailed in the late Republic and early Empire period, while the earlier history is condensed. The Epitome of Roman History by Florus, also covers Roman history from mythical times until the 5th century AD in an extremely condensed format. The history of Diodorus
of Sicily also covers Roman history until the Gallic Wars, but his history becomes fragmentary after around 300 BC.

The Foreign Wars

Painting by Eugenio Oliva depicting the Vaccaei going out to defend Palencia from the troops of Lucius Licinius Lucullus in 151 BC. The historian Appian is depicted at right recording events; this is a poetic fiction, as Appian was writing from a standpoint three centuries in the future.

Another work of Appian's history which still survives mostly extant is called The Foreign Wars. This history describes the wars the Romans fought against other cultures throughout their history. The mostly extant work narrates the wars in Spain (book 6), the

Sertorius
in roughly 61 BC. Likewise, the chapter on the Hannibalic wars only recounts the battles that took place on the Italian Peninsula during the second Punic war, while the chapters on the Punic War recount all the action that occurred in northern Africa during the first and second Punic war.

Of the books which are now entirely lost, book 10 described the wars in Greece and Ionia, books 18-21 discussed Egypt, book 22 covered the history of the Empire up to the reign of Trajan, book 23 covered Trajan's wars against the Dacians, the Jews, and the Parthians, and book 24 described his annexation of Arabia Petraea.[5]

Sources

One might expect that a historical work covering nine centuries and countless different peoples would involve a multitude of sources from different periods. However, Appian's sources remain uncertain, as he only mentions the source of his information under special circumstances. He may have relied primarily on one author for each book, whom he did not follow uncritically, since Appian also used additional sources for precision and correction.[citation needed] At our present state of knowledge questions regarding Appian's sources cannot be resolved.[citation needed]

Editions

  • Appiani Alexandrini Historia Publio Candido interprete Ac praeterea Anonymi Compendium historiae ab excessu Constantini usque ad Ioannem XXIII (in Latin). World Digital Library. Retrieved 2014-02-28. (a translation of Appian's History into Latin)
  • Editio princeps, 1551
  • Schweighäuser, 1785
  • Bekker, 1852
  • Ludwig Mendelssohn, 1878–1905, Appiani Historia Romana, Bibliotheca Teubneriana
  • Paul Goukowsky, 1997–, Appien. Histoire romaine (Greek text, French translation, notes), Collection Budé.
  • Carsana, Chiara (ed.). Commento storico al libro II delle Guerre Civili di Appiano (parte I). Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 2007. 309 pp. (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Pavia, 116).
English translations
  • W. B., 1578 (black letter) – possibly
    Shakespeare
  • J. D[avies], 1679
  • Horace White, 1899 (Bohn's Classical Library);
  • Book I edited by
    James Leigh Strachan-Davidson
    , 1902.
  • Books XIII–XVII (Civil Wars), trans. John Carter, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1996

References

Citations

  1. ^ .
  2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Appian". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 221–222.
  3. ^ Appian Proem. 62
  4. ^ Michael Petrus Josephus Van Den Hout, A Commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto, Volume 190 of Mnemosyne (Brill, 1999)
  5. ^ a b c Brodersen, Kai (1996). "Appian". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.). Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 130.

Bibliography

  • William Smith (ed.) (1870), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol. 1, pp. 247–248

External links