Roman Historiography - Other Major Historians

Other Major Historians

• Polybius (c. 208-116 BC) was a prominent Greek who figured strongly in the Achaean League. Upon being captured by the Romans and transported to Rome, Polybius took it upon himself to record the history of Rome in order to explain Roman tradition to his fellow Greeks. He wanted to convince them to accept the domination of Rome as a universal truth. His main work, Histories, is extant despite its being fragmented.

• Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian of the 1st century BC. His main body of work was the Bibliotheca, which consisted of forty books and was intended to be a universal history from mythological times to the 1st century BC. He employed a very simple and straightforward style of writing, and relied heavily on written accounts for his information, most of which are now lost. Often criticized for a lack of originality and deemed a “scissors and paste” historian, Diodorus endeavored to present a comprehensive human history in a convenient and readable form.

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus (fl. c. 8 BC.) was a Greek historian and critic living in Rome. His major work was Roman Antiquities, a history of Rome from its mythical beginnings until the first Punic war, consisting of 20 books. Generally he is considered to be a less reliable source than most of the other historians, but he does fill in the gaps in Livy's accounts. Other works include: On Imitation, On Dinarchus, On Thucidides, and On the Arrangement of Words.

• Pliny the Elder, uncle of Pliny the Younger, wrote in the 1st century AD. He was an officer in the Roman military who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. His known works include Naturalis Historia, which is a collection of books on natural history, Bella Germanica, a 21 book history of the German wars which occurred during his lifetime, and a 31 book history of Julio-Claudian Rome.

• Titus Flavius Josephus (born 39 AD) was a Jewish historian and apologist. His works include The Jewish War (75 to 79), Jewish Antiquities (93), The Life (95) and Against Apion (Publication date unknown). He was influenced by Thucydides and Polybius and was endorsed by the Emperor Titus. Though many critics thought that he was a traitor to his people, his writings show that he was a zealous defender of the Jewish faith and culture.

• Appianus of Alexandria (c. 95-165) wrote in Greek his Romaiken istorian, about half of which survives. This work is best known for its coverage of the Civil Wars of the late Republic (in his Books XIII to XVII). Appian addresses here the period roughly from 133 to 35 BC, i.e., from the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus to the death of Sextus Pompey.

• Dio Cassius was a distinguished Greek senator. After establishing his political career, Dio Cassius began to write various literary works. His most famous and recognized work is called the Roman History, which consists of 80 books. This work is dominated by the change from a Roman republic to a monarchy of emperors, which Dio Cassius believed was the only way Rome could have a stable government. Today, the only surviving portion of the Roman History is the part from 69 BC to 46 AD.

• In his 31 book history, sometimes translated as The Roman History or The Roman Empire, Ammianus Marcellinus described the time from the reign of Nerva to the Battle of Adrianople, though the first thirteen books are lost. Bringing into the remaining books his own personal experiences in military services, his writing had a unique descriptive quality, of the geography, the events, and even the character of the actors. There is an active debate about whether the intent of the history was a continuation of Tacitus.

• The Scriptores Historiae Augustae is a compilation of biographies of the Roman emperors from 117 to 284. Though claimed to be written by several different authors, contemporary research has shown that it may have only been written by one writer. This one author may have had good reason to disguise his identity, since much of the information in the Scriptores has also been found to be very unreliable.

• In Late Antiquity, a great quantity of breviaria, or short historical works, were published (see Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, Festus, Epitome de Caesaribus). They had a common source, the so-called Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte (Enmann's History of the Emperors), which is lost.

• Zosimus was a pagan historian who wrote at c. 500 AD a history of Rome to 410 in six books. Although he couldn't be compared with Ammianus Marcellinus, his work is important for the events after 378.

• The important histories of Priscus and Olympiodorus of Thebes are lost excerpt for some fragments.

• Velleius Paterculus was a Roman historian who lived from around 19 BC to after 30 AD. He wrote Historiae Romanae, which is a summary of Roman history from the founding of the city to 30 AD. Though almost all of his work is now missing, it is still a valuable source on the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. He “represents the adulatory type of history condemned by Tacitus, who ignores Velleius, as do all ancient authorities.”