Listed 41 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "SYRIA Country MIDDLE EAST" .
DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Apollodorus (Apollodoros). A Greek architect of Damascus, who lived for a
time at Rome, where, among other things, he built Trajan's Forum and Trajan's
Column. He was first banished and then put to death under Hadrian, A.D. 129, having
incurred that emperor's anger by the freedom of his criticisms. We have a work
by him on engines of war, addressed to Hadrian.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Apollodorus of Damascus, lived under Trajan and Hadrian. The former emperor employed him to build his Forum, Odeum, and Gymnasium, at Rome; the latter, on account of some indiscreet words uttered by the architect, first banished him and afterwards put him to death. (Dion Cass. lxix. 4; Spartian. Hadrian. 19)
KYRROS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Andronicus (Astronomer, Engineer, Architect). A native of the Syrian city of Cyrrhus,
Andronicus is cited by Pausanias, Vitruvius and Varro. He constructed celestial
spheres and astronomical instruments, which were often variations and improvements
on existing devices; but he is perhaps best known for two more substantial works.
The first of these was the white marble sundial he built for the sanctuary of
Poseidon and Amphitrite on the island of Tinos, which is now on display in the
Museum of Tinos. This sundial became so famous that Andronicus was invited to
Athens, where he erected a magnificent horologium on the eastern side of the Roman
marketplace. One of the very first "town clocks", this was an octagonal structure
of Pentelic marble, 3.2 metres long on each side and 12 metres high. The tower
housed a water clock, while atop the conical roof was a bronze statue of Triton,
rod in hand, that turned to indicate the direction of the wind. On each facade
was a sundial and a winged figure carved in relief, representing one of the eight
principal winds. Each of these figures carried its own particular symbol, and
its name was engraved on the lower part of the cornice beneath it: (anti-clockwise
from the North) Boreas, Sciron, Zephyr, Lips, Notos, Euros, Apeliotes, Caecias.
Andronicus incorporated into this construction a number of inventions of earlier
clock-makers, including Archimedes, Ctesibius and Philo.
Vitruvius called the monument the "Tower of the Winds", and described
it in considerable detail; it is also mentioned by Varro. A cylindrical reservoir
on the south side held water piped in from the spring on the north side of the
Acropolis. The tower itself, with its Doric interior and its Corinthian exterior,
is still in relatively good condition.
This text is based on the Greek book "Ancient Greek Scientists", Athens, 1995 and is cited Sep 2005 from The Technology Museum of Thessaloniki URL below.
Andronicus Cyrrhestes, (so called from his native place, Cyrrha), was the builder of the octagonal tower
at Athens, vulgarly called "the tower of the winds". Vitruvius (i. 6.4), after
stating, that some make the number of the winds to be four, but that those who
have examined the subject more carefully distinguished eight, adds, "Especially
Andronicus Cyrrhestes, who also set up at Athens, as a representation thereof
(exemplum), an octagonal tower of marble, and on the several sides of the octagon
he made sculptured images of the several winds, each image looking towards the
wind it represented", (that is, the figure of the north wind was sculptured on
the north side of the building, and so with the rest), "and above this tower he
set up a marble pillar (metam), and on the top he placed a Triton in bronze, holding
out a wand in his right hand: and this figure was so contrived as to be driven
round by the wind, and always to stand opposite the blowing wind, and to hold
the wand as an index above the image of that wind". Varro calls the building "horologium"
(R. R. iii. 5.17, Schn.). It formed a measure of time in two ways. On the outer
walls were lines which with gnomons above them, formed a series of sun-dials,
and in the building was a clepsydra, supplied from the spring called Clepsydra,
on the north-west of the Acropolis. The building, which still stands, has been
described by Stuart and others. The plain walls are surmounted by an entablature,
on the frieze of which are the figures of the winds in bas-relief. The entrances,
of which there are two, on the north-east and the north-west, have distyle porticoes
of the Corinthian order. Within, the remains of the clepsydra are still visible,
as are the dial lines on the outer walls.
The date of the building is uncertain, but the style of the sculpture
and architecture is thought to belong to the period after Alexander the Great.
The clepsydra also was probably of that improved kind which was invented by Ctesibius,
about 135 B. C. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Horologium.) Muller places Andronicus at
100 B. C.
From the words of Vitruvius it seems probable that Andronicus was
an astronomer. The mechanical arrangements of his "horologium" were of course
his work, but whether he was properly the architect of the building we have nothing
to determine, except the absence of any statement to the contrary.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
APAMIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Archigenes, an eminent ancient Greek physician, whose name is probably more familiar to most
non-professional readers than that of many others of more real importance, from
his being mentioned by Juvenal (vi. 236, xiii. 98, xiv. 252). He was the most
celebrated of the sect of the Eclectici (Dict. of Ant. s.v. Eclectici), and was
a native of Apamea in Syria; he practised at Rome in the time of Trajan, A. D.
98-117, where he enjoyed a very high reputation for his professional skill. He
is, however, reprobated as having been fond of introducing new and obscure terms
into the science, and having attempted to give to medical writings a dialectic
form, which produced rather the appeardance than the reality of accuracy. Archigenes
published a treatise on the pulse, on which Galen wrote a Commentary; it appears
to have contained a number of minute and subtile distinctions, many of which have
no real existence, and sere for the most part the result rather of a preconceived
hypothesis than of actual observation; and the same remark may be applied to an
arrangement which he proposed of fevers. He, however, not only enjoved a considerable
degree of the public confidence during his life-time, but left behind him a number
of diseiplis, who for many years maintained a resepetable rank in their profession.
The name of the father of Archigenes was Philippus; he was a pupil of Agathinus,
whose life he once saved; and he died at the age either of sixty-three or eighty-three
(Suid. s. v. Archig.). The titles of several of his works are preserved, of which,
however, nothing but a few fragments remain; some of these have been preserved
by other ancient authors, and some are still in MS. in the King's Library at Paris.
By some writers he is considered to have belonged to the sect of the Pneumatici.
This extract is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
397 - 261
Perseus Project index
Antiochus (Antiochos). Soter (reigned B.C. 280-261), the son
of Selencus I., the founder of the Syrian kingdom of the Seleucidae. He married
his stepmother Stratonice, with whom he had fallen violently in love, and whom
his father surrendered to him. He fell in battle against the Gauls in 261.
King of Syria (268) 281-246 BC.
Antiochus, (Antiochos) Theos (B.C. 261-246), son and successor of the preceding. The Milesians gave him his surname of Theos because he delivered them from their tyrant, Timarchus. He carried on war with Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, which was brought to a close by his putting away his wife Laodice, and marrying Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy. After the death of Ptolemy he recalled Laodice, but, in revenge for the insult she had received, she caused Antiochus and Berenice to be murdered. He was succeeded by his son Seleucus Callinicus. His younger son, Antiochus Hierax, also assumed the crown, and carried on war some years with his brother.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Seleucus Callinicus, who had in 246 B.C. succeeded his father on the throne of Syria.
EMESA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Heliodorus, a Greek romance-writer, who was born at Emesa in Phoenicia, and
flourished under the emperors Theodosius and Arcadius at the close of the fourth
century. He was raised to the dignity of a bishop of Tricca in Thessaly. Heliodorus
is best known as the author of a Greek romance, entitled Aithiopika, being the
history of Theagenes and Chariclea, the latter a daughter of a king of Aethiopia.
It is in ten books. This work was unknown in the West until a soldier of Anspach,
under the Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg, assisting at the pillage of the library
of Matthias Corvinus, at Buda, in 1526, being attracted by the rich binding of
a manuscript, carried it off. He sold the prize afterwards to Vincent Obsopaeus,
who published it at Basle in 1534. This was the celebrated romance of Heliodorus.
Poetry, battles, piracies, and recognitions fill up the piece; there is no picture
of the mind, no attempt at character-drawing carried on with the development of
the action. The incidents point to no particular era of society, although one
may perceive, from the tone of sentiment throughout, that the struggle had commenced
between the spirit of Christianity and the grossness of pagan idolatry. Egypt
is neither ancient Egypt, nor the Egypt of the Ptolemies, nor the Egypt of the
Romans. Athens is neither Athens free nor Athens conquered--in short, there is
no individuality either in the places or persons; and the vague pictures of the
French romances of the seventeenth century give scarcely a caricatured idea of
the model from which they were drawn.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Heliodorus, Romance-Writer, the author of the oldest and by far the best of the Greek romances.
Heliodorus, the son of Theodosius, was a native of Syria, and was born, not, as
Photius says, at Aminda, but at Emesa, as lie himself tells us at the end of his
romance :--Toionde peras esche to suntagma ton peri Theagenen kai Charikleikleian
Aithiopikon ho sunetaxen aner Phoinix Emesenos, ton aph' Heliou, genos, Theodosion
pais Heliodoros. The words ton aph' Heliou genos no doubt mean that he was of
the family of priests of the Syrian god of the Sun (Elagabalus). He lived about
the end of the fourth century of our era, under Theodosius and his sons. He wrote
his romance in early life. He afterwards became bishop of Tricca in Thessaly,
where he introduced the regulation, that every priest who did not, upon his ordination,
separate himself from his wife, should be deposed. (Socrat. H. E. v. 22.) Nicephorus
(H. E. xii. 34) adds that, on the ground of the alleged injury which had been
done to the morals of young persons by the reading of the Aethiopica, a provincial
synod decreed that Heliodorus must either suffer his book to be burnt, or lay
down his bishopric, and that Heliodorus chose the latter alternative. The story
has been wisely rejected by Valesius, Petavius, Huet, and other scholars ; and
it is the more improbable from the fact that there is nothing of a corrupting
tendency in the Aethiopica. We have no further accounts of the life of Heliodorus.
(Phot. Cod. 73.)
His romance is in ten books, and is entitled Aethiopica, because the
scene of the beginning and the end of the story is laid in Aethiopia. It relates
the loves of Theagenes and Charicleia. Persine, the wife of Hydaspes, king of
Aethiopia, bore a daugnter, whose complexion, through the effect of a Greek statue
on the queen's mind, was white. Fearing that this circumstance might cause her
husband to doubt her fidelity, she resolved to expose the child, and committed
her, with tokens by which she might afterwards be known, to Sisimithras, a gymnosophist,
who, being sent on an embassy into Egypt, took the child with him, and gave her
to Charicles, the Pythian priest, who hapopened to be in Egypt. Charicles took
the child to Delphi, where he brought her up as his own daughter, by the name
of Charicleia, and made her priestess of Apollo. In course of time there came
to Delphi a noble Thessalian, descended from the Aeacidae, and named Theagenes,
between whom and Charicleia a mutual love sprung up at first sight. At the same
time Calasiris, an Egyptian priest, whom the queen of Aethiopia had employed to
seek for her daughter, happened to arrive at Delphi; and by his help Theagenes
carried off Charicleia. Then follows a long and rapid series of perilous adventures,
from pirates and other lawless men, till at last the chief persons of the story
meet at Meroe, at the very moment when Charicleia, who has fallen as a captive
into her father's hands, is about to be sacrificed to the gods : she is made known
by the tokens and by the testimony of Sisimithras, and the lovers are happily
married.
Though very deficient in those characteristics of modern fiction which
appeal to the universal sympathies of our nature, the romance of Heliodorus is
extremely interesting on account of the rapid succession of strange and not altogether
improbable adventures, the many and various characters introduced, and the beautiful
scenes described. The opening scene is admirable, and the point of the story at
which it occurs is very well chosen. The language is simple and elegant, though
it is sometimes too diffuse, and often deviates from the pure Attic standard.
The whole work, as compared with the best of later Greek romances, that of Achilles
Tatius for example, has the superiority of greater nature, less artificial and
rhetorical elaboration, with more real eloquence, less improbability in its incidents,
and greater skill in the management of the episodes, and, in short, the superiority
of a work of original talent over an imitation. It formed the model for subsequent
Greek romance writers. It is often quoted by the title of Charikleia, just as
the work of Achilles is quoted by that of Leukippe, from the names of the respective
heroines.
In modern times the Aethiopica was scarcely known till, at the sacking
of Ofen in 1526, a MS. of the work in the library of Matthias Corvinus, king of
Hungary, attracted, by its rich binding, the attention of a soldier, who brought
it into Germany, and at last it came into the hands of Vincentius (Opsopoeus,
who printed it at Basel, 1534, 4to. Several better MSS. were afterwards discovered,
and in 1596 a new edition was brought out in folio, at Heidelberg, by Commelinus,
with the Latin version of Stanislaus Warsichewiczki, which had been printed in
1552 at Basel, and in 1556 at Antwerp. The edition of Commelinus was re printed
at Lyon in 1611, 8vo., and at Frankfort in 1631, 8vo. This last edition, by Daniel
Pareus, was the first divided into chapters. The edition of Bourdelot, Paris,
1619, 8vo., is full of errors, and the notes are of little value. The edition
of Peter Schmid, Lips. 1772, 8vo., only differs from that of Bourdelot by the
introduction of new errors. At length, in 1799, an excellent edition of the text
and Latin version, with a few notes, chiefly critical, appeared in Mitscherlich's
Scriptores Graeci Erotici, of which it forms the 2d volume, in two parts, 8vo.
Argentorat. anno VI. A still better edition was brought out in 1804, at Paris,
by the learned Greek Coraes, at the expense of his friend, Alexander Basilius,
in 2 vols. 8vo. The first volume contains an introduction, in modern Greek, in
the form of a letter to Alexander Basilius, and the text, with various readings.
The second volume contains notes in ancient Greek, and other illustra tive matter.
The Aethiopica has been translated into nearly all modern languages.
(Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii.; the Prefaces of Mitscherlich and Coraes ; Jacobs,
in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopadie, s. v.; Hoffmann, Lex. Bibliog. Script. Graec.
s. v.)
There is an iambic poem, in 269 verses, on the art of making gold,
which is attributed by a MS. in the royal library at Paris to Heliodorus the bishop
of Tricca. It exists in MS. in several libraries in Europe, and is printed, from
the Paris MS., in Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii. The title is Heliodorou philosophou
pros Pheodosion ton melan Basile/a, peri\ th=s tw=n filoso/fwn Mustikh=s te/xnhs
(i. e. Alchymy), di Iambon Kuhn and Hoffmann (Lex. Bibl. s. v.) believe the poem
to be genuine, but Jacobs calls it the clumsy fabrication of a later time, to
which the name of Theodosius was prefixed to give it the semblance of authority;
and he sug gests that the name Heliodorus may have been used, after the fashion
of the Alchymists and Rosicrucians, on account of its etymological signification.
(Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopadie, s. v.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Zenobia. A celebrated princess, wife of Odenathus, and after his death queen of Palmyra. With equal talents for jurisprudence, finance, and government, her agile and elastic frame enabled her to direct and share the toils of war. Disdaining the litter, she was continually on horseback, and could even keep pace on foot with the march of her soldiery. History has preserved some reminiscences of her personal appearance, her dress, and her habits, which represent her as a woman of engaging beauty, gifted with the graces of a court, and accomplished in intellectual endowments. In complexion a brunette, her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her eyes black and sparkling; her mien was animated, and her voice clear and powerful. With a helmet on her head, and wearing a purple mantle fringed with gems and clasped with a buckle at the waist, so as to leave one of her arms bare to the shoulder, she presented herself at the council of war; and adopting from policy a regal pomp, she was worshipped with Persian prostration. Pure in her manners to the utmost refinement of delicacy, and temperate in her habits, she would nevertheless challenge in their cups her Persian and Armenian guests, and retire the victor without drunkenness. Chiefly versed in the languages of Syria and Egypt, her diffidence restrained her from conversing freely in Latin; but she had read the Roman history in Greek, was herself an historian, and had compiled the annals of Alexandria and the East. Her authority was acknowledged by a large portion of Asia Minor when the Roman emperor Aurelian succeeded to the throne. Jealous of her power, and determined to dispossess her of some of the rich provinces comprehended in her dominions, he marched at the head of a powerful army to Asia. Having defeated the queen's general near Antioch, he compelled her to retreat to Emesa. Under the walls of this city another engagement was fought, in which the emperor was again victorious. The queen fled to Palmyra, determined to support a siege. Aurelian followed her, and, on making his approaches to the walls, found them mounted in every part with mural engines, which plied the besiegers with stones, darts, and fire-balls. To the summons for a surrender of the city and kingdom, on the condition of her life being spared, Zenobia replied in a proud and spirited letter, written in Greek by her secretary, the celebrated Longinus. Her hopes of victory soon vanished; and, though she harassed the Romans night and day by continual sallies from her walls and the working of her military engines, she despaired of success when she heard that the armies which were marching to her relief from Armenia, Persia, and the East had either been intercepted or gained over by the foe. She fled from Palmyra in the night on her dromedaries, but was overtaken by the Roman cavalry while attempting to cross the Euphrates, and was brought into the presence of Aurelian, and tried before a tribunal at Emesa, Aurelian himself presiding. The soldiers were clamorous for her death, but she, in a manner unworthy of her former fame, saved her own life by throwing the blame on her counsellors, especially on Longinus, who was, in consequence, put to death. Zenobia was carried to Rome, to grace the emperor's triumph (A.D. 274), and was led along in chains of gold. She is said to have almost sunk beneath the weight of jewels with which she was adorned on that occasion. She was treated with great humanity, and Aurelian gave her large possessions near Tiber, where she was permitted to pass the remainder of her days. Her two sons afterwards married into distinguished families at Rome.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Zenobia, called “The Queen of the East” was the ruler
of the Greek-Arab state of Palmyra in Syria.
She was the wife of the King of Palmyra; after her husband died she
became sole ruler. Zenobia tried to carve an empire out of the Roman possessions
in the East.
When her armies occuppied Egypt
the emperor Aurelian sent an army to stop her. Zenobia's army was defeated and
Palmyra subjected by the Romans. Zenobia was captured but made such impression
on the emperor that he freed her and gave her an estate near Tivoli.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Hyperhistory Online URL below.
DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Nicolaus, (Nikolaos). Called Damascenus. A Greek historian of
Damascus. At the suggestion of the Jewish king, Herod the Great, whose intimate
friend he was, and who had recommended him to Augustus (B.C. 6), he wrote an autobiography,
of which fragments remain; a comprehensive history of the world down to his own
times in 144 books, which is partly preserved in fragments exhibiting an agreeable
style. A portion of his panegyrical biography of Augustus has come down to us.
The remains of Nicolaus are edited by Dindorf in the Hist. Graeci (1870).
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Damascenus Nicolaus, (Nikolaos Damaskenos), a famous Greek polyhistor, who lived
in the time of Herod the Great and the emperor Augustus, with both of whom he
was connected by intimate friendship. He was, as his name indicates, a native
of Damascus, and the son of Antipater and Stratonice. His parents were distinguished
no less for their personal character than for their wealth, and his father, who
was a highly esteemed orator, was not only invested with the highest magistracies
in his native place, but was employed on various embassies. Nicolaus and his brother
Ptolemaeus were instructed from their childhood in everything that was good and
useful. Nicolaus in particular shewed great talents, and even before he attained
the age of puberty, he obtained the reputation of being the most accomplished
among the youths of his age; and at that early age he composed tragedies and comedies,
which met with general applause. But he soon abandoned these poetical pursuits,
and devoted himself to rhetoric, music, mathematics, and the philosophy of Aristotle.
Herod carried on his philosophical studies in common with Nicolaus, and the amicable
relation between the two men was strengthened by these common pursuits. In B.
C. 14, he prevailed upon Herod to interfere with Agrippa on behalf of the citizens
of Ilium, who were to be severely punished for having been apparently wanting
in attention to Agrippa's wife, Julia, the daughter of Augustus. It was about
the same time that he used his influence with Herod to prevail upon Agrippa to
put an end to the annoyances to which the Jews in lonia were constantly exposed.
In a conversation with Herod Nicolaus once directed his attention to the advantages
which a prince might derive from history; and the king, who was struck by the
truth of the observation, entreated Nicolaus to write a history. Nicolaus complied
with the request, and compiled a most voluminous work on universal history, the
accomplishment of which, in his opinion, surpassed even the hardest among the
labours of Heracles. In B. C. 13, when Herod went to Rome to pay Augustus a visit,
he took Nicolaus with him, and both travelled in the same vessel. On that occasion,
Nicolaus made Augustus a present of the finest fruit of the palm-tree, which Augustus
henceforth called Nicolai, a name by which that fruit was known down to the middle
ages. Some writers speak of cakes (plakountes) which Nicolaus presented to Augustus,
but this is evidently a mistake. (Suid. s. v. Nikolaos; Athen. xiv.; Plut. Sympos.
viii. 4; Isidor. Orig. xvii. 7; Plin. H. N. xiii. 4.) When Herod, by his success
against some Arab chiefs, had drawn upon himself the enmity of Augustus, and the
latter declined to receive any ambassadors, Herod, who knew the influence which
Nicolaus possessed with the emperor, sent him to negotiate. Nicolaus, by very
skilful management, succeeded in turning the anger of Augustus against the Arabs,
and in restoring the friendship between Augustus and Herod. When Alexander and
Aristobulus, the sons of Herod, were suspected of plotting against their father,
Nicolaus endeavoured to induce the king not to proceed to extremities against
his sons, but in vain: the two sons were put to death, and Nicolaus afterwards
degraded himself by defending and justifying this cruel act of his royal friend.
On the death of Herod, Archelaus succeeded to the throne, chiefly through the
exertions of Nicolaus. We have no account of what became of Nicolaus after this
event, and how long he survived it.
Plutarch (l. c.) describes Nicolaus as possessing a tall and slender
figure, with a red face. In private life, as well as in intercourse with others,
he was a man of the most amiable disposition: he was modest, just, and liberal
in a high degree; and although he disgraced himself by his flattery and partiality
towards Herod, he neglected the great and powerful at Rome so much, that he is
censured for having preferred the society of plebeians to that of the nobles.
The information which we have here given is derived partly from a life of Nicolaus,
written by himself, of which a considerable portion is still extant, from Suidas,
and from Josephus. (Antiq. Jud. xvi. 15, 16,17, xvii. 7, 11) The writings of Nicolaus
were partly poetical, partly historical, and partly philosophical. With regard
to his tragedies, we know only the title of one, called Sosanis or Sosannes (Eustath.
ad Dionys. Perieg. 976), but no fragments are extant. A considerable fragment
of one of his comedies, which consists of 44 lines, and gives us a favourable
opinion of his poetical talent, is preserved in Stobaeus. The most important,
however, among his works were those of an historical nature. 1. The first is his
autobiography, which we have already mentioned. 2. A universal history, which
consisted of 144 books. (Athen. vi.) Suidas states, that it contained only 80
books, but the 124th is quoted by Josephus. (Antiq. Jud. xii. 3.) The title historia
katholike, under which this work is mentioned by Suidas, does not occur elsewhere.
As far as we can judge from the fragments still extant, it treated chiefly of
the history of the Asiatic nations; but whether the Assuriakai historiai of which
Photius (Bibl. Cod. 189) speaks is the same as the universal history, or only
a portion of it, or whether it was a separate work, cannot be determined with
any certainty. The universal history was composed at the request of Herod, and
seems to have been a hurried compilation, in which Nicolaus, without exercising
any criticism, incorporated whatever he found related by earlier historians. 3.
A life of Augustus. This work is lost, like the rest, with the exception of excerpta
which were made from it by the command of Constantinus Porphyrogenitus. These
excerpta shew that the author was not much concerned about accuracy, and that
the biography was more of a eulogy than of a history. Some writers have been of
opinion, that this biography formed a part of the universal history; but there
seems to be no ground for this hypothesis. 4. A life of Herod. There is no express
testimony for a separate work of this name, but the way in which Josephus speaks
of the manner in which Nicolaus treated Herod, and defended his cruelties, or
passed them over in silence, if he could not defend them, scarcely admits of a
doubt as to the existence of a separate work on the life of Herod. 5. Ethon paradoxon
sunagoge, that is, a collection of singular customs among the various nations
of the earth. It was dedicated to Herod (Phot. Bibl. Cod. 189), and Stobaeus has
preserved many passages from it. Valesius and others think that these passages
did not originally belong to a separate work, but were extracted from the universal
history. Of his philosophical works, which consisted partly of independent treatises
and partly of paraphrases of Aristotle's works, no fragments are extant, except
a few statements in Simplicius' commentaries on Aristotle. The extant fragments
of Nicolaus were first edited in a Latin version by N. Cragius, Geneva, 1593,
4to. The Greek originals with a Latin translation were first edited by H. Valesius
in his "Excerpta Polybii, Diodori," &c., Paris, 1634, 4to. The best
and most complete edition, with Latin translations by Valesius and H. Grotius,
is that of J. C. Orelli, Leipzig, 1804, 8vo. It also contains a good dissertation
on the life and writings of Nicolaus by the Abbe Sevin, which originally appeared
in the Memoires de l'Acad. des Inscript. vi. In 1811, Orelli published a supplement
to his edition, which contains notes and emendations by A. Coray, Creuzer, Schweighauser,
and others.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALKIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Herodes, king of Chalcis, was son of Aristobulus, the ill-fated son of the Asmonean
Mariamne, and brother of Herod Agrippa I. (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5.4.) He obtained
the kingdom of Chalcis from Claudius at the request of his brother Agrippa (A.
D. 41): he was at the same time honoured by the emperor with the praetorian dinity;
and after the death of Agrippa (A. D. 44), Claudius bestowed upon him the general
superintendence of the temple and sacred treasury at Jerusalem, together with
the right of appointing the high-priests. Of the latter privilege he availed himself,
first to remove Cantheras, and appoint Joseph, the son of Camus, and again, subsequently
to displace Joseph, and bestow that high dignity upon Ananias, the son of Nebedeus.
These are all the events that are recorded of his reign, which lasted less than
eight years, as he died in A. D. 48, when his petty kingdom was bestowed by Claudius
upon his nephew, Herod Agrippa II. (Joseph. Ant. xix. 5.1, xx. 1. 3, 5.2, B. J.
ii. 11.5, 6; Dion Cass. lx. 8.) He was twice married, first to Mariamne, daughter
of Olympias, the daughter of Herod the Great, by whom he had a son, Aristobulus;
secondly, to the accomplished Berenice, daughter of his brother Agrippa, who bore
him two sons, Berenicianus and Hyrcanus. (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5.4, xx. 5.2.)
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DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
We read that Euclid, son of Naucrates, grandson of Zenarchus, called the author of geometry, a philosopher of somewhat ancient date, a Greek by nationality domiciled at Damascus, born at Tyre, most learned in the science of geometry, published a most excellent and most useful work entitled the foundation or elements of geometry, a subject in which no more general treatise existed before among the Greeks: nay, there was no one even of later date who did not walk in his footsteps and frankly profess his doctrine.
KYRROS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Cassius, Avidius, one of the most able and successful among the generals of M. Aurelius, was a native of Cyrrhus in Syria, son of a certain Heliodorus, who in consequence of his eminence as a rhetorician had risen to be praefect of Egypt. While Verus was abandoning himself to all manner of profligacy at Antioch, the war against the Parthians was vigorously prosecuted by Cassius, who closed a most glorious campaign by the capture of Seleuceia and Ctesiphon. He subsequently quelled a formidable insurrection in Egypt, organized by a tribe of marauders who dwelt among the fens; and having been appointed governor of all the Eastern provinces, discharged his trust for several years with fidelity and firmness. The history of his rebellion and his miserable death are narrated under M. Aurelius. If we can believe in the authenticity of the documents produced by Gallicanus, the conduct of Cassius excited the suspicion of Verus at a very early period, but Antoninus refused to listen to the representations of his colleague, ascribing them doubtless, and with good cause, to jealousy. (In addition to the notices contained in Dion Cassius lxxi. 2, 21, &c., we have a formal biography from the pen of one of the Augustan historians, named Vulcatius Gallicanus, but the style of this production is not such as to inspire much confidence in its author.)
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EMESA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Fronto, of Emisa, the uncle of Longinus, taught rhetoric at Athens, and wrote many orations, in the reign of Alexander Severus. There are two epigrams by him on points of grammar in the Greek Anthology. (Suid. s. v. Phronton Emisenos; Brunck, Analect. vol. ii.; Jacobs., Anthol. Graec. vol. iii., vol. xiii.)
EPIFANIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Eustathius, of Epiphaneia in Syria, a rhetorician of the time of the emperor Anastasius.
He wrote an historical work in nine books, intitled Chronike epitome. It consisted
of two parts, the first of which embraced the history from the creation to the
time of Aeneias; and the second from the time of Aeneias down to the twelfth year
of the reign of the emperor Anastasius. With the exception of a few fragments,
the whole work is lost. (Evagrius, iii. 37, vi. in fin.; Nicephor. Prooem. and
xiv. 57; Suidas, s. v. Eustathios.) There is another Eustathius of Epiphaneia,
who belongs to an earlier date, and was present among the Arians at the synod
of Seleuceia, in A. D. 359. (Epiphan. lxxiii. 26; Chron. Alexandr., ed. Cange.)
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APAMIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
135 - 51
Iamblichus, a later Neo-Platonic philosopher of Apameia, who was a contemporary of the emperor
Julian and Libanius. He has often been confounded with Iamblichus of Chalcis,
but the time at which he lived, and his intimacy with Julian, clearly show that
he belongs to a later date. The emperor, where he speaks of him, bestows extravagant
praise upon him (Libanius, Epist.)
CHALKIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Iamblichus (Iamblichos). A NeoPlatonic philosopher, a native of Chalcis
in CoeleSyria. He died about A.D. 330. He was a pupil of Porphyry and a follower
of Plotinus; but pushing their teachings to the point of absurdity, became a mere
charlatan and impostor, seeking the reputation of a magician and wonder-worker.
His writings include (i.) a life of Pythagoras (Peri tou Puthagorikou Biou) in
ten books, of which four parts are extant, edited by Nauck (1884); (ii.) a work
on mathematics (Peri Koines Mathematikes Epistemes), edited by Fries (1790); (iii.)
two treatises on mystical arithmetic (Peri Nikomachou Arithmetikes Eisagoges and
Ta Theologoumena tes Arithmetikes), the latter edited by Ast (1817); (iv.) a treatise
on the Egyptian mysteries (Peri Musterion), and intending to prove their divine
origin, edited by Parthey (1857); and (v.) a sort of introduction to the study
of Plato (Protreptikoi Logoi eis Philosophian), edited by Kiessling (1813). The
treatise on the mysteries and those on arithmetic are possibly not the work of
Iamblichus.
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Iamblichus, a celebrated Neo-Platonic philosopher, was born at Chalcis in Coele-Syria,
and was perhaps a descendant of the poet Iamblichus. He was a pupil of Anatolius
and Porphyrius. Respecting his life we know very little beyond the fact that he
resided in Syria till his death, making every year an excursion to the hot springs
of Gadara. He died in the reign of Constantine the Great, and probably before
A. D. 333 (Suidas, s.v. Iamblichos; Eunapius, Iamblich). He had studied with great
zeal the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras, and was also acquainted with the
theology and philosophy of the Chaldaeans and Egyptians. The admiration which
he enjoyed among his contemporaries was so great that they declared him to be
equal to Plato himself, and that the difference of time was the only one existing
between them (Julian, Orat. iv., Epist. 40). We cannot join in this admiration,
for although he pretended to be a follower of Plato, his Platonism was so much
mixed up with notions and doctrines derived from the East, and with those of other
Greek philosophers, especially Pythagoras, that it may justly be termed a syncretic
philosophy. By means of this philosophy, which was further combined with a great
deal of the superstition of the time, he endeavoured to oppose and check the progress
of Christianity. He did not acquiesce in the doctrines of the earlier New Platonists,
Porphyrius and Plotinus, who regarded the perception and comprehension of the
Deity, by means of ecstasies, as the object of all philosophy; but his opinion
was that man could be brought into direct communion with the Deity through the
medium of theurgic rites and ceremonies, whence he attached particular importance
to mysteries, initiations, and the like.
Iamblichus was the author of a considerable number of works, of which
a few only have come down to us. The most important among them are:
1. Peri Puthagorou haireseos, on the philosophy of Pythagoras. It was intended
as a preparation for the study of Plato, and consisted originally of ten books,
of which five only are extant. The first of them, entitled Peri tou Puthagorikou
Biou, contains a detailed account of the life of Pythagoras and his school, but
is an uncritical compilation from earlier works; as howeverthese works are lost,
thecompilation of Iamblichus is not without its peculiar value to us. This life
of Pythagoras was first edited by J. Arcerius Theodoretus in Greek and Latin,
Franeker, 1598. The most recent and best editions are those of L. Kuster (Amsterdam,
1707) and Th. Kiessling (Leipzig, 1815). The second book, entitled Protreptikoi
logoi eis philosophian, forms a sort of introduction to the study of Plato, and
is, like the former, for the most part compiled from the works of earlier writers,
and almost without any plan or system. The last chapter contains an explanation
of 39 Pythagorean symbols. The first edition is that of Arcerius Theodoretus,
and the best that of Th. Kiessling, Leipzig, 1813. The third book is entitled
Peri koines mathematikes episteus, and contains many fragments of the works of
early Pythagoreans, especially Philolaus and Archytas. It exists in MS. in various
libraries, but for a long time only fragments were published, until at length
Villoisonin his Anecdota Graeca (vol. ii.) printed the whole of it, after which
it was edited separately by J. G. Fries, Copenhagen, 1790. The fourth book, entitled
Peri tes Nikomachou arithmetikes eisagoges, was first edited by Sam. Tennulius,
Deventer and Arnheim, 1668. The fifth and sixth books, which treated on physics
and ethics, are lost; but the seventh, entitled TΓ Deologoumena tes arithmetikes,
is still extant, and has been published by Ch. Wechel (Paris, 1543) and Fr. Ast
(Leipzig, 1817). With regard to the other books of this work, we know that the
eighth contained an introduction to music, the ninth an introduction to geometry,
and the tenth the spheric theory of Pythagoras.
2. Peri musterion, in one book. An Egyptian priest of the name of Abammon is there
introduced as replying to a letter of Porphyrius. He endeavours to refute various
doubts respecting the truth and purity of the Egyptian religion and worship, and
to prove the divine origin of the Egyptian and Chaldaean theology, as well as
that men, through theurgic rites, may commune with the Deity. Many critics have
endeavoured to show that this work is not a production of Iamblichus, while Tennemann
and others have vindicated its authenticity; and there are apparently no good
reasons why the authorship should be denied to Iamblichus. The work has been edited
by Ficinus (Venice, 1483, with a Lat. translation), N. Scutellius (Rome, 1556),
and Th. Gale (Oxford, 1678, with a Lat. translation).
Besides these works, we have mention of one. Peri psuches, of which
a fragment is preserved in Stobaeus (Flor. tit. 25, 6), Epistles, several of which
are quoted by Stobaeus, on the gods and other works, among which we may notice
a great one, Peri tes teleiotates Chalkidaikes philosophias of which some fragments
are preserved by Damascius in his work, Peri archon. Iamblichus further wrote
commentaries on some of Plato's dialogues, viz., on the Parmenides, Timaeus and
Phaedon, and also on the Analytica of Aristotle.
(Comp. Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii.; G. E. Hebenstreit, Dissertatio de Iamblicho,
philos. Syr. Lipsiae, 1764)
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Dexippus (Dexippos), a commentator on Plato and Aristotle, was a disciple of the Neo-Platonic
philosopher Iamblichus, and lived in the middle of the fourth century of the Christian
era. We still possess a commentary of Dexippus on the Categories of Aristotle,
in the form of a dialogue, which, however, is printed only in a Latin translation.
It appeared at Paris, 1549, under the title of "Quaestionum in Categorias libri
tres, interprete J. Bernardo Feliciano", and again at Venice, 1546, after the
work of Porphyry In Praedicam. The Greek title in the Madrid Codex is, Dexippou
philosophou Platonikou ton eis tas Arostotelous Kategorias Aporion te kai Luseon
kephalaia m.
In this work the author explains to one Seleucus the Aristotelian
Categories, and endeavors at the same time to refute the objections of Plotinus.
(Plotin. Ennead. vi. 1, 2, 3; comp. Simplic. ad Arist. Categ. fol. 1, a.; Tzetzes,
Chiliad. ix. Hist. 274).
Specimens of the Greek text are to be found in Iriarte, Cod. Bibl.
Matrit. Catalog., and from these we learn that there are other dialogues of Dexippus
on similar subjects still extant in manuscript.
DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
(Damaskios). A philosopher, a native of Damascus. He commenced
his studies under Ammonius at Alexandria, and completed them at Athens under Marinus,
Isidorus, and Zenodotus. According to some, he was the successor of Isidorus.
It is certain, however, that he was the last professor of Neo-Platonism at Athens.
He appears to have been a man of excellent judgment, and to have had a strong
attachment for the sciences, particularly mathematics. He wrote a work entitled
Aporiai kai Luseis peri ton Proton Archon, "Doubts and Solutions concerning
the Origin of Things." Of this only two fragments remain--one preserved by
Photius, which forms a biographical sketch of Isidorus of Gaza; the other treating
Peri Gennetou, "Of what has been procreated." The remains of this work
were edited, with a valuable preface, by J. Kopp (Frankfort, 1828). A Venetian
MS. contains an unedited work of his, entitled Aporiai kai Luseis eis ton Platonos
Parmeniden, "Doubts and Solutions relative to the Parmenides of Plato."
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Damascius (Damaskios), the Syrian (ho Suros), of Damascus, whence he derived his
name, the last of the renowned teachers of the Neo-Platonic philosophy at Athens,
was born towards the end of the fifth century of the Christian era. His national
Syrian name is unknown. He repaired at an early period to Alexandria, where he
first studied rhetoric under the rhetorician Theon, and mathematics and philosophy
under Ammonius, the son of Hermeas, and Isidorus. From Alexandria Damascius went
to Athens, where Neo-Platonism existed in its setting glory under Marinus and
Zenodotus, the successors of the celebrated Proclus. He became a disciple of both,
and afterwards their successor (whence his surname of ho diadochos), and he was
the last who taught in the cathedra of Platonic philosophy at Athens; for in the
year 529 the emperor Justinian closed the heathen schools of philosophy at Athens,
and most of the philosophers, and among them Damascius, emigrated to king Chosroes
of Persia. At a later time (533), however, Damascius appears to have returned
to the West, since Chosroes had stipulated in a treaty of peace that the religion
and philosophy of the heathen votaries of the Platonic philosophy should be tolerated
by the Byzantine emperor. (Brucker, Hist. Philosoph. ii.; Agathias, Scholast.
ii.) We have no further particulars of the life of Damascius; we only know that
he did not, after his return, found any school either at Athens or at any other
place, and that thus the heathen philosophy ended with its external existence.
But the Neo-Platonic ideas from the school of Proclus were preserved in the Christian
church down to the later times of the middle ages.
Only one of Damascius's numerous writings has yet been printed, namely,
"Doubts and Solutions of the first Principles," (Aporiai kai Luseis
peri ton proton archon), which was published (but not complete) by J. Kopp, Francof.
1828. 8vo. In this treatise Damascius inquires, as the title intimates, respecting
the first principle of all things, which he finds to be an unfathomable and unspeakable
divine depth, being all in one, but undivided. The struggles which he makes in
this treatise to force into words that which is not susceptible of expression,
have been blamed by many of the modern philosophers as barren subtilty and tedious
tautology, but received the just admiration of others. This work is, moreover,
of no small importance for the history of philosophy, in consequence of the great
number of notices which it contains concerning the elder philosophers.
The rest of Damascius's writings are for the most part commentaries
on works of Aristotle and Plato. Of these the most important are: 1. Apopiai kai
luseis eis ton Platonos Parmeniden in a manuscript at Venice. 2. A continuation
and completion of Proclus's commentary on Plato's Parmenides, printed in Cousin's
edition of the works of Proclus, Paris, 1827, 8vo., vol. vi. We have references
to some commentaries of Damascius on Plato's Timaeus, Alcibiades, and other dialogues,
which seem to be lost. 3. Of the commentaries of Damascius on Aristotle's works
we only know of the commentary on Aristotle's treatise "de Coelo," of
which perhaps a fragment is extant in the treatise peri tou gennetou, published
by Iriarte (Catal. MSS. Bibl. Madrid, i.) under the name of Damascius. Such a
commentary of Damascius as extant in manuscript (parekbolai, in Aristot. lib.
i. de Coelo) is also mentioned by Labbeus (Bibl. Nov. MSS.). The writings of Damascius
peri kineseos, peri topou, and peri chronou, cited by Simplicius in his commentary
on Aristotle's Physica (fol. 189, b., 153, a., 183, b.), are perhaps only parts
of his commentaries on the Aristotelian writings. Fabricius (Bibl. Graec. vol.
ii.) attributes to him the composition of an epitome of the first four and the
eighth book of Aristotle's Physica. 4. But of much greater importance is Damascius's
biography of his preceptor Isidorus (Isidorou Bios, perhaps a part of the philosophos
hiotoria attributed to Damascius by Suidas, i.), of which Photius (Cod. 242, comp.
181) has preserved a considerable fragment, and gives at the same time some important
information respecting the life and studies of Damascius. This biography appears
to have been reckoned by the ancients the most important of the works of Damascius.
5. Logoi Paradoxoi, in 4 books, of which Photius (Cod. 130) also gives an account
and specifies the respective titles of the books. (Comp. Westermann, Rerum Mirabil.
Scriptorcs, Proleg.) Photius praises the succinct, clear, and pleasing style of
this work; though, as a Christian, he in other respects vehemently attacks the
heathen philosopher and the tendency of his writings. 6. Besides all these writings,
there is lastly a fragment of a commentary on Hippocrates's "Aphorisms"
in a manuscript at Munich, which is ascribed to this philosopher. There is also
an epigram in the Greek Anthology (iii. 179, ed. Jacobs, comp. Jacobs, Comment.
in Anthol. xiii.) likewise ascribed to him.
Among the disciples of Damascius the most im portant are Simplicius,
the celebrated commentator on Aristotle, and Eulamius.
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EPIFANIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Euphrates, an eminent Stoic philosopher of the time of Hadrian. According to Philostratus
(Vit. Soph. i. 7, Vit. Apoll. i. 13), he was a native of Tyre, and according to
Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Epiphaneia), of Epiphaneia in Syria; whereas Eunapius
(ed. Boissonade) calls him an Egyptian. At the time when Pliny the younger served
in Syria, he became acquainted with Euphrates, and seems to have formed an intimate
friendship with him. In one of his letters (Epist. i. 10) he gives us a detailed
account of the virtues and talents of Euphrates. His great power as an orator
is acknowledged also by other contemporaries poraries (Arrian, Dissert. Epictet.
iii. 15, iv. 8 ; M. Aurel. x. 31), though Apollonius of Tyana charges him with
avarice and servile flattery. When he had arrived at an advanced age, and was
tired of life, he asked and obtained from Hadrian the permission of putting an
end to himself by poison. (Dion Cass. lxix. 8.)
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PALMYRA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Longinus, Dionysius Cassiud (Dionusios Kassios Longinos), a very distinguished
Greek philosopher of the third century of our era. His original name seems to
have been Dionysius; but, either because he entered into the relation of client
to some Cassius Longinus, or because his ancestors had received the Roman franchise,
through the influence of some Cassius Longinus, he bore the name of Dionysius
Longinus, Cassius Longinus, or in the complete form given at the head of this
article. He was born about A. D. 213, and was killed in A. D. 273, at the age
of sixty. His native place is uncertain; some say that he was born at Palmyra,
and others call him a Syrian or a native of Emesa. The belief that he was of Syrian
origin is only an inference from the fact that his mother was a Syrian woman,
and from an obscure passage in Vopiscus (Aurelian. 30), from which it may be inferred
that he was conversant with the Syriac language. But it is clear that these circumstances
prove nothing, for he may have learned the Syriac language either from his mother
or during his subsequent residence at Palmyra. There is more ground for believing
that Longinus was born at Athens, for Suidas (s. v. Phronton) states that Phronto
of Emesa, the uncle of Longinus, taught rhetoric at Athens, and on his death in
that place left behind him Longinus, the son of his sister. It would seem that
this Phronto took especial care of the education of his nephew, and on his death-bed
he instituted him as his heir. In the preface to his work peri telous, which is
preserved in Porphyrius's life of Plotinus, Longinus himself relates that from
his early age he made many journeys with his parents, that he visited many countries,
and became acquainted with all the men who at the time enjoyed a great reputation
as philosophers, and among whom the most illustrious are Ammonius Saccas, Origen,
Plotinus, and Amelius. Of tile first two Louginus was a pupil for a long time,
though they (lid not succeed in inspiring him with any love for that kind of speculative
philosophy of which they were the founders. Longinus in his study of philosophy
went to the fountain-head itself, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the
works of Plato; and that he was a genuine Platonist is evident from the character
of his works. or rather, fragments still extant, as well as from the commentaries
he wrote on several of Plato's dialogues; and the few fragments of these commentaries
which have come down to us, show that he had a clear and sound lead, and was free
from the allegorical fancies in which his contemporaries discovered the great
wisdom of the ancients. His commentaries not only explained the subject-matter
discussed by Plato, but also his style and diction. This circumstance drew upon
him the contempt and ridicule of such men as Plotinus, who called him a philologer,
and would not admit his claims to be a philosopher. (Porphyr. Vit. Plot. p. 116;
Proclus, ad Plat. Tim. p. 27)
After Longinus had derived all the advantages he could from Ammonius
at Alexandria, and the other philosophers whom he met in his travels, lie returned
to Athens, where lie had been born and bred. He there devoted himself with so
much zeal to the instructions of his numerous pupils, that he had scarcely any
time left for the composition of any literary production. The most distinguished
among his pupils was Porphyrius, whose original name was Malchus, which Longinus
changed into Porphyrius, i. e. the king, or the man clad in purple. At Athens
he seems to have lectured on philosophy and criticism, as well as on rhetoric
and grammar (Eunap. Porphyr. init.; Porphyr. Vit. Plot.; Vopisc. Aurelian. 30;
Suid. s. v. Longinos), and the extent of his information was so great, that Eunapius
calls him "a living library" and "a walking museum ;" but his knowledge was not
a dead encumbrance to his mind, for the power for which he was most celebrated
was his critical skill (Phot. Bibl. Cod. 259; Sopat. Proleg. in Aristid.; Suid.
s. vr. Porphurios, Longinos), and this was indeed so great, that the expression
kata Longinon krinein became synonymous with "to judge correctly." (Hieronym.
Epist. 95; Theophylact. Epist. 17)
After having spent a considerable part of his life at Athens, and
composed the best of his works, he went to the East, either for the purpose of
seeing his friends at Emesa or to settle some of his family affairs. It seems
to have been on that occasion that he became known to queen Zenobia of Palmyra,
who, being a woman of great talent, and fond of the arts and literature, made
him her teacher of Greek literature. As Longinus had no extensive library at his
command at Palmyra, he was obliged almost entirely to abandon his literary pursuits,
but another sphere of action was soon opened to him there; for when king Odenathus
had died, and Zenobia had undertaken the government of her empire, she availed
herself most extensively of the advice of Longinus, and it was he who, being an
ardent lover of liberty, advised and encouraged her to shake off the Roman yoke,
and assert her dignity as an independent sovereign. In consequence of this, Zenobia
wrote a spirited letter to the Roman emperor Aurelian (Vopisc. Aurelian. 27)./
In A. D. 273, when Aurelian took and destroyed Palmyra, Longinus had to pay with
his life for the advice which lie had given to Zenobia (Vopisc. Aurelian. 30;
Suid. s. v. Longinos). This catastrophe must have been the more painful to Longinus,
since the queen, after having fallen into the hands of the Romans, asserted her
own innocence, and threw all the blame upon her advisers, and more especially
upon Longinus. But he bore his execution with a firmness and cheerfulness worthy
of a Socrates. (Zosimus, i. 56)
Longinus was unquestionably by far the greatest philosopher of the
age, and stands forth so distinct and solitary in that age of mystic and fanciful
quibblers, that it is impossible not to recognise in him a man of excellent sense,
sound and independent judgment, and extensive knowledge. He had thoroughly imbibed
the spirit of Plato and Demosthenes, from whom he derived not only that intellectual
culture which distinguished him above all others, but also an ardent love of liberty,
and a great frankness both in expressing his own opinions and exposing the faults
and errors of others (Porphyr. Vit. Plot.). His work Peri huphous, a great part
of which is still extant, surpasses in oratorical power every thing that was ever
written after the time of the Greek orators, and he, like Cicero among the Romans,
is the only Greek who not only knew how to teach rhetoric, but was able by his
own example to show what true oratory is. Besides the Greek and Syriac languages,
he was also familiar with the Latin, as we must conclude from his comparison of
Cicero with Demosthenes (Peri hups. 12; comp. Suid. s. v. Aionoarios; Tzetz. Posthom).
In his private life he seems to have been a man of a very amiable disposition;
for although his pupil Porphyrius left him, declaring that he would seek a better
philosophy in the school of Plotinus, still Longinus did not show him any ill-will
on that account, but continued to treat him as a friend, and invited him to come
to Palmyra (Porphyr. Vit. Plot.). He was, and remained throughout his life, a
pagan, though he was by no means hostile either to Judaism or Christianity.
Notwithstanding his manifold avocations, Longinus composed a great
number of works, which appear to have been held in the highest estimation, but
nearly all of which have unfortunately perished. All that has come down to us
consists of a considerable part of his work Peri huphous, or De Sublimitate, and
a number of fragments, which have been preserved as quotations in the works of
contemporary and later writers. There is scarcely any work in the range of ancient
literature which, independent of its excellence of style, contains so many exquisite
remarks upon oratory, poetry, and good taste in general. It is addressed to one
Postumius Terentianus, but contains many lacunae, which cannot be filled up, since
all the MSS. extant are only copies of the one which is preserved at Paris. The
following is a list of his lost works :
1. Hoi Philologoi, a very extensive work, since a 21st book of it is quoted. It
seems to have contained information and critical remarks upon a variety of subjects.
(Auctor, Vit. Apollon. Rhod., Rulhnken, Dissertatio Philol. De Vit. et Script.
Long. p. 28, &c.)
2. Peri tou kata Meidiou, i. e. on the oration of Demosthenes against Meidias.
(Suid. s. v. Longinos; comp. Phot. Bibl. Cod. 265.)
3. Aporemata Homerika. (Suid. l. c.; comp. Eustath. ad Hom. Il.)
4. Ei philosophos Homeros. (Suid. l. c.)
5. Problemata Homerou kai luseis, in two books. (Suid. l. c.)
6. Tina para tas historias hoi lrammatikoi hos historika exegountai. (Suid. l.
c.)
7. Peri ton par Homeroi polla semainouson lexeon,in three books. (Suid. l. c.)
8. Attikon lexeon ekdoseis, in the form of a dictionary. (Phot. Lexic. s. v. Serphio;
Eustath. ad Hom.)
9. Lexeis Antimachou kai Herakleonos. (Suid. l.c.)
10. Peri ethnikon. (Grammat. in Biblioth. Coislin.)
11. Scholia eis to tou Hephaistionos encheiridion, are still extant in MSS., and
have been transcribed by the scholiast commonly printed with Hephaestion. (Schol.
ad Hermog.)
12. Peri suntheseos logon. (Longin. peri huph. § 39.)
13. Techne petorike, or a manual of rhetoric. (Schol. ad Hermog.)
14. Eis ten rhetoriken Hermogenous, of which some extracts are still extant in
MS. at Vienna.
15. A commentary on the Prooemium of Plato's Timaeus. (Proclus, in Tim.)
16. A commentary on Plato's Phaedon. (Ruhnken, l. c. p. 18.)
17. Peri archon, i.e. on the principles of things. (Porphyr. Vit. Plot.)
18. Peri telous, i. e. De finibus bonorum et malorum; the excellent introduction
to it is preserved in Porphyrius's life of Plotinus.
19. Peri hormes, or on natural instinct. (Porphyr. Vit. Plotin.)
20. epistole pros ton Amelion, on the philosophy of Plotinus. (Ruhnken, l. c.
p. 43.)
21. Peri tes kata Platona dikaiosunes, was directed against Amelius. (Ruhnken,
l. c. p. 43.)
22. Peri ton ideon. Longinus wrote two works under this title, one against Plotinus,
and the other against Porphyrius. (Ruhnken, l. c. ; Syrian. ad Aristot. Metaphys.)
23. Peri phuches, a fragment of it is quoted by Eusebius. (Praep. Evang. xv. 21;
comp. Porphyr. ap. Stob. Eclog. Phys. i.; Proclus, ad Plat. Polit.)
24. Odainathos seems to have been the latest of the works of Longinus, and to
have been a emogy on Odenathus, the husband of Zenobia. (Liban. Epist. 998.)
The first edition of the treatise peri hupsous is that of Fr. Robortello, Basel,
1554, 4to. The next important edition is that of F. Portus (Geneva, 1569, 8vo.),
which forms the basis of all subsequent editions until the time of Tollius. We
may, however, mention those of G. Langbaene (Oxford, 1636, 1638, and 1650, 8vo.)
and T. Fabri (Salmur. 1663, 8vo.). In 1694 there appeared the edition of Tollius,
with notes, and Latin translation (Traject. ad Rhen. 4to.): it was followed in
the editions of Hudson (Oxford, 1710, 1718, 1730, 8vo., and Edinburgh, 1733, 12mo.),
Pearce (London, 1724, 4to., 1732, 8vo., and often reprinted), and N. Morus (Leipzig,
1769-73, 8vo.). A collection of all that is extant of Longinus was published by
J. Toupius, with notes and emendations by Ruhnken, of which three editions were
printed at Oxford (1778, 1789, and 1806, 8vo.). The most recent editions are those
of B. Weiske (Leipzig. 1809, 8vo.) and A. E. Egger, forming vol. i. of the Scriptorum
Graec. Nova Collectio (Paris, 1837, 16mc.). Compare Ruhnken, Dissertatio de Vita
et Scriftis Longini, which is printed in Toupius and other editions of Longinus;
Spongberg, de Commentario) Dionysii Cassii Longini peri huphous Expositio, Upsala,
1835, 4to.; Westermann, Gesch. der Griech. Beredtsamk. § 98, notes 1-9.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALKIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Iamblichus (Iamblichos), a Syrian who lived in the time of the emperor Trajan.
He was educated at Babylon, and did not become acquainted with the Greek language
till a late period of his life. After having lived at Babylon for a number of
years, he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave to a Syrian, who, however, appears
to have set him free again. He is said to have acquired such a perfect knowledge
of Greek, that he even distinguished himself as a rhetorician (Suidas, s.c. Iamblichos;
Schol. ad Phot. Bibl. Cod. 94). He was the author of a love story in Greek, which,
if not the earliest, was at least one of the first productions of this kind in
Greek literature. It bore the title Babulonika, and contained the story of two
lovers, Sinonis and Rhodanes. According to Suidas, it consisted of 39 books; but
Photius (Bibl. Cod. 94), who gives a tolerably full epitome of the work, mentions
only 17 (Comp. Phot. Bibl. Cod. 166; Suid. s. vv. garmos, phasma). A perfect copy
of the work in MS. existed down to the year 1671, when it was destroyed by fire.
A few fragments of the original work are still extant, and a new one of some length
has recently been discovered by A. Mai (Nov. Collect. Script. Vet. vol. ii.).
The epitome of Photius and the fragments are collected in Chardon de la Rochette's
Melanges de Critique et de Philologie, and in Passow's Corpus Erotic. vol. i.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
BEROEA (Ancient city) SYRIA
According to an Arab tradition, Abraham lived in it, and distributed some milk to every comer, whence the town's name, Haleb.
Strato, the tyrant of Berea, the confederate of Philip, called in Zizon, the ruler of the Arabian tribes, and Mithridates Sinax, the ruler of the Parthians, who coming with a great number of forces, and besieging Demetrius in his encampment, into which they had driven them with their arrows, they compelled those that were with him by thirst to deliver up themselves
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