Appian

This article is about the historian. For other uses, see Appian (disambiguation).
Appian
A page of the Latin translation of Appian’s "Roman History" by Pier Candido Decembrio, with imaginary portrait of the historian
Born
Appianus Alexandrinus

c. 95
Alexandria, Roman Egypt
Diedc. 165 (aged around 70)
Rome
Occupation(s)Historian, lawyer

Appian of Alexandria (/ˈæpiən/; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς, translit. Appianòs Alexandreús; Latin: Appianus Alexandrinus; c. 95 – c. AD 165) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.

He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the province of Aegyptus (Egypt), he went to Rome c. 120, where he practised as an advocate, pleading cases before the emperors (probably as advocatus fisci, an important official of the imperial treasury).[1] It was in 147 at the earliest that he was appointed to the office of procurator, probably in Egypt, on the recommendation of his friend Marcus Cornelius Fronto, an influential rhetorician and advocate. Because the position of procurator was open only to members of the 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 Latin as Historia Romana and in English as Roman History) was written in Greek in 24 books, before 165. This work more closely resembles a series of monographs than a connected history. It gives an account of various peoples and countries from the earliest times down to their incorporation into the Roman Empire, and survives in complete books and considerable fragments.[1] The work is very valuable, especially for the period of the civil wars.[2]

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.

  1. ^ a b White, Horace (1912). "Introduction". Appian's Roman History. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Loeb Classical Library. pp. vii–xii. ISBN 0-674-99002-1.
  2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Appian". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 221–222.