Diodorus Siculus - Wikipedia Diodorus Siculus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Ancient Greek historian "Diodorus" redirects here. For other uses, see Diodorus (disambiguation). Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus as depicted in a 19th-century fresco Born c. 90 BC Agira, Sicily Died c. 30 BC (aged 60) Known for Bibliotheca historica Scientific career Fields History Influenced Jerome Charles Henry Oldfather Diodorus Siculus (/ˌdaɪəˈdɔːrəs ˈsɪkjʊləs/; Koinē Greek: Διόδωρος Σικελιώτης Diodoros Sikeliotes) (fl. 1st century BC) or Diodorus of Sicily was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact,[1] between 60 and 30 BC. The history broke new ground in not being Hellenocentric, partly because of Stoic influences on his belief in the brotherhood of all men.[2] The history is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Europe. The second covers the time from the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC. Bibliotheca, meaning 'library', acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. Contents 1 Life 2 Work 2.1 Details 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links Life[edit] According to his own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily (now called Agira).[3] With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond in his work. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the "year of Abraham 1968" (49 BC), writes, "Diodorus of Sicily, a writer of Greek history, became illustrious". However, his English translator, Charles Henry Oldfather, remarks on the "striking coincidence"[4] that one of only two known Greek inscriptions from Agyrium (Inscriptiones Graecae XIV, 588) is the tombstone of one "Diodorus, the son of Apollonius".[5] Work[edit] Main article: Bibliotheca historica Bibliotheca historica, 1746 Diodorus' universal history, which he named Bibliotheca historica (Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, "Historical Library"), was immense and consisted of 40 books, of which 1–5 and 11–20 survive:[6] fragments of the lost books are preserved in Photius and the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. It was divided into three sections. The first six books treated the mythic history of the non-Hellenic and Hellenic tribes to the destruction of Troy and are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Ancient Egypt (book I), of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia (II), of North Africa (III), and of Greece and Europe (IV–VI). In the next section (books VII–XVII), he recounts the history of the world from the Trojan War down to the death of Alexander the Great. The last section (books XVII to the end) concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. (The end has been lost, so it is unclear whether Diodorus reached the beginning of the Gallic War as he promised at the beginning of his work or, as evidence suggests, old and tired from his labours he stopped short at 60 BC.) He selected the name "Bibliotheca" in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. Identified authors on whose works he drew include Hecataeus of Abdera, Ctesias of Cnidus, Ephorus, Theopompus, Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, Diyllus, Philistus, Timaeus, Polybius, and Posidonius. Details[edit] His book on Egypt, besides accounts of education, medicine, and Egyptian animal worship,[7] included the inscription of Osymandias - “If anyone wishes to know how mighty I am and where I lie, let him surpass any of my works” - which was Shelley’s inspiration for his poem Ozymandias.[8] Diodorus provides a fuller account of the half-century preceding the Peloponnesian War than Thucydides, and a more extensive, and arguably less biased, account of fourth century Greece than Xenophon.[9] Diodorus also provides details of Pytheas’s voyage to Britain, including data about Cornish mining, and the judgement that “The inhabitants of Britain...are simple in their habits, and far removed from the cunning and knavishness of modern man”.[10] His account of gold mining in Nubia in eastern Egypt (Book III Chapters 12-14)[11] describes in vivid detail the use of slave labour in terrible working conditions, while he provides an equally sympathetic account of the slave mines in Spain.[12] Karl Marx in Das Kapital, for his account of the overworking of slave labour, wrote “Only read Diodorus Siculus”.[13] Diodorus also gave an account of the Gauls: "The Gauls are terrifying in aspect and their voices are deep and altogether harsh; when they meet together they converse with few words and in riddles, hinting darkly at things for the most part and using one word when they mean another; and they like to talk in superlatives, to the end that they may extol themselves and depreciate all other men. They are also boasters and threateners and are fond of pompous language, and yet they have sharp wits and are not without cleverness at learning." (Book 5)[14] See also[edit] Pliny the Elder Strabo Acadine Notes[edit] ^ S Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (London 1969) p. 235 ^ S Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (London 1969) p. 235 ^ Diod. History 1.4.4. ^ Diodorus of Sicily In Twelve Volumes by Charles Henry Oldfather (1977), Introduction. ^ Ctesias' Persian History: Introduction, text, and translation by Ctesias by Jan P. Stronk (2010), p. 60. ^ "Diodorus Siculus" entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica. ^ A R David, The Egyptian Kingdoms (Oxford 1975) p. 43 ^ M Macovski ed, Dialogue and Critical Discourse (OUP 1997) p. 40 ^ S Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (London 1969) p. 237 ^ M Cary, The Ancient Explorers (Penguin 1963) p. 48-50 ^ "LacusCurtius • Diodorus Siculus — Book III Chapters 12‑14". uchicago.edu. ^ S Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (London 1969) p. 236 ^ K Marx, Capital (OUP 2008) p. 151 ^ "LacusCurtius • Diodorus Siculus — Book V Chapters 19‑40". uchicago.edu. References[edit] Ambaglio, Dino, Franca Landucci Gattinoni and Luigi Bravi. Diodoro Siculo: Biblioteca storica: commento storico: introduzione generale. Storia. Ricerche. Milano: V&P, 2008. x, 145 p. Buckley, Terry (1996). Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC: A Source-based Approach. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-09958-7. Siculus, Diodorus; Oldfather, C. H. (Translator) (1935). Library of History: Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press. Siculus, Diodorus; G. Booth (Translator); H. Valesius; I. Rhodomannus; F. Ursinus (1814). The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus. London: J. Davis. Downloadable via Google Books. Siculi, Diodori; Peter Wesseling (Editor); L. Rhodoman; G. Heyn; N. Eyring (1798). Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt: Nova Editio (in Ancient Greek and Latin). Argentorati: Societas Bipontina.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link) Downloadable via Google Books. Further reading[edit] Braithwaite-Westoby, Kara. "Diodorus and the Alleged Revolts of 374–373 BCE," Classical Philology 115, no. 2 (April 2020): 265-270. Clarke, Katherine. 1999. "Universal perspectives in Historiography." In The Limits of Historiography: Genre and Narrative in Ancient Historical Texts. Edited by Christina Shuttleworth Kraus, 249–279. Mnemosyne. Supplementum 191. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. Hammond, Nicholas G. L. 1998. "Portents, Prophecies, and Dreams in Diodorus’ Books 14–17." Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 39.4: 407–428. McQueen, Earl I. 1995. Diodorus Siculus. The Reign of Philip II: The Greek and Macedonian Narrative from Book XVI. A Companion. London: Bristol Classical Press. Muntz, Charles E. 2017. Diodorus Siculus and the World of the Late Roman Republic. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. Pfuntner, Laura. 2015. "Reading Diodorus through Photius: The Case of the Sicilian Slave Revolts." Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 55.1: 256–272. Rubincam, Catherine. 1987. "The Organization and Composition of Diodorus’ Bibliotheke." Échos du monde classique (= Classical views) 31:313–328. Sacks, Kenneth S. 1990. Diodorus Siculus and the First Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. Sinclair, Robert K. 1963. "Diodorus Siculus and the Writing of History." Proceedings of the African Classical Association 6:36–45. Stronk, Jan P. 2017. Semiramis’ Legacy. The History of Persia According to Diodorus of Sicily. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. Sulimani, Iris. 2008. "Diodorus’ Source-Citations: A Turn in the Attitude of Ancient Authors Towards their Predecessors?" Athenaeum 96.2: 535–567. External links[edit] Library resources about Didorus Siculus Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Didorus Siculus Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diodorus Siculus. Wikisource has original works written by or about: Diodorus Siculus Wikiquote has quotations related to: Diodorus Siculus Greek original works  Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ιστορική Βιβλιοθήκη Siculus, Diodorus. "Library" (in Ancient Greek). Perseus Digital Library. pp. Books 1‑5 only. Retrieved 2017-09-06. "The Library of History" (in Ancient Greek). LacusCurtius. pp. Books 6-10 only. Retrieved 2017-09-06. Siculus, Diodorus. "Library" (in Ancient Greek). Perseus Digital Library. pp. Books 9‑17 only. Retrieved 2017-09-06. English translations Works by Diodorus Siculus at Project Gutenberg Siculus, Diodorus; C.H. Oldfather et al. (Translators). "The Library of History". LacusCurtius. pp. Books 1‑32 only. Retrieved 2017-06-25. Siculus, Diodorus; C.H. Oldfather (Translator). "Library". Theoi E-Texts Library. pp. Books 4‑6 only. Retrieved 2008-10-08. Siculus, Diodorus; C.H. Oldfather (Translator). "Library". Perseus Digital Library. pp. Books 9‑17 only. Retrieved 2017-06-25. Siculus, Diodorus; Andrew Smith (Translator). "Historical Library". Attalus.org. pp. Books 33‑40 only. Retrieved 2014-02-07. Authority control BIBSYS: 90321794 BNE: XX1076951 BNF: cb11900233c (data) CANTIC: a11185818 CiNii: DA01310863 GND: 118679627 ICCU: IT\ICCU\CFIV\068396 ISNI: 0000 0001 2020 835X LCCN: n50028820 LNB: 000012489 NDL: 00746934 NKC: jn19981000658 NLA: 35763969 NSK: 000084353 NTA: 06809499X RERO: 02-A000051703 SELIBR: 49277 SUDOC: 026832682 Trove: 1076593 VcBA: 495/14135 VIAF: 56608763 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50028820 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diodorus_Siculus&oldid=982689547" Categories: Roman-era Greek historians Historians from Magna Graecia Classical geography Sicilian Greeks 1st-century BC Greek people 1st-century BC historians 90s BC births 30s BC deaths Works about mining Hellenistic-era historians Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hCards Articles containing Koinē Greek-language text Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text CS1 maint: extra text: authors list CS1 foreign language sources (ISO 639-2) CS1 Latin-language sources (la) Commons category link from Wikidata Articles with Project Gutenberg links Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ICCU identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NSK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with RERO identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Languages Afrikaans Alemannisch አማርኛ العربية Asturianu Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Corsu Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Кыргызча Latina Lingua Franca Nova Magyar Македонски മലയാളം مصرى Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Occitan Oʻzbekcha/ўзбекча Piemontèis Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Sicilianu Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Winaray 吴语 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 9 October 2020, at 18:28 (UTC). 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