Appian

Appian (Gr. Αππιανος), of Alexandria was a Roman historian who lived during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus.

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He was born ca. AD 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he moved to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as an advocate, pleading cases before the emperors. In 147 at the earliest he was appointed to the office of procurator, probably in Egypt, on the recommendation of his friend Marcus Cornelius Fronto. The position of procurator was open only to members of the equestrian class.

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His work (Πωμαικα, known in English as the Roman History) in twenty-four books, written in Greek before 165, is more a number 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. In spite of its unattractive style, the work is very valuable, especially for the period of the civil wars.

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Editio princeps by Schweighauser, 1785; Bekker, 1852; Mendelssohn, 1878-1905. English translations: by J Davies, 1679; H White, 1899 (Bohn's Classical library); bk i. ed. by JL Strachan-Davidson, 1902.

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Alexandria: Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that country's second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. It is...

Trajan: Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18 53-August 9 117), Roman Emperor (98-117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the so-called "Five Good Emperors" of the Roman Empire. Under his rule, the Empire reached its greatest territorial extent....

Hadrian: Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24 76-July 10 138), known as Hadrian in English, was Roman emperor from 117-138, and a member of the gens Aelia. Hadrian was the third of the "Five Good Emperors". However, he was, according to Elizabeth Speller, the first Emperor whose assessment moved b...