Kallinikos of Petra

Kallinikos of Petra was an ancient Greek rhetorician and historian . He lived in the Roman Empire during the imperial crisis of the 3rd century .

Kallinikos, whose father was called Gaius, came from Petra in the province of Arabia Petraea . His nickname was Suetorius or Suctorius. According to the Byzantine Lexicon Suda , he is said to have taught in Athens , where he was a rival of a certain Genethlios. In the Suda , Kallinikos is mentioned as the author of several writings, of which only fragments have survived today. These included several enkomia and speeches, a rhetorical pamphlet that he dedicated to a lupus (probably the Roman governor Virius Lupus ), a praise from Rome entitled On the Renewal of Rome , a speech to emperorsGallienus and a history of Alexandria in ten books.

The story of Alexandria was probably used by Porphyry . According to Arthur Stein , it was dedicated to Zenobia , Queen of Palmyra , who was called " Cleopatra " after the conquest of the Roman province of Egypt by Palmyrenian troops ; for this reason the author of the Suda entry announced that Kallinikos had written a work To Cleopatra . Udo Hartmann , who gave a speech for “Cleopatra” (perhaps a rhetorical textbook) and the story of Alexandria for two different works , contradicted this thesis, which was very popular . Kallinikos may have lived at Zenobia's court for some time, although this must remain speculation. It is possible that his historical work, if it reached into the time of Zenobia, was used by the anonymous author of the Historia Augusta for passages about the time around 270.

Text output

The Fragments of the Greek Historians , No. 281.
Brill's New Jacoby , No. 281 (with English translation and commentary by Anthony Kaldellis).

literature

Paweł Janiszewski: Kallinikos. In: Paweł Janiszewski, Krystyna Stebnicka, Elżbieta Szabat: Prosopography of Greek Rhetors and Sophists of the Roman Empire. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-871340-1 , pp. 188-190
Paweł Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 195ff.
Arthur Stein: Kallinikos of Petrai . In: Hermes 58, 1923, pp. 448-456.

Remarks

↑ Suda, G 132 .
↑ Suda, K 231 .
↑ Arthur Stein: Kallinikos von Petrai. In: Hermes 58, 1923, pp. 448–456, here: 452–455.
↑ Udo Hartmann: The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom . Stuttgart 2001, pp. 305f. Note 173.
↑ Arthur Stein: Kallinikos von Petrai. In: Hermes 58, 1923, pp. 448–456, here: 455f .; Udo Hartmann: The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom . Stuttgart 2001, pp. 305f.
^ Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, p. 223f.

personal data
SURNAME	Kallinikos of Petra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Callinicus Petraeus (Latin form)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek rhetorician and historian
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century
DATE OF DEATH	3rd century or 4th century

[1] Suda, G 132 .

[2] Suda, K 231 .

[3] Arthur Stein: Kallinikos von Petrai. In: Hermes 58, 1923, pp. 448–456, here: 452–455.

[4] Udo Hartmann: The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom . Stuttgart 2001, pp. 305f. Note 173.

[5] Arthur Stein: Kallinikos von Petrai. In: Hermes 58, 1923, pp. 448–456, here: 455f .; Udo Hartmann: The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom . Stuttgart 2001, pp. 305f.

[6] Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, p. 223f.