Memnon of Herakleia

Memnon of Herakleia was an ancient Greek historian of the early Imperial period . The exact dates of his life are not known; Conjectures range from the time of Gaius Julius Caesar to the early 2nd century. The only fragmentary work is an important source for the history of Hellenism .

Memnon probably came from Herakleia Pontike . He wrote a history of this city with the title Περὶ Ἡρακλείας Perí Hērakleías ("About Herakleia"), of which books 9 to 16 were available to the Byzantine patriarch Photios (9th century) for his excerpt from Memnon.

The ninth book of Memnon's work begins with the beginning of a tyranny in Herakleia during the years 364/63 BC. Chr. And deals first only with this city related events. From around 335 onwards, the general history of the Orient in the Diadoch period is also increasingly presented. From the 14th book onwards, the history of the Roman Republic since its early days is included. The insert ends with the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. The relatively detailed discussion of the Third Mithridatic War (Chapters 23–37) contains numerous historically relevant details and is apparently based on good sources. Photios' excerpt ends in 47 BC. With the return of Caesar to Italy. According to Photios, the 16th book was followed by more. Therefore, it is not known when Memnon's work ended and how many books it comprised.

According to Photios, Memnon made use of a clear and sober style and used the Herakleotide (local) historiographers Nymphis of Herakleia (FGrH 432; up to 247/246 BC) and possibly Domitios Kallistratos (FGrH 433) as templates. He is the only author of a local history of the Hellenistic era whose work has been preserved, even if only in part.

Editions and translations

Felix Jacoby : The Fragments of the Greek Historians (FGrH), No. 434.
Arthur Keaveney, John A. Madden: Memnon . In: Brill's New Jacoby , No. 434 (text with English translation and commentary).

literature

Uwe Heinemann : City history in Hellenism. The local historical predecessors and models of Memnon of Herakleia. Utz, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-8316-0974-1 .
Manfred Janke : Historical research on Memnon of Herakleia . Wuerzburg 1963.
Klaus Meister : Memnon (5) from Herakleia. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 , Sp. 1205 f.
Liv Mariah Yarrow: Historiography at the End of the Republic. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006.

Web links

History of Heracleia , English translation by Andrew Smith (2004)

Remarks

↑ See the extensive Memnon fragment in Photios , Library 224.
^ Photios, Library 224.
↑ Photios, Library 224: "The writing is ingenious, follows the <typically> sober character, of course also cares about clarity, and avoids excesses [...]."
↑ Walter Ameling : Domitius Kallistratos, FGrHist 433. In: Hermes 123, 1995, pp. 373–376 has shown that the previously prevailing assumption that Kallistratos lived and wrote before Memnon cannot be proven.

personal data
SURNAME	Memnon of Herakleia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek historian
DATE OF BIRTH	between 47 BC BC and 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH	between 1st century BC BC and 2nd century

[1] See the extensive Memnon fragment in Photios , Library 224.

[2] Photios, Library 224.

[3] Photios, Library 224: "The writing is ingenious, follows the <typically> sober character, of course also cares about clarity, and avoids excesses [...]."

[4] Walter Ameling : Domitius Kallistratos, FGrHist 433. In: Hermes 123, 1995, pp. 373–376 has shown that the previously prevailing assumption that Kallistratos lived and wrote before Memnon cannot be proven.