Praxagoras of Athens

Praxagoras was a pagan (" pagan ") late antique historian who lived in the early 4th century AD.

Praxagoras came from Athens . He was very likely a member of the aristocratic upper class of Athens, to which the name (Praxagoras is inscribed for members of the Athenian upper class) and his literary activities clearly indicate. He will have enjoyed a corresponding education and be close to the literary milieu of rhetoricians.

We owe most of the information about Praxagoras to an excerpt written by the Byzantine scholar Photios ( library cod. 62). Accordingly, at the age of 22, he wrote a biography of Emperor Constantine the Great in two books, written in the Ionian-Greek dialect . According to Photios, the prose was accurate and pleasant. In Praxagoras the nickname "the great" for Constantine appears for the first time. Praxagoras panegyric praised the emperor . So, according to Photios, he wrote:

... that the Emperor Constantine overshadowed all the emperors who ruled before him with all his efficiency, his character perfection and all his happiness.

For the pagan Praxagoras there was obviously no contradiction in portraying Constantine as an outstanding emperor according to the ancient ideal of rulers, although he promoted Christianity. The biography apparently ended with Constantine's sole rule (324) and was probably used by later historians (possibly also by Eusebius of Caesarea ). Only a few fragments have survived ( The Fragments of the Greek Historians No. 219 or in Brill's New Jacoby No. 219), which are mainly based on the summary of Photios.

Praxagoras wrote two other historical treatises, a history of the kings of Athens in two books and a history of Alexander the great in six books. Nothing has survived of both works except the titles that Photios names in his summary. According to Photios, Praxagoras wrote the story of the Kings at the age of 19 and the story of Alexander at the age of 31; Photios will have taken both pieces of information from the work of Praxagoras.

Rowland Smith put forward the thesis that the Alexander story of Praxagoras may have been read by Julian , who was an admirer of Alexander. What is certain is that the story of Alexander is the longest and probably also the most mature work of Praxagoras; it also reflects the growing interest in Persia and the Orient during this period .

Dimitris Krallis is of the opinion that the pagan historian Zosimos , who wrote around 500, arranged parts of his presentation in the second book of his New History ( Historia Nea ) based on descriptions from the Persian Wars and the campaigns of Alexander the Great. These parts are unsuitable for the reconstruction of the political events in the time of Constantine, but reflect the representation of a now lost pagan historical source from the time of Constantine, which viewed the emperor positively (in contrast to the other representation in Zosimos). In this regard, Krallis put forward the thesis that this could have been the historical work of Praxagoras.

literature

Entry in Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris (CHAP) .

Bruno Bleckmann : Between panegyric and historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, pp. 203-228.
Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warsaw 2006.
Dimitris Krallis: Greek Glory, Constantinian Legend: Praxagoras' Athenian Agenda in Zosimos New History? In: Journal of Late Antiquity 7, 2014, pp. 110-130.
Rowland Smith: A Lost Historian of Alexander "Descended from Alexander", and Read by Julian? Praxagoras of Athens Reviewed in the Light of Attic Epigraphy . In: Historia 56, 2007, pp. 356-380.

Remarks

^ Rowland Smith: A Lost Historian of Alexander "Descended from Alexander", and Read by Julian? Praxagoras of Athens Reviewed in the Light of Attic Epigraphy . In: Historia 56, 2007, here p. 361ff.
↑ Cf. also Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, here p. 211ff.
↑ See in detail Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 352-370.
↑ Praxagoras 6 in Photios, cf. also Bruno Bleckmann: Between panegyric and historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, here p. 210.
↑ Praxagoras 8, translation after Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, p. 210.
↑ See, however, the reference to another fragment in Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, p. 210.
↑ See Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 263-265.
↑ See Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 161-164.
^ Rowland Smith: A Lost Historian of Alexander "Descended from Alexander", and Read by Julian? Praxagoras of Athens Reviewed in the Light of Attic Epigraphy . In: Historia 56, 2007, here p. 375ff.
^ 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. 163f.
↑ Dimitris Krallis: Greek Glory, Constantinian Legend: Praxagoras' Athenian Agenda in Zosimos New History? In: Journal of Late Antiquity 7, 2014, here pp. 110–122.
↑ Dimitris Krallis: Greek Glory, Constantinian Legend: Praxagoras' Athenian Agenda in Zosimos New History? In: Journal of Late Antiquity 7, 2014, here pp. 123–127.

personal data
SURNAME	Praxagoras of Athens
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Praxagoras
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	late antique historian
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century or 4th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	Athens
DATE OF DEATH	4th century

[1] Rowland Smith: A Lost Historian of Alexander "Descended from Alexander", and Read by Julian? Praxagoras of Athens Reviewed in the Light of Attic Epigraphy . In: Historia 56, 2007, here p. 361ff.

[2] Cf. also Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, here p. 211ff.

[3] See in detail Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 352-370.

[4] Praxagoras 6 in Photios, cf. also Bruno Bleckmann: Between panegyric and historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, here p. 210.

[5] Praxagoras 8, translation after Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, p. 210.

[6] See, however, the reference to another fragment in Bruno Bleckmann: Between Panegyric and Historiography. Praxagoras and his predecessors . In: Martin Zimmermann (eds.): History and political change in the 3rd century AD.. . Stuttgart 1999, p. 210.

[7] See Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 263-265.

[8] See Pawel Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warszawa 2006, pp. 161-164.

[9] Rowland Smith: A Lost Historian of Alexander "Descended from Alexander", and Read by Julian? Praxagoras of Athens Reviewed in the Light of Attic Epigraphy . In: Historia 56, 2007, here p. 375ff.

[10] 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. 163f.

[11] Dimitris Krallis: Greek Glory, Constantinian Legend: Praxagoras' Athenian Agenda in Zosimos New History? In: Journal of Late Antiquity 7, 2014, here pp. 110–122.

[12] Dimitris Krallis: Greek Glory, Constantinian Legend: Praxagoras' Athenian Agenda in Zosimos New History? In: Journal of Late Antiquity 7, 2014, here pp. 123–127.