Publius Herennius Dexippus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Publius Herennius Dexippus (usually called Dexippos ; * around 210, † around 275) was an ancient Greek-speaking Roman politician and historian of the 3rd century. He is considered an important historian, although only a few fragments of his works have survived.

Life

Dexippos belonged to the upper class of Athens and came from the Attic Demos Hermos. According to an inscription, his father's name was Publius Herennius Ptolemaios. Dexippus had several siblings about whom nothing is known. The family appears not only to have been quite wealthy, but also to have had some political influence. She already had Roman citizenship before the Constitutio Antoniniana . Based on inscriptions, it is known that Dexippus himself held several high city offices, although the exact chronology is unclear. He was agonothet (judge) at the Panathenaic , in Athens also Archon basileus and finally Archon eponymos .

He should, according to the Historia Augusta in 267 as a commander in the fight against the invading Greece Herulians have excellent. However, it is controversial whether Dexippos actually took part in these struggles, because fragments newly published in 2014, which presumably come from his work, paint a different picture. They refer, among other things, to the battles against the Goths on Thermopylae . These fighting took place either in 253/54 or 262, but they are not related to the aforementioned Herulian incursion. In the new fragments, one of the commanders of the Greeks at Thermopylae is indeed called Dexippus, but there he is also called the five-time Boiotarch .

Since the historian Dexippos, as an Athenian, cannot have held this office and at the same time a Boiotarch named Dexippus (Gnaeus Curtius Dexippus) is known through an inscription, it can be assumed that these are two different people who were confused by the author of the Historia Augusta .

Works

In an inscription donated by his children and approved by Areopagus , Dexippus is praised as a learned historian who has achieved great fame through his historical writings. It is known that Dexippus wrote three historical works, but only fragments have been preserved:

  • A history of the time of the Diadochs in four books, which, due to the statement of Photius , who, along with numerous other works, also had those of Dexippus, was probably mainly based on the lost story of Arrian about this period. It may have been some sort of exercise before Dexippos turned to broader historical subjects, but nothing specific can be said.
  • A universal historical chronicle in 12 books. Only relatively few fragments of the work have survived. It reached from the mythical time to approx. 270 and was continued by Eunapios of Sardis until 404. Why Dexippos chose this period is unknown. It is controversial in research whether it was a full-fledged historical work, or rather a purely chronological, concise storytelling. In recent research, it is believed that the chronicle was a hybrid. From the fragments that have been preserved, it can be seen that Dexippus tried to ensure chronological accuracy. Historical events of the early period were presented in a rather summarized manner, while later events were described in more detail. He also seems to have built in criticism of previous historians and brief digressions.
  • A depiction of the German Wars of his time titled Scythica . The title derives from the classical ethnographic ideas of Greek historians. Accordingly, foreign peoples in the Black Sea region were summarized under the generic term Skythai (" Scythians "). At least the Scythica was probably written by Dexippus in old age. The work presumably covered the period from 238 to approx. 274. Both details are derived from the fragments, but these are not absolutely reliable, as the beginning is based on a statement in the often unreliable Historia Augusta , while only estimates (probably after 271) are possible for the end. In any case, it was a comprehensive presentation, including speeches and digressions. The fact that Herodian's report ended with this year could also speak for 238 as a starting point .

Dexippus was stylistically based on Thucydides (he was even praised by Photios as the "second Thucydides") and chose an annalistic structure for his chronicle, which was criticized by Eunapios, for example. Dexippos apparently concentrated primarily on the Greek-speaking world of the east and paid less attention to the events in the west. Overall, it offers reliable information, even if its classical approach sometimes blocks the view of what is happening. In the contemporary Scythica , Dexippos offered detailed descriptions of his time, also mainly focused on the Greek East, where the Germanic tribes, which Dexippos classically referred to as Scythai , invaded the Roman Empire. Dexippos probably wanted to highlight the successful local defensive efforts, as his works were also intended for a Greek audience. However, he also dealt with some defensive successes of the Romans in the west.

Even the fragments are of great value for the period of the third century with few sources. If the entire work had been preserved, an excellent source would probably have been available to shed light on the darkness that surrounds the so-called imperial crisis of the 3rd century today . Often only the names of other historians of this time are known, as in the case of Nikostratus of Trebizond and the younger Ephorus of Kyme , while a few fragments of the works of Eusebius and Philostratus of Athens have survived.

Eunapios explicitly followed the work of Dexippus with his history in the early 5th century, which testifies to the popularity of the text. Dexippos also served as an important source for several later historians (either directly or via an intermediate source that provided this information). Among other things, Zosimos , who wrote around 500, used Dexippos for the beginning of his Historia Nea . The anonymous author of the Late Antique Historia Augusta also seems to have used the works of Dexippus; perhaps he was only using the chronicle or a mediating intermediate source. Furthermore, Jordanes had information from the works of Dexippus, although it is unclear whether he obtained this directly or (more likely) via an intermediate source (such as Cassiodor's lost Gothic story). Even the Byzantine chronicler Georgios Synkellos in the late 8th / early 9th century quoted Dexippus, as did Johannes Zonaras .

Scythica Vindobonensia

A few years ago in the Austrian National Library in Vienna, as part of the project Important Text Witnesses in Viennese Greek Palimpsests, in the lower text layer of the palimpsested sheets 192r – 195v of the Vienna Codex Hist. gr. 73 new, relatively extensive fragments discovered. These fragments are now known as Scythica Vindobonensia and the Skythika attributed the Dexippos. As part of a research project, they should be made legible, edited and examined in more detail.

expenditure

(each without considering the Scythica Vindobonensia )

literature

Overview representations

Investigations

  • Hartwin Brandt : Dexipp and the historiography of the 3rd century AD In: Martin Zimmermann (Ed.): Historiography and political change in the 3rd century AD Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-515-07457-0 , Pp. 169-182.
  • Jana Grusková, Gunther Martin: A new piece of text from the “Scythica Vindobonensia”. On the events after the capture of Philippopolis. In: Tyche 29, 2014, pp. 29–43.
  • Paweł Janiszewski: The Missing Link. Greek Pagan Historiography in the Second Half of the Third Century and in the Fourth Century AD. Warsaw 2006.
  • Carlo M. Lucarini: To the new Dexipp. In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 197, 2016, pp. 42–45.
  • Christopher Mallan, Caillan Davenport: Dexippus and the Gothic invasions: interpreting the new Vienna Fragment (Codex Vindobonensis Hist. Gr. 73, ff. 192v-193r). In: The Journal of Roman Studies 105, 2015, pp. 203–226.
  • Gunther Martin: Dexipp of Athens. Edition, translation and accompanying studies (= Classica Monacensia. Volume 32). Gunter Narr, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-8233-6242-5 .
  • Gunther Martin, Jana Grusková: "Dexippus Vindobonensis" (?). A new manuscript fragment for the so-called Herul invasion of the years 267/268 . In: Wiener Studien 127, 2014, pp. 101–120.
  • Fergus Millar : P. Herennius Dexippus. The Greek World and the Third Century Invasions . In: The Journal of Roman Studies 59, 1969, pp. 12-29.
  • Fritz Mitthof, Gunther Martin, Jana Grusková (eds.): Empire in Crisis. Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography. Verlag Holzhausen, Vienna 2020.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Gunther Martin is fundamental to Dexippos: Dexipp von Athen. Edition, translation and accompanying studies . Tübingen 2006; on the family and his life, see p. 25ff. See generally Millar, Dexippus and Schwartz, Dexippos .
  2. ^ Dexippos, fragment 28 (based on the edition by Gunter Martin); see. also Zosimos 1.39 to attack .
  3. ↑ Cf. R. Rollinger, JWG Schropp: Exercitus Romanus ad Thermopylas? To f. 194r lines 1–16 in the new Dexipp. In: K. Ruffing, K. Droß-Krüpe (Eds.): Emas non quod opus est, sed quod necesse est. Studies on the economic, social, reception and scientific history of antiquity. Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 429–438, here p. 429, note 3 (with the corresponding documents).
  4. ↑ Bruno Bleckmann , Jonathan Groß: Historiker der Reichskrise des 3rd Century I. Paderborn 2016, p. 82 f. (Text and translation).
  5. ↑ Inscriptiones Graecae VIII, 3426. For his person see Christopher Mallan, Caillan Davenport: Dexippus and the Gothic invasions: interpreting the new Vienna Fragment (Codex Vindobonensis Hist. Gr. 73, ff. 192v-193r). In: The Journal of Roman Studies 105, 2015, p. 213 f.
  6. ↑ Cf. also Ioan Piso: Comments on Dexippos Vindobonenesis (I). In: Göttingen Forum for Classical Studies 18 (2015), pp. 199–215, here pp. 209f. ( Article online ).
  7. ^ Inscriptiones Graecae II, 3669.
  8. ↑ Cf. Gunther Martin: Dexipp von Athen. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, pp. 152-154.
  9. ↑ Hartwin Brandt: Dexipp and the historiography of the 3rd century AD In: Martin Zimmermann (Hrsg.): Geschistorschreibung und Politischer Wandel im 3rd century AD Stuttgart 1999, here p. 174.
  10. ^ Gunther Martin: Dexipp of Athens. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, p. 155ff.
  11. ^ Gunther Martin: Dexipp of Athens. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, p. 161f.
  12. ↑ See Gunther Martin: Dexipp von Athen. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, p. 210ff.
  13. ^ Dexippos, Testimonium 5; Text and translation by Gunther Martin: Dexipp von Athen. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, p. 76f.
  14. ↑ For the interpretation see Gunther Martin: Dexipp von Athen. Edition, translation and accompanying studies. Tübingen 2006, p. 168ff.
  15. ↑ On these historians see Bruno Bleckmann, Jonathan Groß (ed.): Historiker der Reichskrise des 3rd Century I. Paderborn 2016.
  16. ↑ See Hartwin Brandt: Dexipp and the historiography of the 3rd century AD. In: Martin Zimmermann (Ed.): Geschistorschreibung und politischer Wandel im 3rd century AD Stuttgart 1999, here p. 175.
  17. ↑ See Gunther Martin, Jana Grusková: "Dexippus Vindobonensis" (?). A new manuscript fragment for the so-called Herul invasion of the years 267/268 . In: Wiener Studien 127, 2014, pp. 101–120; Jana Grusková, Gunther Martin: A new piece of text from the “Scythica Vindobonensia”. On the events after the capture of Philippopolis. In: Tyche 29, 2014, pp. 29–43.
  18. ^ Research project Scythica Vindobonensia
personal data
SURNAME Dexippus, Publius Herennius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dexippus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek historian
DATE OF BIRTH at 210
DATE OF DEATH at 275