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Diodorus Siculus
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<h2 id="life">Life</h2> <p>According to his own work, he was born in <a href="/facts/Agira/aHCzlyw8">Agyrium</a> in <a href="/facts/Sicily/E6fug03z">Sicily</a> (now called Agira).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> With one exception, <a href="/facts/Classical_antiquity/JBq8vEX9">antiquity</a> affords no further information about his life and doings beyond his written works. Only <a href="/facts/Jerome/4j8B8gSQ">Jerome</a>, in his <i><a href="/facts/Chronicon_(Jerome)/lL4FFGjb">Chronicon</a></i> under the "year of <a href="/facts/Abraham/groXmSSm">Abraham</a> 1968" (49 BC), writes, "Diodorus of Sicily, a writer of Greek history, became illustrious". However, his <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a> translator, <a href="/facts/Charles_Henry_Oldfather/14RpqCws">Charles Henry Oldfather</a>, remarks on the "striking coincidence"<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> that one of only two known Greek inscriptions from Agyrium (<i><a href="/facts/Inscriptiones_Graecae/YBeEyRIt">Inscriptiones Graecae</a></i> XIV, 588) is the tombstone of one "Diodorus, the son of Apollonius" (“<i>Διόδωρος ∙ Ἀπολλωνίου</i>”) .<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The final work attributed to him is from 21 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="work">Work</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Bibliotheca_historica/JdQS24aH">Bibliotheca historica</a></p> <p>Diodorus' <a href="/facts/Universal_history_(genre)/hUDdoPmj">universal history</a>, which he named <i>Bibliotheca historica</i> (<a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_language/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a>: Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, "Historical Library"), was immense and consisted of 40 books, of which 1–5 and 11–20 survive:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> fragments of the lost books are preserved in <a href="/facts/Photios_I_of_Constantinople/Vrn7NCn0">Photius</a> and the <i><a href="/facts/Constantinian_Excerpts/s4zhmpcj">Excerpts</a></i> of <a href="/facts/Constantine_VII/AXlDmaVh">Constantine Porphyrogenitus</a>. </p><p>It was divided into three sections. The first section (books I–VI) deals with the mythic history of the non-<a href="/facts/Ancient_Greece/PTVBrWXq">Hellenic</a> and Hellenic tribes up to the destruction of Troy and is geographical in theme, describing the history and culture of <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egypt/BDsEGK4g">Ancient Egypt</a> (book I), of <a href="/facts/Mesopotamia/f0mmbhTK">Mesopotamia</a>, <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>, <a href="/facts/Scythia/eXXF7lPd">Scythia</a>, and <a href="/facts/Arabia/x1fDka2b">Arabia</a> (II), of <a href="/facts/North_Africa/ItxQAfs7">North Africa</a> (III), and of <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a> and Europe (IV–VI). </p><p>The next section (books VII–XVII) recounts the history of the world from the <a href="/facts/Trojan_War/pBG5VawT">Trojan War</a> down to the <a href="/facts/Death_of_Alexander_the_Great/IhsKqgPL">death of Alexander the Great</a>. The last section (books XVII to the end) concerns the historical events from the <a href="/facts/Diadochi/yjXuwoyv">successors of Alexander</a> down to either 60 BC or the beginning of <a href="/facts/Julius_Caesar/ptR603Gv">Julius Caesar</a>'s <a href="/facts/Gallic_Wars/g9cUYxbl">Gallic Wars</a>. The end has been lost, so it is unclear whether Diodorus reached the beginning of the Gallic War as he promises at the beginning of his work or, as evidence suggests, old and tired from his labours, he stopped short at 60 BC. </p><p>Diodorus selected the name "Bibliotheca" in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. Identified authors on whose works he drew include <a href="/facts/Hecataeus_of_Abdera/IF7LgUIG">Hecataeus of Abdera</a>, <a href="/facts/Ctesias_of_Cnidus/n8bshjCv">Ctesias of Cnidus</a>, <a href="/facts/Ephorus/9UC8YRvm">Ephorus</a>, <a href="/facts/Theopompus/uwtkztk8">Theopompus</a>, <a href="/facts/Hieronymus_of_Cardia/VQAQfDLF">Hieronymus of Cardia</a>, <a href="/facts/Duris_of_Samos/SgUY6dpe">Duris of Samos</a>, <a href="/facts/Diyllus/KbdlW0zt">Diyllus</a>, <a href="/facts/Philistus/j4UdRLM5">Philistus</a>, <a href="/facts/Timaeus_(historian)/1hYf1yN5">Timaeus</a>, <a href="/facts/Polybius/nojwHyvn">Polybius</a>, and <a href="/facts/Posidonius/wQVXpLHq">Posidonius</a>. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Acadine/dGkMxYYb">Acadine</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Callon_of_Epidaurus/09JrHjb0">Callon of Epidaurus</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Diophantus_of_Abae/an4rs40V">Diophantus of Abae</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Hellenic_historiography/u8RHRN5u">Hellenic historiography</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Historic_recurrence/6PpYr6s0">Historic recurrence</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Pliny_the_Elder/grx67ghR">Pliny the Elder</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Strabo/dzQ59zwn">Strabo</a></li></ul> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul><li>Ambaglio, Dino; Landucci Gattinoni, Franca; Bravi, Luigi (2008). <i>Diodoro Siculo: Biblioteca storica: commento storico: introduzione generale. Storia. Ricerche</i> (in Italian). Milano: V&P. pp. x, 145. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9788834315842.</li> <li>Buckley, Terry (1996). <i>Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC: A Source-based Approach</i>. London: Routledge. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-415-09958-7.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus (1935). <i>Library of History: Loeb Classical Library</i>. Translated by Oldfather, C. H. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus; H. Valesius; I. Rhodomannus; F. Ursinus (1814). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC"><i>The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus</i></a>. Translated by G. Booth. London: J. Davis – via Google Books.</li> <li>Diodori Siculi (1798). Peter Wesseling; L. Rhodoman; G. Heyn; N. Eyring (eds.). <a href="https://archive.org/details/bibliothecaehist08diod"><i>Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt: Nova Editio</i></a> (in Ancient Greek and Latin). Argentorati: Societas Bipontina – via Internet Archive.</li> <li>Usher, Stephen (1969). <i>The Historians of Greece and Rome</i>. London: Hamish Hamilton. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-2410-1527-8.</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Ambaglio, Delfino. 1995. <i>La Biblioteca storica di Diodoro Siculo. Problemi e metodo.</i> Como: Edizioni New Press.</li> <li>Braithwaite-Westoby, Kara. "<a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/707724">Diodorus and the Alleged Revolts of 374–373 BCE</a>," Classical Philology 115, no. 2 (April 2020): 265–270.</li> <li>Clarke, Katherine. 1999. "Universal perspectives in Historiography." In <i>The Limits of Historiography: Genre and Narrative in Ancient Historical Texts.</i> Edited by Christina Shuttleworth Kraus, 249–279. Mnemosyne. Supplementum 191. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.</li> <li>Hammond, Nicholas G. L. 1998. "Portents, Prophecies, and Dreams in Diodorus' Books 14–17." <i>Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies</i> 39.4: 407–428.</li> <li>Hau, Lisa Irene, Alexander Meeus, and Brian Sheridan (eds.). 2018. <i>Diodoros of Sicily: Historiographical Theory and Practice in the Bibliotheke.</i> Peeters: Leuven.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Richard_Laqueur/3PwHaodL">Laqueur, Richard</a>. 1992. <i>Diodors Geschichtswerk – Die Überlieferung von Buch I-V.</i> Frankfurt am Main.</li> <li>McQueen, Earl I. 1995. <i>Diodorus Siculus. The Reign of Philip II: The Greek and Macedonian Narrative from Book XVI. A Companion.</i> London: Bristol Classical Press.</li> <li>Muntz, Charles E. 2017. <i>Diodorus Siculus and the World of the Late Roman Republic.</i> New York: Oxford Univ. Press.</li> <li>Rathmann, Michael. 2016. <i>Diodor und seine „Bibliotheke“. Weltgeschichte aus der Provinz.</i> Berlin: de Gruyter, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-3-11-048144-0.</li> <li>Rubincam, Catherine. 1987. "The Organization and Composition of Diodorus' Bibliotheke." <i>Échos du monde classique (= Classical views)</i> 31:313–328.</li> <li>Sacks, Kenneth S. 1990. <i>Diodorus Siculus and the First Century.</i> Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.</li> <li>Sinclair, Robert K. 1963. "Diodorus Siculus and the Writing of History." <i>Proceedings of the African Classical Association</i> 6:36–45.</li> <li>Stronk, Jan P. 2017. <i>Semiramis' Legacy. The History of Persia According to Diodorus of Sicily.</i> Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press.</li> <li>Sulimani, Iris. 2008. "Diodorus' Source-Citations: A Turn in the Attitude of Ancient Authors Towards their Predecessors?" <i>Athenaeum</i> 96.2: 535–567.</li> <li>Wirth, Gerhard. 2007. <i>Katastrophe und Zukunftshoffnung. Mutmaßungen zur zweiten Hälfte von Diodors Bibliothek und ihren verlorenen Büchern.</i> Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-3-7001-3723-8.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diodorus Siculus. <a href="/facts/Wikisource/TrMdylNf">Wikisource</a> has original works by or about:<i>Diodorus Siculus</i> Greek <a href="/facts/Wikisource/TrMdylNf">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article: Διόδωρος Σικελιώτης Wikiquote has quotations related to <i>Diodorus Siculus</i>. Greek original works <ul><li> Greek <a href="/facts/Wikisource/TrMdylNf">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article: Ιστορική Βιβλιοθήκη</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0540">"Library"</a> (in Ancient Greek). Perseus Digital Library. Books 1–5 only. Retrieved 6 September 2017.</li> <li><a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html">"The Library of History"</a> (in Ancient Greek). LacusCurtius. Books 6–10 only. Retrieved 6 September 2017.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0083">"Library"</a> (in Ancient Greek). Perseus Digital Library. Books 9–17 only. Retrieved 6 September 2017.</li></ul> English translations <ul><li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44254">Works by Diodorus Siculus</a> at <a href="/facts/Project_Gutenberg/2l0R6GgQ">Project Gutenberg</a></li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html">"The Library of History"</a>. Translated by C. H. Oldfather; C. L. Sherman; C. Bradford Welles; Russel M. Geer; F. R. Walton. LacusCurtius. Books 1–32 only. Retrieved 25 June 2017.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4A.html">"Library"</a>. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Theoi E-Texts Library. Books 4–6 only. Retrieved 8 October 2008.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0084">"Library"</a>. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Perseus Digital Library. Books 9–17 only. Retrieved 25 June 2017.</li> <li>Diodorus Siculus. <a href="http://www.attalus.org/info/diodorus.html">"Historical Library"</a>. Translated by Andrew Smith. Attalus.org. Books 33–40 only. Retrieved 7 February 2014.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Usher 1969, p. 235. - Usher, Stephen (1969). The Historians of Greece and Rome. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-2410-1527-8. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Diod. History 1.4.4. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Oldfather, Charles Henry (1977). "Introduction". Diodorus of Sicily In Twelve Volumes. <a href="/wiki/Charles_Henry_Oldfather" target="_blank">/wiki/Charles_Henry_Oldfather</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Stronk, Jan P. (2010). Ctesias' Persian History: Introduction, text, and translation by Ctesias. p. 60. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"IG XIV 588 - PHI Greek Inscriptions". epigraphy.packhum.org. Retrieved 3 July 2024. <a href="https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/140915?&bookid=26&location=1686" target="_blank">https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/140915?&bookid=26&location=1686</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Diodorus Siculus - Greek historian". Retrieved 13 July 2023. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diodorus-Siculus" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diodorus-Siculus</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Diodorus Siculus". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 April 2018. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/164108/Diodorus-Siculus" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/164108/Diodorus-Siculus</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>