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Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός, Nikolāos Damaskēnos; Latin: Nicolaus Damascenus; c. 64 BC – after 4 AD) was a Greek historian, diplomat and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. His output was vast, but it is nearly all lost. His chief work was a universal history in 144 books. Considerable remains of two works written late in his life exist: a life of Augustus and an autobiography. He also wrote a life of Herod, philosophical works, and tragedies and comedies.
There is an article on him in the Suda.
He was born around 64 BC. Nicolaus is known to have had a brother named Ptolemy, who served in the court of Herod as a type of book-keeper or accountant.
He was an intimate friend of Herod the Great, who died a number of years before him. He was also the tutor of the children of Mark Antony and Cleopatra (born in c. 68 BC), according to Sophronius. He went to Rome with Herod Archelaus, to defend the young man's claim to the throne upon the death of his father Herod the Great.
The question whether Nicolaus was a Jew or a Greek has been much debated in scholarship. If he had non-Greek roots, he must have been at least thoroughly hellenised. Later ancient sources refer to him as "the Peripatetic". Since Nicolaus wrote a work On the Psyche, he may well have been, like Philo, in the school of the Pythagoreans or Platonists and been part of the syncretisation of Judaic monotheism with the monotheism (the Monad/The Good) of those two schools.
Towards the end of his life he composed a Universal History in 144 books, although the Suda mentions only 80 books. But references to books 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, (8), 96, 103, 104, 107, 108, 110, 114, 123 and 124 are known.
Extensive fragments of the first seven books are preserved in quotation in the Constantinian Excerpts, compiled at the order of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. These cover the history of the Assyrians, Medes, Greeks, Lydians, and Persians, and are important also for Biblical history.
The Jewish historian Josephus probably used this work for his history of Herod in his Antiquities of the Jews (Ant. 15–17) because where Nicolaus stops, in the reign of Herod Archelaus, the account of Josephus suddenly becomes more cursory. Josephus also references Nicolaus' history on Abram and in book 7 of Antiquities of the Jews on the Jewish King David.
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Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός, Nikolāos Damaskēnos; Latin: Nicolaus Damascenus; c. 64 BC – after 4 AD) was a Greek historian, diplomat and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. His output was vast, but it is nearly all lost. His chief work was a universal history in 144 books. Considerable remains of two works written late in his life exist: a life of Augustus and an autobiography. He also wrote a life of Herod, philosophical works, and tragedies and comedies.
There is an article on him in the Suda.
He was born around 64 BC. Nicolaus is known to have had a brother named Ptolemy, who served in the court of Herod as a type of book-keeper or accountant.
He was an intimate friend of Herod the Great, who died a number of years before him. He was also the tutor of the children of Mark Antony and Cleopatra (born in c. 68 BC), according to Sophronius. He went to Rome with Herod Archelaus, to defend the young man's claim to the throne upon the death of his father Herod the Great.
The question whether Nicolaus was a Jew or a Greek has been much debated in scholarship. If he had non-Greek roots, he must have been at least thoroughly hellenised. Later ancient sources refer to him as "the Peripatetic". Since Nicolaus wrote a work On the Psyche, he may well have been, like Philo, in the school of the Pythagoreans or Platonists and been part of the syncretisation of Judaic monotheism with the monotheism (the Monad/The Good) of those two schools.
Towards the end of his life he composed a Universal History in 144 books, although the Suda mentions only 80 books. But references to books 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, (8), 96, 103, 104, 107, 108, 110, 114, 123 and 124 are known.
Extensive fragments of the first seven books are preserved in quotation in the Constantinian Excerpts, compiled at the order of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. These cover the history of the Assyrians, Medes, Greeks, Lydians, and Persians, and are important also for Biblical history.
The Jewish historian Josephus probably used this work for his history of Herod in his Antiquities of the Jews (Ant. 15–17) because where Nicolaus stops, in the reign of Herod Archelaus, the account of Josephus suddenly becomes more cursory. Josephus also references Nicolaus' history on Abram and in book 7 of Antiquities of the Jews on the Jewish King David.