Apellicon (Greek:Ἀπελλικῶν; died c. 84 BC), a wealthy man fromTeos, afterwards anAthenian citizen, was a famousbook collector of the 1st century BC.
He not only spent large sums in the acquisition of hislibrary, but stole original documents from the archives of Athens and other cities ofGreece. Being detected, he fled in order to escape punishment, but returned when Athenion (orAristion), a bitter opponent of theRomans, had made himself tyrant of the city with the aid ofMithradates. Athenion sent him with some troops toDelos, to plunder the treasures of the temple, but he showed little military capacity. He was surprised by the Romans under the command ofOrobius (or Orbius), and only saved his life by flight.[1][2] He died a little later, probably in 84 BC.[3]
Apellicon's chief pursuit was the collection of rare and important books. He purchased from the family ofNeleus of Scepsis in theTroad manuscripts of the works ofAristotle andTheophrastus (including their libraries), which had been given to Neleus by Theophrastus himself, whose pupil Neleus had been. They had been concealed in a cellar to prevent their falling into the hands of the book-collecting princes ofPergamon, and were in a very dilapidated condition. Apellicon was a lover of books rather than a philosopher; trying to restore the damaged copies he made new ones, filling up thelacunae incorrectly, and published them full of mistakes. In 84 BCSulla removed Apellicon's library toRome.[4] Here the manuscripts were handed over to the grammarianTyrannion of Amisus, who took copies of them, on the basis of which theperipatetic philosopherAndronicus of Rhodes prepared an edition of Aristotle's works.[3]
Apellicon of Teos was a very rich individual who had bought up the library of Aristotle amongst many other books when he was a Peripatetic philosopher — other sources inform us that he was amint magistrate under Athenion, tyrant of Athens. Apellicon, furthermore, secretly acquired — that is, stole — the original documents from the AthenianMetroon, the building that housed the city’s public documents. Particularly significant in this passage is the precedence given to Aristotle’s books, one that eclipses other writing and documents acquired by the Peripatetic. Considering that Apellicon appears from sources to have been something of a rogue, there is reason to believe that he may have fabricated the account of how he acquired the library in order to enhance its reputation.
Apellicon's library contained a remarkable old copy of theIliad. He is said to have published a biography of Aristotle, in which the calumnies of other biographers were refuted.[3]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Apellicon".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 161.| International | |
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