He was born c. 95 inAlexandria. After holding the senior offices in theprovince ofAegyptus (Egypt), he went toRome c. 120, where he practiced as anadvocate, pleading cases before the emperors (probably asadvocatus fisci, an important official of the imperial treasury).[1] It was in 147 at the earliest that he was appointed to the office ofprocurator, probably in Egypt, on the recommendation of his friendMarcus Cornelius Fronto, an influential rhetorician and advocate. Because the position of procurator was open only to members of theequestrian order (the "knightly" class), his possession of this office tells us about Appian's family background.
His principal surviving work (ΡωμαϊκάRomaiká, known inLatin asHistoria Romana and inEnglish asRoman History) was written inGreek in 24 books, before 165. This work more closely resembles aseries of monographs than a connected history. It gives an account of various peoples and countries from the earliest times down to their incorporation into theRoman Empire, and survives in complete books and considerable fragments.[1] The work is very valuable, especially for the period of thecivil wars.[2]
The Civil Wars, books 13–17 of theRoman History, concern mainly the end of theRoman Republic and take a conflict-based view and approach to history. Despite the lack of cited sources for his works, these books of theRoman History are the only extant comprehensive description of these momentous decades of Roman history. The other extant work of Appian is his "The Foreign Wars", which includes an ethnographic style history recounting the various military conflicts against a foreign enemy in Roman history, until the time of Appian.
Little is known of the life of Appian of Alexandria. He wrote an autobiography that has been almost completely lost.[3] Information about Appian is distilled from his own writings and a letter by his friendCornelius Fronto.[4] However, it is certain that Appian was born around the year AD 95 in Alexandria, the capital of Roman Egypt. Since his parents wereRoman citizens capable of paying for their son's education, it can be inferred that Appian belonged to the wealthy upper classes.[5]
It is believed that Appian moved to Rome in 120, where he became alawyer. In the introduction to hisRoman History, he boasts "that he pleaded cases in Rome before the emperors." The emperors he claims to have addressed must have been either Hadrian orMarcus Aurelius and definitely Antoninus Pius, for Appian remained in Egypt at least until the end of the reign of Trajan (117). In the letter of Cornelius Fronto, it is revealed that a request on behalf of Appian to receive the rank of procurator occurred during theco-regency of Marcus Aurelius and his brotherLucius Verus between 147 and 161. Although Appian won this office, it is unclear whether it was a real job or an honorific title. The only other certain biographical datum is that Appian'sRoman History appeared sometime before 162. This is one of the few primary historical sources for the period.
Appian began writing his history around the middle of the second century AD. Only sections from half of the original 24 books survive today of a much larger history known asThe Roman History, namely books 6-7, much of 8, 9, and 11, and 12-17 (only fragments of books 1-5 and of the remainder of 8 and 9 are preserved, while books 10 and 18-24 are lost entirely).[6] The section of this history known asThe Civil Wars comprises books 13–17 of the original 24 of theRoman History. This history narrates the history of the Romans from the time of theGracchan tribunates, through the civil wars ofMarius,Sulla,Caesar andPompey, to break off in the time of theSecond Triumvirate. These five books stand out because they are one of the few comprehensive histories available on the transition of the Roman state from Republic to Empire and the ensuing civil and military strife.
Besides Appian, this period is also covered by a handful of ancient authors with varying degrees of detail and viewpoints. The commentaries of Julius Caesar record his personal, mainly military, observations of theGallic Wars.Plutarch's Roman biographies sketch the lives of the major leaders of the late Republican period, recording events Plutarch thought interesting and give only a perfunctory explanation of historic events. The Roman authorVelleius' history examines Roman history from the city's foundation until AD 29. This history is more detailed in the late Republic and early Empire period, while the earlier history is condensed. TheEpitome of Roman History byFlorus, also covers Roman history from mythical times until the 5th century AD in an extremely condensed format. The history ofDiodorus of Sicily also covers Roman history until the Gallic Wars, but his history becomes fragmentary after around 300 BC.
Painting byEugenio Oliva depicting theVaccaei going out to defendPalencia from the troops ofLucius Licinius Lucullus in 151 BC. The historian Appian is depicted at right recording events; this is a poetic fiction, as Appian was writing from a standpoint three centuries in the future.
Another work of Appian's history which still survives mostly extant is calledThe Foreign Wars. This history describes the wars the Romans fought against other cultures throughout their history. The mostly extant work narrates the wars in Spain (book 6), thePunic Wars in both Italy and Africa (books 7 and 8), the wars against theSeleucid Empire (book 11), and theMithridatic Wars (book 12). Several small fragments also survive, describing the earlyRoman Kingdom (book 1) and the wars against the central Italians (book 2),Samnites (book 3),Illyrians (book 9), Macedonians (book 9),Numidians (book 8), and the Gauls (book 4).[6] Especially notable is this work'sethnographic structure. Appian most likely used this structure to facilitate his readers' orientation through the sequence of events, which are united only by their relationship to Rome. For example, the chapter on Spain recounts Roman history in Spain chronologically with the Romans' first intervention in Spain during the War withHannibal. The book goes on to describe the Roman conquest of several regions of Spain, followed by their wars with Spanish tribes and theNumantine War. The chapter on Spain concludes with the war againstSertorius in roughly 61 BC. Likewise, the chapter on the Hannibalic wars only recounts the battles that took place on the Italian Peninsula during the second Punic war, while the chapters on the Punic War recount all the action that occurred in northern Africa during the first and second Punic war.
Of the books which are now entirely lost, book 10 described the wars in Greece andIonia, books 18-21 discussed Egypt, book 22 covered the history of the Empire up to the reign ofTrajan, book 23 covered Trajan's warsagainst the Dacians,the Jews, andthe Parthians, and book 24 described his annexation ofArabia Petraea.[6]
One might expect that a historical work covering nine centuries and countless different peoples would involve a multitude ofsources from different periods. However, Appian's sources remain uncertain, as he only mentions the source of his information under special circumstances. He may have relied primarily on one author for each book, whom he did not follow uncritically, since Appian also used additional sources for precision and correction.[citation needed] At our present state of knowledge questions regarding Appian's sources cannot be resolved.[citation needed]
Paul Goukowsky, 1997–,Appien. Histoire romaine (Greek text, French translation, notes),Collection Budé.
Carsana, Chiara (ed.).Commento storico al libro II delle Guerre Civili di Appiano (parte I). Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 2007. 309 pp. (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Pavia, 116).
^abcBrodersen, Kai (1996). "Appian". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.).Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 130.
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