The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian is considered the best source on thecampaigns ofAlexander the Great. Scholars have generally preferred Arrian to other extant primary sources, though this attitude has changed somewhat in light of modern studies into Arrian's method.[5][6]
Arrian was born inNicomedia (present-dayİzmit), the provincial capital ofBithynia.Cassius Dio called him Flavius Arrianus Nicomediensis. Sources provide similar dates for his birth, within a few years prior to 90, 89, and 85–90 AD. The line of reasoning for dates belonging to 85–90 AD is because of Arrian being made aconsul around 130 AD, and the usual age for this, during this period, being 42 years of age. (ref. pp. 312, & SYME 1958,ibid.). His family was from the Greek provincial aristocracy, and his full name,L. Flavius Arrianus, indicates that he was a Roman citizen, suggesting that the citizenship went back several generations, probably to the time of the Roman conquest some 170 years before.[4][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Sometime during the second century AD (117 to 120 AD) while in Epirus, probablyNicopolis, Arrian attended lectures ofEpictetus of Nicopolis, and proceeded within a time to fall into his pupillage, a fact attested to byLucian. All that is known about the life of Epictetus is due to Arrian, in that Arrian left anEncheiridion (Handbook) of Epictetus' philosophy. After Epirus, he went to Athens, and while there, he became known as the "young Xenophon" as a consequence of the similarity of his relationship to Epictetus asXenophon had toSocrates.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
For a period, some time about 126 AD, he was a friend of the emperorHadrian's, who appointed him to theSenate. He was appointed to the positionconsul suffectus around 130 AD, and then, in 132 AD (although Howatson shows 131), he was made prefect or legate (governor) ofCappadocia by Hadrian, a service he continued for six years. Historian Cassius Dio states that not long after theBar Kokhba revolt inJudea had been quelled, in 135 AD, KingPharasmanes II of Iberia caused theAlani to invade neighbouring territories, including Cappadocia, where their advance was robustly halted by Arrian's legions.
A second war was begun by the Alani (they areMassagetae) at the instigation of Pharasmanes. It caused dire injury to theAlbanian territory andMedia, and then involved Armenia and Cappadocia; after which, as the Alani were not only persuaded by gifts fromVologaesus, but also stood in dread of Flavius Arrianus, the governor of Cappadocia, it came to a stop.[21]
Arrian referred to himself as "the second Xenophon", on account of his reputation and the esteem in which he was held. Lucian stated him to be:[17][22]
a Roman of the first rank with a life-long attachment to learning
— quote of Lucian in P. E. Easterling, B. M. W. Knox, p. 143
This quality is identified aspaideia (παιδεία), which is the quality considered to be of one who is known as an educated and learned personage, i.e., one who is highly esteemed and important.[17][23][24][25][26][27]
He produced eight extant works (cf. Syvänne, footnote of p. 260). TheIndica and theAnabasis are the only works completely intact. His entire remainingoeuvre is known asFGrH 156 to designate those collected fragments that exist.[13][28][29][30]
Arrian was a pupil ofEpictetus around 108 AD, and, according to his own account, he was moved to publish his notes of Epictetus' lectures, which are known asDiscourses of Epictetus, by their unauthorized dissemination.[14][34] According toGeorge Long, Arrian noted from Epictetus' lectures for his private use and some time later made of these, theDiscourses. Photius states that Arrian produced two books theDissertations and theDiscourses. The Discourses are also known asDiatribai and are apparently a verbatim recording of Epictetus' lectures.[35][36][37]
TheEnchiridion is a short compendium of all Epictetus' philosophical principles. It is also known as a handbook, and A Mehl considers theEnchiridion to have been avade mecum for Arrian. TheEnchiridion is apparently a summary of the Discourses.[7][15][28][38][35]
JB Stockdale considered that Arrian wrote eight books of whichfour were lost by the Middle Ages[clarification needed] and the remaining ones became theDiscourses. In a comparison of the contents of theEnchiridion with theDiscourses, it is apparent that the former contains material not present within the latter, suggesting an original lost source for theEnchiridion.[14][39][40]
Friendly conversations with Epictetus (Homiliai Epiktetou) is a 12 book work mentioned by Photius in hisBibliotheca, of which only fragments remain.[16][19]
History of the Diadochi orEvents after Alexander is a work originally of ten books; a commentary on this work was written byPhotius (FW Walbank, p. 8).[28][42][3][43]
Three extant fragments are theVatican Palimpsest (of the 10th century AD), PSI 12.1284 (Oxyrhynchus), and theGothenburg palimpsest (of the 10th century also), these possibly stemming originally from Photius.[3][16][44]
The writing is about the successors ofAlexander the Great, circa 323 – 321 or 319.
Indica is a work on a variety of things pertaining toIndia, and the voyage of Nearchus in the Persian Gulf. The first part ofIndica was based largely on the work of the same name ofMegasthenes, the second part based on a journal written byNearchus.[51][52][53][20]
Written 136/137 AD (in the 20th year of Hadrian[31]),Techne Taktike ('theart/craft of tactics') is a treatise on Roman cavalry and military tactics, and includes information on the nature, arms and discipline of thephalanx. Thehippika gymnasia is a particular concern of Arrian in the treatise.[46][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]
Another translation of the title isArs tactica, which, in Greek, is Τέχνη τακτική.[61][62]
This work has generally been considered in large part a panegyric to Hadrian, written for the occasion of hisvīcennālia, although some scholars have argued that its second half may have had practical use.[63][64]
Cynegeticus (Κυνηγετικός),[65] translated asA treatise on hunting with hounds,On Hunting, orOn Coursing,[66][35] is a work about the Celtic sport of coursing hare with sighthounds, specifically the Celtic greyhounds: in Greek (plural)ouertragoi, in Latin (plural)vertragi.[67][68][69][70][71][72][73]
The work was inspired by and designed as an addition toan earlier exposition made by Xenophon, whom Arrian recognised to be the Ancient Greek authority on the subject of hunting with scent hounds.[74][75]
Ektaxis kata Alanon (Ἔκταξις κατὰ Ἀλανῶν) is a work of a now fragmentary nature; the title is translated asDeployment against the Alani orThe order of battle against the Alans or referred to simply asAlanica. It is thought not have been written as a presentation of facts but for literary reasons. Pertaining to the relevant historical facts, though, while governor of Cappadocia, Arrian repelled an invasion of theAlani sometime during 135 AD, a struggle in which Arrian's two legions were victorious.[76][77][78][52][79][80][81][82]
Within the work, Arrian explicitly identified the particular means of pursuing warfare as being based on Greek methods.[83][84][85]
Ektaxis kata Alanon is also translated asAcies contra Alanos. The work was known for a time asA History of the Alani (Alanike via Photius[52]). A fragment describing a plan of battle against the Alani was found in Milan around the 17th century which was thought at that time to belong to theHistory.[86]
Everything known of his life derives from the 9th century writing ofPhotius in hisBibliotheca, and from those few references which exist within Arrian's own writings. The knowledge of his consulship, is derived at the least from literature produced bySuidas.Arnobius (c. 3rd century AD[92]) mentions Arrian. Arrian was also known of byAulus Gellius.Pliny the Younger addressed seven of his epistles to him.Simplicius made a copy of the Enchiridion, which was transmitted under the name of the monastic fatherNilus during the 5th century, and as a result found in every monastery library.[16][7][93][14][94]
The voyage of Nearchus andPeriplus of the Erythrean Sea were translated from the Greek by the then Dean of Westminster,William Vincent, and published in 1809. Vincent published a commentary in 1797 onThe voyage of Nearchus. The work was also translated into French by M. Billecocq, under the auspices of the government (cf. p. 321).[96]
^"Arrian". www.britannica.com. Retrieved7 January 2010.Arrian born c. AD 86, Nicomedia, Bithynia [now İzmit, Tur.] died c. AD 160, Athens? [Greece].
^Stadter's suggestion that his official name wasLucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (Stadter, Philip (1967)."Flavius Arrianus: The New Xenophon".Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies.ProQuest1301492487. Retrieved14 April 2016.) is disproven by epigraphic evidence: Bowie, E. L. “Greeks and Their Past in the Second Sophistic.”Past & Present, 46 (1970): 25 n. 72.
^abc"Arrian". www.britannica.com. Retrieved7 January 2010.Arrian (born c. ad 86, Nicomedia, Bithynia [now İzmit, Turkey] diedcirca 160, Athens, [Greece]) Greek historian and philosopher, who was one of the most distinguished authors of second-century Roman Empire.Wolfgang Haase; Hildegard Temporini (1990).Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung, Volume 2; Volume 34. Walter de Gruyter. p. 228.ISBN3110103761.Arrian was of Greek stock, from the provincial aristocracy of Bithynia. His full name, L. Flavius Arrianus, demonstrates that he was a Roman citizen and suggests that the citizenship went back several generations, probably to the triumphal period. Arrian's home city was the Bithynian capital, Nicomedia, where he held the priesthood of Demeter and Kore, its patron deities.Arrian; Sélincourt, Aubrey De (1971).The campaigns of Alexander. Penguin Classics. p. 13.ISBN0140442537.Flavius Arrianus Xenophon, to give him his full name, was a Greek, born at Nicomedia, the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia, probably a few years before AD 90.Grant, Michael (1992).Readings in the classical historians. Scribner's. p. 544.ISBN0684192454.Arrian: Greek Historian ... was an approximate contemporary of Appian, born about AD 95. Like him a Greek, he came from Nicomedia (İzmit) in Bithynia (north-western Asia-Minor) where his family was prominent.
^Heckel, Waldemar (2004).The History of Alexander. Penguin. pp. 5 & 269.
^"Arrian". www.britannica.com. Retrieved7 January 2010.Arrian (born c. ad 86, Nicomedia, Bithynia [now İzmit, Tur.] died c. 160, Athens? [Greece]) Greek historian and philosopher who was one of the most distinguished authors of the second-century Roman Empire.Wolfgang Haase; Hildegard Temporini (1990).Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung, Volume 2; Volume 34. Walter de Gruyter. p. 228.ISBN3110103761.Arrian was of Greek stock, from the provincial aristocracy of Bithynia. His full name, L. Flavius Arrianus, demonstrates that he was a Roman citizen and suggests that the citizenship went back several generations, probably to the triumphal period. Arrian's home city was the Bithynian capital, Nicomedia, where he held the priesthood of Demeter and Kore, its patron deities.Arrian; Sélincourt, Aubrey De (1971).The campaigns of Alexander. Penguin Classics. p. 13.ISBN0140442537.Flavius Arrianus Xenophon, to give him his full name, was a Greek, born at Nicomedia, the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia, probably a few years before A.D. 90.Grant, Michael (1992).Readings in the classical historians. Scribner's. p. 544.ISBN0684192454.Arrian: Greek Historian: [...] an approximate contemporary of Appian, born about AD 95. Like him a Greek, he came from Nicomedia in Bithynia (north-western Asia-Minor) where his family was prominent.
^abcM.C. Howatson (2013).The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 73.ISBN978-0199548552. (...Enchiridion a summary of the Discourses)
^Perseus Tufts Latin Word Study Tool:– texnh [Retrieved 2015-04-01] (ed. < texnh > located at < JG DeVoto > inhttp://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/ - used in verification ofArs tactica as same work))
^J Mancini,VicennaliaTreccani – La Cultura Italiana [Retrieved 2015-04-08] (ed. this source used only to identify the nature of the word < vicennalia >)
^Roos, A.G.Flavii Arriani. Quae Exstant Omnia, vol. II, Scripta Minora et Fragmenta. Leipzig: Teubner 1928
^Phillips, A. A., and M. M. Willcock, (eds.). Xenophon & Arrian on Hunting with Hounds. Oxford: Aris & Phillips, 1999.ISBN0856687065. p. 1
^L Boia – Great Historians from Antiquity to 1800: An International Dictionary, Volume 1 Greenwood Press, 1989ISBN0313245177 (ed. first source for Tilliborus)
Brodersen, K. (2017)Arrianos / Asklepiodotos: Die Kunst der Taktik. Greek and German, De Gruyter, Berlin.ISBN978-3110562163.
Campbell, Duncan B. (2022)Deploying a Roman Army: The Ektaxis kat' Alanôn of Arrian. Greek and English, Quirinus Editions, Glasgow.ISBN979-8803868620.
Leon-Ruiz, Daniel William (2021).Arrian the historian : writing the Greek past in the Roman Empire. Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN9781477321867.
Phillips, A.A., and M.M. Willcock (eds.).Xenophon and Arrian On Hunting with Hounds.Cynegeticus. Oxford: Aris & Phillips, 1999.ISBN0856687065.
P. A. Stadter,Arrian of Nicomedia, Chapel Hill, 1980.
R. Syme, 'The Career of Arrian',Harvard Studies in Classical Philology vol. 86 (1982), pp. 171–211.
E. L. Wheeler,Flavius Arrianus: a political and military biography, Duke University, 1977.nn
Yardley, J. & Heckel, W. (2004)The History of Alexander, Penguin, London, pp. 5 & 269.
