Henry Aristippus ofCalabria (born inSanta Severina in 1105–10; died inPalermo in 1162), sometimes known asEnericus orHenricus Aristippus, was a religious scholar and thearchdeacon ofCatania (fromc. 1155) and later chieffamiliaris of thetriumvirate offamiliares who replaced theadmiralMaio of Bari as chief functionaries of theKingdom of Sicily in 1161.
While the historian of Norman Sicily,John Julius Norwich, believes him to have probably been ofNorman extraction despite hisGreek surname, Donald Matthew considers it self-evident, based on both his name and occupations, that he was Greek. He was first and foremost a scholar and, even if Greek, he was an adherent of the Latin church.
Aristippus was an envoy toConstantinople (1158-1160) when he received from the emperorManuel I Comnenus a Greek copy ofPtolemy'sAlmagest.[1] A student of theSchola Medica Salernitana tracked down Aristippus and his copy onMount Etna (observing an eruption) and proceeded to give aLatin translation. Though this was the first translation of theAlmagest into Latin, it was not as influential as a later translation into Latin made byGerard of Cremona from the Arabic. The original manuscript is probably in theBiblioteca Marciana inVenice.
Aristippus himself produced the first Latin translation ofPlato'sPhaedo (1160) andMeno and the fourth book ofAristotle'sMeteorologica. He also translatedGregory of Nazianzus at the request ofWilliam I of Sicily.
In 1161, William appointed threefamiliares—Aristippus,Sylvester of Marsico, and theBishop Palmer—to replace the assassinated Maio. In 1162, Aristippus was suspected of disloyalty by the king and imprisoned. He died probably soon after in that very year. He may have helped himself to some of the royal concubines during the rebellion of 1161. He does not seem to have been a particularly effective administrator. Sylvester of Marsico died at the same time andMatthew of Ajello and thecaïd Peter replaced him and Aristippus in the "triumvirate."
