Alexander ( Gr. ) surnamed Lychnus (), was an ancient Greek rhetorician and poet. He was a native of Ephesus, from which he is sometimes called Alexander Ephesius, and must have lived shortly before the time of Strabo (i.e., the 1st century BC), who mentions him among the more recent Ephesian authors, and also states that he took a part in the political affairs of his native city. Strabo ascribes to him a history, and poems of a didactic kind, viz. one on astronomy and another on geography, in which he describes the great continents of the world, treating of each in a separate work or book, which, as we learn from other sources, bore the name of the continent of which it contained an account. What kind of history it was that Strabo alludes to, is uncertain. The so-called

Aurelius Victor Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 – c. 390) was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Victor was the author of a short history of imperial Rome, entitled ''De Caesaribus'' and covering the period from Augustus to Constantius II. The work ...

quotes the first book of a history of the

Marsic War Kappa Herculis (κ Herculis, abbreviated Kappa Her, κ Her) is an optical double star in the constellation of Hercules. The two components, Kappa Herculis A (Marsic , the traditional name of the system) and B, were 27.3 arc seconds apa ...

by Alexander the Ephesian; but this authority is considered doubtful. Some writers have supposed that this Alexander is the author of the history of the succession of Greek philosophers (), which is often referred to by Diogenes Laërtius; but this work belonged probably to

Alexander Polyhistor Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Πολυΐστωρ; flourished in the first half of the 1st century BC; also called Alexander of Miletus) was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the Mithri ...

. His geographical poem, of which several fragments are still extant, is frequently referred to by Stephanus of Byzantium and others. Of his astronomical poem a fragment is still extant, which however has also been attributed to

Alexander Aetolus Alexander Aetolus ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Αἰτωλός, ''Ἀléxandros ὁ Aἰtōlós'') was a Greek poet and grammarian, the only known representative of Aetolian poetry. Life Alexander was the son of Satyrus (Σάτυρος) and ...

, particularly by the scholars

Thomas Gale Thomas Gale (1635/1636?7 or 8 April 1702) was an English classical scholar, antiquarian and cleric. Life Gale was born at Scruton, Yorkshire. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow ...

and

Johann Gottlob Schneider Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German classicist and naturalist. Biography Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob Heine, he became secretary to ...

. It is highly probable that

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

is speaking of Alexander Lychnus when he mentions an Alexander whom he says is a bad poet, and a careless writer, but whose poems yet possess some factual information. The Greek text of his poem has been edited with a commentary by Christophe Cusset. In David Sider (ed.), ''Hellenistic Poetry: A Selection'' (Ann Arbor 2017) 56-64.

References

{{authority control Ancient Greek poets 1st-century BC Greek people 1st-century BC poets 1st-century BC historians Roman-era Greek historians Ancient Ephesians Ancient Greek rhetoricians Historians from Roman Anatolia