Apion Pleistoneices ( el, Ἀπίων Πλειστονίκου ''Apíōn Pleistoníkēs''; 30–20 BC – c. AD 45–48), also called Apion Mochthos, was a

Hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

grammarian,

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

, and commentator on

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

. He was born at the

Siwa Oasis The Siwa Oasis ( ar, واحة سيوة, ''Wāḥat Sīwah,'' ) is an urban oasis in Egypt; between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan Egypt–Li ...

and flourished in the first half of the 1st century AD. His name is sometimes incorrectly spelt Appion, and some sources, as in the

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

, call him a son of Pleistoneices, while others more correctly state that Pleistoneices was only a surname, and that he was the son of Poseidonius.

Life

Apion studied at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

under

Apollonius the Sophist Apollonius the Sophist ( el, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Σοφιστής) was a famous grammarian, who probably lived towards the end of the 1st century AD and taught in Rome in the time of Tiberius. He was born in Alexandria, the son of another gr ...

(the son of

Archibius of Alexandria Archibius ( grc, Ἀρχίβιος) of Alexandria was a grammarian of ancient Egypt. He was the son (or possibly father) of the renowned grammarian Apollonius the Sophist, and wrote an interpretation of the epigrams of Callimachus Callimachus ...

) and Didymus, from whom he inherited his love for the Homeric poems. He settled in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

at an unknown date, and taught rhetoric as the successor of the grammarian Theon until the reign of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

. Apion appears to have enjoyed an extraordinary reputation for his extensive knowledge and his versatility as an orator; but the ancients are unanimous in censuring his ostentatious vanity. He declared that every one whom he mentioned in his works would be immortalized; he placed himself by the side of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece, and used to say that Alexandria ought to be proud of having a man like himself among its citizens. However, none of his works survived. It is likely that the name ''cymbalum mundi'', by which Tiberius was accustomed to call him, was meant to express both his loquacity and his boastful character. He is spoken of as the most active of grammarians. According to the

, his surname was ''Mochthos'' (μόχθος), which is usually explained as describing the zeal and labour with which he prosecuted his studies. In the reign of

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

, Apion travelled about in Greece, and was received everywhere with the highest honours as the great interpreter of Homer. About the same time, 38 AD, the inhabitants of Alexandria raised complaints against the Jews residing in their city and endeavored to curtail their rights and privileges. They sent an embassy to emperor Caligula, which was headed by Apion, for he was a skillful speaker and known to entertain a great hatred of the Jews. The latter also sent an embassy, which was headed by

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's deplo ...

. In this transaction, Apion appears to have overstepped the limits of his commission, for he not only brought forward the complaints of his fellow-citizens but endeavored to excite the emperor's anger against the Jews by reminding him that they refused to erect statues to him and to swear by his sacred name. The results of this embassy, as well as the remaining part of Apion's life, are unknown; but if we may believe the account of his enemy Josephus, he died of a disease which he had brought upon himself by his dissolute mode of life.

Works

Apion wrote several works, none of which has survived. The well-known story " Androclus and the Lion", which is preserved in

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...

is from his work: ''Aegyptiaca/''Αἰγυπτιακά ''("Wonders of Egypt")''. The surviving fragments of his work are printed in the ''Etymologicum Gudianum'', ed. Sturz, 1818. *''Upon Homer'', whose poems seem to have formed the principal part of his studies, for he is said not only to have made the best recension of the text of the poems, but to have written explanations of phrases and words in the form of a dictionary (Λέξεις Ὁμηρικαί), and investigations concerning the life and native country of the poet. The best part of his Λέξεις Ὁμηρικαί are supposed to be incorporated in the Homeric Lexicon of Apollonius. Apion's labors upon Homer are often referred to by Eustathius and other grammarians. *A work on Egypt (Αἰγυπτιακά) consisting of five books, which was highly valued in antiquity, for it contained descriptions of nearly all the remarkable objects in Egypt. It also contained numerous attacks upon the Jews. *A work in praise of Alexander the Great. *Histories of separate countries. (Ἱστορία κατὰ ἔθνος,

''s. v.'' Ἀπίων.) *On the celebrated glutton

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer ...

. *''On the language of the Romans'' (Περὶ τῆς ‛Ρωμαίων διαλέκτου). *''De metallica disciplina''.Plin. ''Elench.'' lib. xxxv *''Androclus and the Lion'' and ''The Dolphin near Dicaearchia''. The greatest fragments of the works of Apion are the story about Androclus and his lion, and about the dolphin near Dicaearchia.

Epigrams

In the

we find references to Apion as a writer of epigrams (''s. vv.'' Ἀγύρτης, σπιλάδες, σφάραγον, and τρίγληνα), but whether he is the same as the grammarian is uncertain.

Notes

References

Cynthia Damon Cynthia Ellen Murray Damon (born 1957) is a Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and has written extensively on Latin literature and Roman historiography, having published translations and commentaries on authors such a ...

, "'The Mind of an Ass and the Impudence of a Dog:' A Scholar Gone Bad," in Ineke Sluiter and Ralph M. Rosen (eds), ''Kakos: Badness and Anti-value in Classical Antiquity'' (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008) (Mnemosyne: Supplements. History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity, 307),

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia on ApionJosephus Against Apion
by Dr. Henry Abramson {{DEFAULTSORT:Apion 20s BC births 40s deaths Ancient Greek grammarians Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire 1st-century Egyptian people Homeric scholars