Ctesias (; grc-gre, Κτησίας; fl. fifth century BC), also known as Ctesias of Cnidus, was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
from the town of
Cnidus
Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side o ...
in
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...
, then part of the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
.
Historical events
![Adrien Guignet - Retreat of the ten thousand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Adrien_Guignet_-_Retreat_of_the_ten_thousand.jpg)
Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Achaemenid king,
Artaxerxes II
Arses ( grc-gre, Ἄρσης; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and suc ...
, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother
Cyrus the Younger
Cyrus the Younger ( peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ''Kūruš''; grc-gre, Κῦρος ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC i ...
.
Ctesias was part of the entourage of King Artaxerxes at the
Battle of Cunaxa
The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in the late summer of 401 BC between the Persian king Artaxerxes II and his brother Cyrus the Younger for control of the Achaemenid throne. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Bab ...
(401 BC) against Cyrus the Younger and his Greek mercenaries called the
Ten Thousand
The Ten Thousand ( grc, οἱ Μύριοι, ''oi Myrioi'') were a force of mercenary units, mainly Greeks, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Bat ...
, when Ctesias provided medical assistance to the king by treating his flesh wound. He reportedly was involved in negotiations with the Greeks after the battle, and also helped their Spartan general
Clearchus The name Clearchus or Clearch may refer to:
* Clearchus of Athens, Greek comic poet
* Clearchus of Heraclea (c. 401 BCE – 353 BCE), Greek tyrant of Heraclea Pontica
* Clearchus of Rhegium, Greek sculptor, pupil of Eucheirus, teacher of Pythagoras ...
before his execution at the royal court at Babylon.
Ctesias was the author of treatises on rivers and on the Persian revenues as well as an account of India entitled ''
Indica'' (Ἰνδικά), and of a history of
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
and
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 23 books, entitled ''Persica'' (Περσικά) that was written in opposition to
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
in the
Ionic dialect
Ionic Greek ( grc, Ἑλληνικὴ Ἰωνική, Hellēnikē Iōnikē) was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic or Eastern dialect group of Ancient Greek.
History
The Ionic dialect appears to have originally spread from the Greek mainland acr ...
. Professedly, the work was founded on the Persian Royal Archives.
''Persica''
The first six books of ''Persica'' covered the history of Assyria and
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
to the foundation of the Persian empire in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great; the remaining 17 books covered the years to 398 BC. Of the two histories, abridgments by
Photius
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
and fragments are preserved by
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...
,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
,
Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek language, Greek: , ''Nikolāos Damaskēnos''; Latin: ''Nicolaus Damascenus'') was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustus, Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his b ...
, and especially
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
, whose second book is derived mainly from Ctesias. As to the worth of ''
Persica'', much controversy occurred, both in ancient and modern times.
Although many ancient authorities valued the work highly and used it to discredit
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
, a modern author writes, "(Ctesias's) unreliability makes Herodotus seem a model of accuracy." Reportedly, Ctesias's account of the Assyrian kings does not reconcile with the
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
evidence. The satirist
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer
Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore ...
thought so little of the historical reliability of Ctesias that in his satirical ''
True Story'' he places Ctesias on an island where the evil were punished. Lucian wrote, "The people who suffered the greatest torment were those who had told lies when they were alive and written mendacious histories; among them were Ctesias of Cnidus, Herodotus, and many others."
According to the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'', Ctesias mentioned that the grave of
Darius I
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
at
Persepolis
, native_name_lang =
, alternate_name =
, image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.
, map =
, map_type ...
was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.
''Indica''
![Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Strange_People_-_Umbrella_Foot_(XIIr)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Strange_People_-_Umbrella_Foot_%28XIIr%29.jpg)
A record of the view that the Persians held of India was written by Ctesias under the title ''
Indica''. It includes descriptions of artisans, philosophers, and people having the qualities of deities, as well as accounts of unquantifiable gold, among other riches and wonders.
The work is of value as it records the beliefs of the Persians about India.
The book only remains in fragments and in reports made about the book by later authors.
References
Further reading
* Ed., trad. et commentaire par Dominique Lenfant, ''Ctésias de Cnide. La Perse. L'Inde. Autres fragments'',
Collection Budé
The ''Collection Budé'', or the ''Collection des Universités de France'', is an editorial collection comprising the Greek and Latin classics up to the middle of the 6th century (before Emperor Justinian). It is published by Les Belles Lettres, ...
, Belles Lettres, Paris, 2004 ().
*
* Jan P. Stronk: ''Ctesias' Persian History. Part I: Introduction, Text, and Translation'', Wellem Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2010 ().
* Andrew G. Nichols, ''Ctesias: On India. Translation and Commentary'', Duckworth, 2011,
* Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson, ''Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient'', Oxford, 2010 ().
External links
Ctesias of CnidusOverview of all fragments of the ''Persica'' and ''Indica''by Jona Lendering
Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' ''Persica''translated by J. H. Freese (1920)
Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' ''Indica''translated by J.H. Freese (1920)
Greek text(
Müller 1858)
Texts of Ctesias
{{Authority control
Classical-era Greek historians
4th-century BC historians
5th-century BC Greek physicians
Ancient Cnidians
Ancient Greeks from the Achaemenid Empire
5th-century BC births
4th-century BC deaths
Historians from ancient Anatolia
Physicians of the Achaemenid Empire
Historians of Iran
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Greek Indologists
Historians of the Achaemenid Empire
People from Muğla Province