Diophantus the Arab ( grc, ∆ιόφαντος ὁ Ἀράβιος) was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

teacher and

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 ' ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

during the 4th century AD. His most famous student was

Libanius Libanius ( grc-gre, Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a criti ...

(336–340). He was active during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363).John R. Martindale,

A. H. M. Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...

and John Morris (eds.), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume I, AD 260–395'' (Cambridge University Press, 1971), pp. 260–261.Ad Meskens, ''Travelling Mathematics: The Fate of Diophantos' Arithmetic'' (Springer, 2010), p. 48 n28.Samuel N. C. Lieu, "Scholars and Students in the Roman East", in R. MacLeod (ed.), ''The Library of Alexandria: Centre of Learning in the Ancient World'' (I. B. Tauris, 2004), pp. 129–130. Diophantus' place of birth within

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

is unknown. It may have been Petra, also the birthplace of the 5th-century

iatrosophist Iatrosophist ( grc, ἰατροσοφιστής, la, iatrosophista) is an ancient title designating a professor of medicine. It comes from grc, ἰᾱτρός 'doctor' and grc, σοϕιστής 'learned person'."sophist, n." OED Online, Oxford Un ...

Gessius of Petra Gessius of Petra (Ancient Greek language, Greek: Γέσιος, ''Gesios'')''Suda Online''Γ 486/ref> was a physician, iatrosophist and Paganism, pagan philosopher active in Alexandria in the late 5th and early 6th century.Edward J. Watts"The Endurin ...

and a place associated with Diophantus' contemporary and fellow sophist,

Epiphanius of Syria Epiphanius of Petra ( grc-gre, Ἐπιφάνιος ὁ Πετραῖος), also called Epiphanius of Syria, was a sophist and rhetorician at Athens in the first half of the fourth century AD. He is described as a coming from Petra in Arabia by th ...

. He is not listed among the rhetors and sophists of

Gerasa Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital cit ...

by Stephanus of Byzantium.Joseph Geiger
"Notes on the Second Sophistic in Palestine"
''Illinois Classical Studies'' 19 (1994), p. 221–230, at 224n and 226.Robert J. Penella, ''Greek Philosophers and Sophists in the Fourth Century A.D.: Studies in Eunapius of Sardis'' (F. Cairns, 1990), op. 94–95. Diophantus was a pupil of Julian of Cappadocia, whom he succeeded as rhetor (teacher of rhetoric) in Athens. According to

Eunapius Eunapius ( el, Εὐνάπιος; fl. 4th–5th century AD) was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century AD. His principal surviving work is the ''Lives of Philosophers and Sophists'' ( grc-gre, Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σο� ...

, who attended his lectures in the period 362–367, Diophantus recruited students from Arabia. He was also accused of kidnapping students. According to Libanius' own account, he went to Athens intending to become a student of Epiphanius of Syria, but was ambushed by enthusiasts of Diophantus who imprisoned him in a cell until he took an oath to become Diophantus' student. His oath to Diophantus did not prohibit him from attending other lectures. Libanius records that Diophantus had once also been roughed up by thugs. Diophantus is mentioned in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

'' Suda'''s entry for Libanius.''Suda Online''
λ486.
/ref> One of Diophantus' rival teachers in Athens was

Prohaeresius Prohaeresius (, ''Parouyr''; el, Προαιρέσιος, ''Prohairesios''; c. 276 – c. 368) was a fourth-century Armenian Christian teacher and rhetorician originally from Caesarea who taught in Athens. He was one of the leading sophists of ...

, on whose death in 367 he delivered a

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...

quoted in part by Eunapius, who considered him far inferior to Prohaeresius. He died not long after. He left behind two sons whom Eunapius describes as devoted to commercial gain and luxurious living. Wilhelm Schmid, "Diophantus (16)", in ''Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', Volume V,1 (Stuttgart, 1903), col. 1051. Diophantus has sometimes been confused with the more famous mathematician,

Diophantus of Alexandria Diophantus of Alexandria ( grc, Διόφαντος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; born probably sometime between AD 200 and 214; died around the age of 84, probably sometime between AD 284 and 298) was an Alexandrian mathematician, who was the aut ...

, and his ethnic background (Arab) has sometimes been attributed to the latter. He must also be distinguished from the

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 ...

philosopher and priest of mysteries of the same name cited by Libanius in a letter of 362.

References

{{reflist, 30em 4th-century Arabs 4th-century Romans Roman-era students in Athens Ancient Greek rhetoricians Ancient Greek educators Roman-era Sophists Arabs in the Roman Empire