Ephippus ( grc, Ἔφιππος) of

Olynthus Olynthus ( grc, Ὄλυνθος ''Olynthos'', named for the ὄλυνθος ''olunthos'', "the fruit of the wild fig tree") was an ancient city of Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and ...

was an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

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 ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. It is commonly believed, though no reason is assigned, that Ephippus lived about or shortly after the time of Alexander. There is however a passage in

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

which would determine the age of Ephippus very accurately, if it could be proved that the Ephippus there mentioned is identical with the historian. Arrian says, that Alexander before leaving Egypt appointed Aeschylus of Rhodes and Ephippus ton Chalkideôs, superintendents (''episkopoi'') of the administration of Egypt. The reading ''ton Chalkideôs'', though adopted by the recent editors of Arrian, is not in all MSS., and some editions read ''Chalkidona'' or ''Chalkêdona''; but if we might amend ''Chalkideaa'', we should have reason for supposing that the person mentioned by Arrian is the same as Ephippus of Olynthus, for Olynthus was the principal town in

Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...

, and Ephippus might just as well be called a native of Olynthus as of Chalcidice. If the Ephippus then in Arrian be the same as the historian, he was a contemporary of Alexander and survived him for some time, for he wrote an account of the king's burial. The work of Ephippus is distinctly referred to 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 ...

only, though

Diodorus 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 ...

and others also seem to have made use of it. Athenaeus calls it in some passages ''peri tês Alexandron kai Hêphaistiônos metallagês'', and in others he has ''taphês'' or ''teleutês'' instead of ''metallagês'', so that at all events we must conclude that it contained an account of the burial of Alexander as well as of his death. From the few fragments still extant, it would appear that Ephippus described more the private and personal character of his heroes than their public careers. It should be remarked that by a singular mistake

Suidas 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 ...

in his article ''Ephippus'' gives an account of Ephorus of Cumae.

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

mentions one Ephippus among the authorities he consulted upon plants, and it is generally believed that he is a different person from our historian; but all the writers whom Pliny mentions along with him, belong to the period of Alexander, so that it is by no means improbable that he may be Ephippus of Olynthus. All that is known about Ephippus and the fragments of his work, is collected by R. Geier, in his Lips. 1844, pp. 309-317. (cited by Schmitz)

References

Footnotes

{{Authority control Historians who accompanied Alexander the Great Ancient Olynthians 4th-century BC historians 4th-century BC Greek people