Gaius Asinius Quadratus ( grc, Κοδράτος) ( fl. AD 248) 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 ...

historian of

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 ...

and

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

of the third century. He was a senator who wrote a 15-book history of Rome, '' Chilieteris'' ("The Millennium"), which, according to the Suda, covered the period from the founding of Rome until the rule of

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

. He also wrote a ''Parthika'' in nine books, presumably a narrative of the

n campaigns of the preceding century. Some scholars attribute to him a ''Germanika'', based on an excerpt preserved by

Agathias Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...

, although this is debated. Asinius is the ''nomen'' of the ''gens'' Asinia of ancient Rome. He was the son of Gaius Julius Asinius Quadratus, who was brother of Gaius Asinius Rufus (born ''circa'' 160). These brothers were sons of Gaius Asinius Nicomachus (born ''circa'' 135) and his wife and cousin Julia Quadratilla (born ''circa'' 145) (or perhaps Asinia Marcellina, descendant of the family of

Gaius Asinius Pollio Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4) was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporary history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Pol ...

), and grandchildren of

Gaius Asinius Rufus Gaius Asinius Rufus (c. 110 – after 136) was a notable in Lydia in 134 and 135 who became a Roman Senator in 136. He was probably the son of Gaius Asinius Frugi (born c. 80), monet. of Phrygia between 98 and 116. He married Julia, daughter o ...

(''circa'' 110 - after 136), a notable in Lydia in 134 and 135 who became a

Roman senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

in 136, and wife Julia. It has been suggested that Quadratus is identical with a suffect consul of the Severan period,

Gaius Asinius Protimus Quadratus Gaius Asinius Protimus Quadratus was a Roman senator, who was active during the Severan dynasty. He is known entirely from inscriptions. Quadratus was proconsular governor of Achaea between 192 and 211; while governing Achaea, Quadratus was design ...

. The "thousand years" of Quadratus' title has been explained in various ways. Felix Jacoby argues that Quadratus unusually dated the founding of Rome to the first

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

in 776. Giuseppe Zecchini, though, claims that Quadratus used the traditional dating of the founding of Rome and intended the work to extend to 248, when

Philip the Arab Philip the Arab ( la, Marcus Julius Philippus "Arabs"; 204 – September 249) was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. He was born in Aurantis, Arabia, in a city situated in modern-day Syria. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, ...

celebrated the first millennium, but that he died before its completion.Zecchini, "Asinio Quadrato storico di Filippo l'Arabo", in ''

Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt , commonly referred to by its German acronym, ''ANRW'', or in English as ''Rise and Decline of the Roman World'', is an extensive collection of books dealing with the history and culture of ancient Rome. Akin to a journal and published in various ...

'' (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1998), Band II.34.4, pp. 2990-3021 Thirty fragments of his work remain, which have been published by Jacoby in the ''

Fragmente der griechischen Historiker ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', commonly abbreviated ''FGrHist'' or ''FGrH'' (''Fragments of the Greek Historians''), is a collection by Felix Jacoby of the works of those ancient Greek historians whose works have been lost, but of ...

''. Most of these derive from the dictionary of Stephanus of Byzantium.

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Further reading