Heraclides Lembus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης Λέμβος, ''Hērakleidēs Lembos'') was an Ancient Greek statesman, historian and philosophical writer. Heraclides was an Egyptian civil servant who lived during the reign of

Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VI Philometor ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Φιλομήτωρ, ''Ptolemaĩos Philomḗtōr'';"Ptolemy, lover of his Mother". 186–145 BC) was a Greek king of Ptolemaic Egypt who reigned from 180 to 164 BC and from 163 to 145 BC. Ptolemy ...

(2nd century BC).''Suda'', s.v. Ἡρακλείδης, η 462 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 ...

mentions a Heraclides of

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus (; grc-gre, Ὀξύρρυγχος, Oxýrrhynchos, sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian ''Pr-Medjed''; cop, or , ''Pemdje''; ar, البهنسا, ''Al-Bahnasa'') is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo ...

, but according to

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...

Diogenes Laërtius, v. 94 he originated from

Callatis Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern D ...

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 ...

. He was the son of a man named Sarapion ('Lembus' is a nickname meaning 'cockboat'). He is said to have negotiated the treaty that ended

Antiochus IV Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...

's invasion of Egypt in 169 BC. That

Agatharchides of Cnidus Agatharchides or Agatharchus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθαρχίδης or , ''Agatharchos'') of Cnidus was a Greek historian and geographer (flourished 2nd century BC). Life Agatharchides is believed to have been born at Cnidus, hence his appellation. A ...

became known by being his secretary is further evidence to his importance in the Ptolemaic administration.

Works

His works (mainly excerpts and

epitome An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...

s from earlier writers) survive only in fragments. * ''Histories'' (Ἱστορίαι) in at least 37 books. The extant fragments discuss the following topics: a frog plague in Paeonia and Dardania;

Demetrius Poliorcetes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty ...

and his father

Antigonus Monophthalmus Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Μονόφθαλμος , 'the One-Eyed'; 382 – 301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, general, satrap, and king. During the first half of his life he serv ...

in love with the courtesan Demo; philological eccentricities concerning Alexarchus, the brother of

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a cont ...

inventing words. Traditionally, two further fragments are attributed to the ''Histories'' on the foundation of Rome by Greeks returning from the Trojan war and on the Spartan king

Archidamus II Archidamus II ( grc-gre, Ἀρχίδαμος ; died 427/6 BC) was a king of Sparta who reigned from approximately 469/8 BC to 427/6 BC. His father was Zeuxidamus (called Cyniscos by many Spartans). Zeuxidamus married and had a son, Archi ...

; however, these might actually belong to Heraclides' epitome of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

's ''Constitutions''. An epitome was, presumably, made by Hero of Athens, a rhetor tentatively dated to the first century AD. * ''Lembeutikos Logos'' (Λεμβευτικὸς λόγος), about which nothing is known, apart from an obscure connection to his nickname. * an epitome of

Sotion Sotion of Alexandria ( grc-gre, Σωτίων, ''gen''.: Σωτίωνος; fl. c. 200 – 170 BC) was a Greek doxographer and biographer, and an important source for Diogenes Laërtius. None of his works survive; they are known only indirectly. ...

's ''

Successions of Philosophers Doxography ( el, δόξα – "an opinion", "a point of view" + – "to write", "to describe") is a term used especially for the works of classical historians, describing the points of view of past philosophers and scientists. The term w ...

''. * an epitome of Satyrus' ''Lives''. * an epitome of

Hermippus Hermippus ( grc-gre, Ἕρμιππος; fl. 5th century BC) was the one-eyed Athenian writer of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the Peloponnesian War. Life He was the son of Lysis, and the brother of the comic poet Myrtilus. He was younger t ...

's ''On Lawgivers'', ''On the Seven Sages'' and ''On Pythagoras''. * excerpts from an epitome of

's ''Constitutions'' () and ''Barbarian Customs'' (Νόμιμα βαρβαρικά). The fragments of these largely lost works (only the ''

Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle) A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

'' extant) were published in 1847 as ''Heraclidis politiarum quae extant'', by F. G. Schneidewin. * a biography of

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists ...

(doubtful), mentioned by

Eutocius Eutocius of Ascalon (; el, Εὐτόκιος ὁ Ἀσκαλωνίτης; 480s – 520s) was a Palestinian-Greek mathematician who wrote commentaries on several Archimedean treatises and on the Apollonian ''Conics''. Life and work Little is ...

Criticism

As a historian Heraclides has been discounted, as the selection criteria in his epitome of

Aristotle's Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

''Constitutions'' show a certain inclination towards the weird and sensational, e.g.: His prime merit lies in the faithful transmission of otherwise lost sources (e.g. the missing first part of the ''Constitution of the Athenians''). The ''Histories'' were, presumably, criticised by

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

in ''The Arrangement of Words'' with regard to his

Asiatic style The Asiatic style or Asianism ( la, genus orationis Asiaticum, Cicero, ''Brutus'' 325) refers to an Ancient Greek rhetorical tendency (though not an organized school) that arose in the third century BC, which, although of minimal relevance at the ...

.Dion. Hal., ''De comp. verb.'' 4 (line 112 Ed. Usener-Radermacher)

Notes

References

*Mervin R. Dilts, ''Heraclidis Lembi. Excerpta Politiarum'' (1971), editor and translator M. R. D. (Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies Monographs no. 5) *

Miroslav Marcovich Miroslav Marcovich (March 18, 1919 – June 14, 2001) was a Serbian-American philologist and university professor. Early life Marcovich was born in Belgrade, Serbia. He studied at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy graduating i ...

, ''Heraclidis Lembi Excerpta Politiarum'', The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 96, No. 1 (Spring, 1975), pp. 16–18 * C. Müller, ''Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum'' (1841–1870) 2, 197-224 (''Constitutions'', wrongly attributed to

Heraclides Ponticus Heraclides Ponticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός ''Herakleides''; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC) was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who was born in Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey, and migrated to Athens. He ...

) and 3, 167-171. *Rudolf Daebritz, "Herakleides Lembos (51)". ''Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' VIII,1 (1945) Sp. 488-491.

External links

Suda On Line, ἩρακλείδηςDilts (1971), ''Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies'' via the website of the Duke University Libraries
{{Authority control 2nd-century BC writers Ancient Greek biographers Hellenistic-era philosophers from Africa Ptolemaic court