Marsyas of

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

( grc, Μαρσύας Περιάνδρου Πελλαῖος; c. 356 BC – c. 294 BC), son of Periander, 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. According to the Suda Encyclopedia, he was a brother of

Antigonus I 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 ...

, who was afterwards king of Asia, by which an

uterine The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the female reproductive system, reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic an ...

brother alone can be meant, as the father of Antigonus was named Philip. Both of these statements point to his being of noble birth, and appear strangely at variance with the assertion that he was a mere professional grammarian ''Grammatodidascalus'', a statement which Robert Geier conjectures plausibly enough to refer in fact to

Marsyas of Philippi Marsyas of Philippi (Ancient Greek: Μαρσύας, Κριτοφήμου, Φιλιππεύς; 3rd century BC) was a Macedonian Greek historian and the son of Critophemus. He was often called Marsyas the Younger ( grc-gre, Μαρσύας ὁ Νε ...

. Suidas, indeed, seems in many points to have confounded the two. The only other fact transmitted to us concerning the life of Marsyas, is that he was appointed by

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 ...

to command one division of his fleet in the

Battle of Salamis in Cyprus (306 BC) The naval Battle of Salamis in 306 BC took place off Salamis, Cyprus between the fleets of Ptolemy I of Egypt and Antigonus I Monophthalmus, two of the Diadochi, the generals who, after the death of Alexander the Great, Wars of the Diadochi, fou ...

(

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 ...

, xx. 50.). However, this circumstance is alone sufficient to show that he was a person who himself took an active part in public affairs, not a mere man of letters. It is probable that he followed the fortunes of his stepbrother Antigonus. His principal work was a history of Macedonia, ''Makedonika'', in 10 books, commencing from the earliest times, and coming down to the wars of Alexander in Asia, when it terminated abruptly in 331, with the return of the monarch into Syria, after the conquest of Egypt and the foundation of Alexandria. It is repeatedly cited 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 ...

Harpocration __NOTOC__ Valerius Harpocration ( grc-gre, Οὐαλέριος or , ''gen''. Ἁρποκρατίωνος) was a Greek grammarian of Alexandria, probably working in the 2nd century AD. He is possibly the Harpocration mentioned by Julius Capitolinus ...

Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus also anglicized as was a Gallo-Roman historian from the Celtic Vocontii tribe in Narbonese Gaul who lived during the reign of the emperor Augustus. He was nearly contemporary with Livy. Life Pompeius Trogus's grandfathe ...

and

Justin (historian) Justin ( la, Marcus Junianus Justinus Frontinus; century) was a Latin writer who lived under the Roman Empire. Life Almost nothing is known of Justin's personal history, his name appearing only in the title of his work. He must have lived af ...

. Suidas also speaks of a history on the education of

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, (''Αλεξάνδρου αγωγή'') and a treatise on the history of antiquities of

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 ...

(''Αττικά'') in 12 books, which is considered by Bernhardy and Geier to be the same with ''Archaeology'' of Marsyas the younger.

References

* FGrHist 135/6 (Fragments). *W. Heckel. ''Marsyas of Pella, Historian of Macedon''. Hermes 108 (1980), pp. 444–462. *R. Laqueur, RE 14.2, cols.1998-1999, s.v. Marsyas 9.

External links

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
by

William Smith (lexicographer) Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893) was an English lexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools. Early life Smith was born in Enfield in 1813 to Nonconformist parents. He attended ...

Suidas μ 227Sources for Alexander the Great
By

Nicholas G. L. Hammond Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, (15 November 1907 – 24 March 2001) was a British historian, geographer, classicist and an operative for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in occupied Greece during the Second World War. Hamm ...

Marsyas of Macedon
Hellenistic-era historians 4th-century BC historians Ancient Pellaeans Ancient Macedonian historians 350s BC births 290s BC deaths Generals of Antigonus I Monophthalmus 4th-century BC Macedonians 3rd-century BC Macedonians {{Greece-historian-stub

See also

References

External links