Alexander Polyhistor

Alexander Polyhistor

▪ Roman philosopher, geographer, and historian
in full  Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor 
born c. 105 BC, Miletus, Asia Minor [now in Turkey]
died c. 35 BC, Laurentum, near Rome [Italy]

      philosopher, geographer, and historian whose fragmentary writings provide valuable information on antiquarian and Jewish subjects.

      Imprisoned by the Romans in the war of the Roman general Sulla (Sulla, Lucius Cornelius) against King Mithradates VI (Mithradates VI Eupator) of Pontus, Alexander was sold as a slave to a patrician and taken to Rome to educate his master's children. Alexander was freed and granted Roman citizenship by Sulla in the late 80s BC. After his release he continued to live in Italy as a Roman citizen. He was the teacher of another polymath, Gaius Julius Hyginus (Hyginus, Gaius Julius).

      Alexander's most important work, of which only fragments exist, consists of 42 books of historical and geographical accounts of nearly all the countries of the ancient world. His other notable treatise is about the Jews; it reproduces in paraphrase relevant excerpts from Jewish, Samaritan, and Gentile writers and is valuable for preserving the substance of Hellenistic Jewish authors of whom otherwise nothing would be known. Alexander also wrote a history of philosophy and geographical commentaries on the Greek lyric poets Alcman and Corinna.

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  • ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR° — (first century B.C.E.), Greek scholar. Alexander was born in Miletus in Asia Minor. He was taken prisoner by the Romans, but was later freed, and continued to live in Italy as a Roman citizen until his death (c. 35 B.C.E.). He was called… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ALEXANDER Polyhistor — multa philologica et historica reliquit. Floruit Olymp. 173. quâ in Aegypto iterum regnavit Ptolemaeus Lathyrus, bellumque in Graecia gerebat L. Sylla. De hoc Alexandro ita scribit Suidas. Alexander Milesius, qui et Polyhistor, et Cornelius… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Alexander Polyhistor — Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Πολυΐστωρ) was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the Mithridatic War and taken to Rome as a tutor. After his release, he continued to live in Italy as a Roman… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Polyhistor — Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor (* um 100 v. Chr.; † um 40 v. Chr.) war ein antiker griechischer Gelehrter. Aufgrund seiner vielfältigen Studien erhielt er den Beinamen Polyhistor. Die Mehrzahl seiner Werke ist verloren gegangen, aber… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alexander of Miletus — was a Greek historian and author who flourished between 105 and 40 BCE. He was the author of a book entitled Περὶ Ιονδαίων ( Upon the Jews ). Only a few fragments have been preserved, quoted in the works of Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria. The …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander — stammt vom altgriechischen Namen Αλέξανδρος, Aléxandros, und bedeutet so viel wie Der die (fremden) Männer abwehrt und Der Beschützer. Die Bedeutung des Namens wird auch in Zusammenhang mit einem Golem in der jüdischen Mythologie gebracht,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alexander Lychnus — Alexander (Gr. polytonic|Ἀλέξανδρος) surnamed Lychnus (polytonic|Λύχνος), was an ancient Greek rhetorician and poet.cite encyclopedia | last = Schmitz | first = Leonhard | authorlink = | title = Alexander Lychnus | editor = William Smith |… …   Wikipedia

  • Polyhistor — Als Polyhistor, von altgriech. πολύς (polys = viel, weit, ausgedehnt), ἱστορία (historia = das Erforschen, Kunde, Wissenschaft), (engl. polymath), „Vielwisser“ resp. „Genius universalis“, wird seit der Frühen Neuzeit ein Gelehrter mit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • POLYHISTOR — I. POLYHISTOR Apion sic dictus, Gell. l. 5. c. 14. Item Folyhistor historicus a Plinio reponitur inter eos, e quibus contexuit librum octavum. Poterat idem videri ac Alexander Polyhistor; sed aperte ab eo Plinius ipse l. 9. c. 35. distinguit.… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Polyhistor — A polyhistor is someone of great erudition: having a knowledge spanning many fields. The definition includes both having an expertise level knowledge in various fields and a merely general knowledge. Arguably a polyhistor is but one possible type …   Wikipedia

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