Ixxiv
times the other. In his lives of Pyrrhus and Camillus, we see
that he followed Dionysius ; in those of Marius and Sulla,
Posidonius; and wherever we can ascertain his authorities, his
accounts gain a much more important character for authen-
ticity : the task of finding this out is yet far from having been
accomplished. Plutarch, as he himself says, knew little of
Latin ; he was particularly unacquainted with its grammar :
whence we sometimes, though rarely, meet with misapprehen-
sions of his authorities.
APPIAN.
Some thirty years after Plutarch, the work of Appian
was written. He was a jurist of Alexandria; and during
the reigns of Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius he lived at Rome,
as the agent of his native city, and pleaded in the courts of
justice. It cannot, however, be concluded from this, that he
was well acquainted with the Latin language; for as Greek
was held in the highest estimation by Hadrian, Appian was
probably allowed to plead in Greek, especially for the transma-
rini, although he rather boasts of his knowledge of Latin. He
was on terms of intimacy with Fronto, who asked and obtained
for him the office of procurator Caesaris.2 He accumulated
wealth at Rome, and then returned to his native city ; where,
in his old age, he was highly esteemed by the Romans. There
is a statement that his work on the history of Rome consisted
of twenty-four books, comprising four on Egypt, in which he
treated the history of the Lagidae with particular minuteness.
It was not written according to a synchronistic system, but on
the plan of Cato’s Origines. The first book was called βaσiλ.ικη,
the second ,IτaXικη, the third Saυvιτι>κη, the fourth KεXrικη,
the fifth Xικeλ,ικη κal vησιwτικηy &c. The twenty-first book
came down to the battle of Actium, and the twenty-second,
entitled 'Eκaτovraeτιa, comprised the history of one hundred
years, from the battle of Actium down to the reign of Trajan ;
another book contained the Dacian and Illyrian wars; and
another, Trajan’s war against the Arabs. Appian was a com-
piler who knew well how to choose his authorities for the
history of the early times. He chiefly followed Dionysius as
as far as he went, so that in some measure he now makes up
for the lost portion of the work of Dionysius.3 In his history
of the second Punic war, and perhaps in that of the first, too,
8 M. Corn. Fronto, Epιst. ad. Antoninum Pιum, 9 p. 13. foil. ed. Niebuhr.
3 Comp, vohii. p. 512, foil; vohiii. p.212, notes 353, 842 and 872.
DION CASSIUS.
Ixxv
he followed Fabius. Afterwards he used Polyhius, and where
he was left by this guide, he followed Posidonius. The sources
which he used were very good, but he did not know how to
use them : he is bold and ignorant, especially in geography.
He believed, for example, that Britain lay quite close to the
northern coast of Spain4, and he places Saguntum on the
northern bank of the Iberus.5 Writers like him do best when
they copy from others without thinking. Hence he is most
correct when he thoughtlessly copies his authorities; but such
compilers should not presume to give a condensed abridgment
of the works of others. Of the whole work we possess only
eleven books complete, viz. VI. ,Iβηpικη ; vɪɪ. 'Avvιβaικη;
VIII. Aιβvκη; XI. Sυpιaκη κal ∏aρθικη; XII. Mιθρι8aτeι04;
XIiI—xvιι. ,EμφυXuι; and xxιιι. Aaκικη or 'lXKυpικη. But
what we possess under the name of ∏apθικη, as a part of the
eleventh book, is spurious, as has been shewn most satisfac-
torily by Schweighauser.6 Of the 'I^K^Kυpικη, at first only some
fragments were published; the whole of it appeared for the
first time complete in the edition of Tollius. Of the remain-
ing books we have the “ Eclogae De Legationibus ” and
“ De Virtutibus et Vitiis,” which have been put together by
Ursinus and Valesius. The account of the Illyrian war yet
awaits an able commentator, as Spaletti refused to allow
Schweigliauser to make use of his collation. Excellent ma-
terials for a critical examination of the text of Appian are
contained in the Latin translation made in 1472, by Petrus
Candidus, at the command of the learned Pope Sixtus IV.;
the Latin is barbarous, but the translation is faithful, and
Schweighauser has made good use of it. There are only three
editions of Appian worth mentioning : the first by H. Stephens,
the second by Tollius, and the third by Schiveighauser.
About eighty years after Appian, Dion Cassius, surnamed
Cocceianus, wrote his work. He was born at Nicaea in Bitliy-
nia, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, and belonged to a family
which was in possession of the Roman franchise, and stood
very high. His father held most important offices ; and it has
been supposed, with great probability, that the ingenious
orator, Dion Chryostom, was his grandfather on his mother’s
4 De Reb. Hιsp. c. 1.
5 De Reb. Hιsp. c. 7, and 10.
6 In bisedition of Appian, vol.iii. p.905, foil.