Philosopher, Historian, Geographer, Writer, General, Statesman (c.95 – c.180)
Flavius Arrianus was one of the greatest Greek polymaths of the Roman era who is widely known today as the author of Anabasis, the most important historical work documenting the life and work of Alexander the Great as well as his conquest of Asia. Referred to as the “New Xenophon”, Arrianus has been praised for his immensely valuable corpus as well as for his virtuous skills as a statesman of the Roman Empire.
He was from Asia Minor, specifically from Bithynia. He began his studies in philosophy next to his tutor and future mentor Epictetus in Nicopolis, before arriving and settling in Athens, where he completed his studies in philosophy and rhetoric. At the time, Athens was ruled by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who met Arrian while in Athens and befriended him. In admiration for his polymathy and virtue, Hadrian sent Arrian to Rome, where he was granted a Roman citizenship and became a member of the royal family, earning the title Flavius. Arrian would eventually go on to have a very prestigious political career in the Roman Empire, becoming legatus of Cappadocia, the first time in history for a Greek to be appointed to such a rank, later consul of Rome and finally serving as a military commander of the Roman army. In 137 Arrian was appointed archon of Athens and upon his retirement returned to his home city where he served as a hierophant of the Goddess Demeter.
Arrian is the author of multiple books, whose topics span fields including philosophy, history, geography and military. He is the author of Discourses of Epictetus, a book consisting of 8 tomes on the Stoic philosophy of his mentor Epictetus. The book achieved tremendous success throughout history and was even read by the noble Roman class, particularly by Marcus Aurelius, a contemporary of Arrian and himself a Stoic philosopher. Just as Epictetus had influenced Arrian as a philosophy, Xenophon was his spiritual teacher and guide as a historian. This is reflected by the fact that his magnum opus is named after Xenophon’s Anabasis of Cyrus. Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander is undoubtedly his greatest work to which he owes his prominence as a historian, spanning 7 tomes, recounting Alexander’s campaign and conquest of Asia, his battles, his life, his character as well as the events that took place around him. He described Alexander as a “God’s gift” and his figure unparalleled, proving his admiration for the works of great men, which he wanted to write and pass down to history so that they become immortal.
Arrian wrote multiple historical books, some of them being Ta Met’Alexandron which is about the Diadochi or Alexander’s successors, Bythiniaka, a book on the history of his homeland Bythinia and Parthica, a history of Parthia. His books on geography Indika and Periplous of the Euxine Sea provide a unique insight not only on the geography of India and the Black Sea respectively but in addition on the voyage of Nearchus, Alexander’s chief admiral on the Indian Ocean and the exploration of the shores of India and the nearby countries of the Persian Empire. Being an experienced military commander of the Roman army, Arrian wrote books on military topics, most notably the books Techne Taktikai, Kynegetikon and Ektaxis kat’Alanon. These books testify Arrian’s strong military skills and his ability to critically assess military matters. Arrian was furthermore a writer of biographies, although few of them survive.
It should not come to anyone as a surprise that to a very large extent almost all of Arrian’s corpus has survived. This is attributed to the fact that most of his treatises have been used throughout history as textbooks in schools and universities in the west and continue to be used to this day. He has been praised by many, including Pliny, Emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, by Lucian and Photios for his simple yet eloquent language, his precision in his descriptions and facts, for his critical research of original source material and for his respect to truth. While he has been named the “New Xenophon” this may be an overstatement as Arrian was never as objective as Xenophon was, referring in certain parts of his writings to divine signs, monsters and even divinations. Nevertheless, his brilliance as a writer and commander is well established as proven by his role in the Roman Empire. History as righteously hailed him as one of the greatest and most erudite historians of all time.
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