Diodorus Siculus, also known as Diodorus of Sicily (Ancient Greek: Διόδωρος, romanized: Diódōros), was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He lived during the 1st century BC and is famous for writing a large historical work called Bibliotheca historica. This work consisted of forty books, fifteen of which still exist today. It was written between 60 and 30 BC. The history is divided into three parts. The first part describes mythic stories up to the fall of Troy, organized by location and covering areas such as Egypt, India, Arabia, and Europe. The second part covers events from the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third part continues the history up to about 60 BC. The title Bibliotheca, meaning "library," shows that Diodorus used the writings of many other authors in his work.
Life
According to his own writings, he was born in Agyrium in Sicily (now known as Agira). Except for one mention, ancient sources do not provide additional details about his life or activities beyond his written works. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the "year of Abraham 1968" (49 BC), notes, "Diodorus of Sicily, a writer of Greek history, became illustrious." However, his English translator, Charles Henry Oldfather, points out the interesting connection that one of only two known Greek inscriptions from Agyrium (Inscriptiones Graecae XIV, 588) is the tombstone of one "Diodorus, the son of Apollonius" ("Διόδωρος ∙ Ἀπολλωνίου"). The final work attributed to him dates to 21 BC.
Work
Diodorus' universal history, called Bibliotheca historica (Ancient Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, "Historical Library"), was very large and had 40 books. Of these, books 1–5 and 11–20 still exist. Parts of the lost books are saved in writings by Photius and the Excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
The work was divided into three parts. The first part (books I–VI) describes the mythical history of non-Hellenic and Hellenic tribes up to the fall of Troy. It focuses on geography, including the history and culture of Ancient Egypt (book I), Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia (book II), North Africa (book III), and Greece and Europe (books IV–VI).
The second part (books VII–XVII) tells the story of the world from the Trojan War until the death of Alexander the Great. The third part (books XVII to the end) covers events from Alexander’s successors until either 60 BC or the start of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. The ending is missing, so it is unknown whether Diodorus completed the Gallic War as he promised or, as some evidence suggests, stopped writing in 60 BC due to tiredness from his work.
Diodorus chose the name "Bibliotheca" to show that his work combined information from many sources. Authors whose works he used include Hecataeus of Abdera, Ctesias of Cnidus, Ephorus, Theopompus, Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, Diyllus, Philistus, Timaeus, Polybius, and Posidonius.