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Appian of Alexandria (; ''Appianòs Alexandréus''; (ラテン語:Appianus Alexandrinus); ) was a Roman historian of Greek origin who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After having filled the chief offices in the province of Aegyptus (Egypt), he went to Rome c. 120, where he practised as an advocate, pleading cases before the emperors (probably as ''advocatus fisci''), that in 147 at the earliest he was appointed to the office of procurator, probably in Egypt, on the recommendation of his friend Marcus Cornelius Fronto, a well-known litterateur. Because the position of procurator was open only to members of the equestrian order (the "knightly" class), his possession of this office tells us about Appian's family background. His principal surviving work (Ῥωμαικά ''Rhomaiká'', known in Latin as ''Historia Romana'' and in English as ''Roman History'') was written in Greek in 24 books, before 165. This work more closely resembles a series of monographs than a connected history. It gives an account of various peoples and countries from the earliest times down to their incorporation into the Roman Empire, and survives in complete books and considerable fragments.〔 The work is very valuable, especially for the period of the civil wars. ''The Civil Wars'', five of the later books in the corpus, concern mainly the end of the Roman Republic and take a conflict-based approach to history. == Life == Little is known of the life of Appian of Alexandria. He wrote an autobiography that has been almost completely lost.〔Appian Proem. 62〕 Information about Appian is distilled from his own writings and a letter by his friend Cornelius Fronto.〔A Commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto Volume 190 of Mnemosyne / () 1999, by Michael Petrus Josephus Van Den Hout〕 However, it is certain that Appian was born around the year AD 95 in Alexandria, the capital of Roman Egypt. Since his parents were Roman citizens capable of paying for their son’s education, it can be determined that Appian belonged to the wealthy upper classes. It is believed that Appian moved in 120 to Rome, where he became a barrister. In the introduction to his ''Roman History,'' he boasts “that he pleaded cases in Rome before the emperors.” The emperors he claims to have addressed must have been either Hadrian or Marcus Aurelius and definitely Antoninus Pius, for Appian remained in Egypt at least until the end of the reign of Trajan (117). In the letter of Cornelius Fronto, it is revealed that a request on behalf of Appian to receive the rank of procurator occurred during the co-regency between 147 and 161. Although Appian won this office, it is unclear whether it was a real job or an honorific title. The only other certain biographical datum is that Appian's ''Roman History'' appeared sometime before 162. This is one of the few primary historical sources for the period. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Appian」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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