Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus (circa. 86 AD - circa. 160 AD)
When and where born?
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Arrian was born in Nicomedia (a Greek town in the Roman Empire) between 85 and 90 AD. His parents were Roman citizens so it is possible that he was influenced towards Roman ideas and theologies, however, he was born in a Greek town so the bias may have been against the Romans.
Arrian was writing hundreds of years after the life of Alexander so was reliant on sources, therefore he can not be considered completely reliable as he only had the information available to him then. As a Roman citizen, he may have only had access to Roman sources which were likely to have been biased towards the Romans. Arrian became life-long friends with Hadrian, who would go on to become Emperor of Rome between 117 AD and 138 AD, which further suggest a bias towards the Romans. |
Career outside of writing
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Arrian was not only a historian, he was a also a Roman senator; he became consul in 129 AD (where he served with Severus). As well as this, he held the priesthood of Demter and Kore.
There is much dispute over which military positions Arrian held although he must have had some as when governor of Cappadocia (central Anatolia, Turkey), he had the control of two legions. |
Work on Alexander the Great
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Arrian's aims in writing about Alexander the Great were to attempt to create an assessment of him; he condemns some parts of Alexander's behavoiur but gives a positive view on his achievements. Having taken much consideration into chosing his sources, it can be seen that Arrian was trying to create as trustworthy and true account as possible.
Arrian mostly relied on Ptolemy and Aristobulus as sources; he believed that because Aristobulus had shared Alexander's campaigns, he would be a reliable eyewitness and that because Ptolemy was a king, he would have written a truthful account as Arrian believed that "it is more disgraceful for a King to tell lies than for anyone else". Arrian also used other sources including Nearchus which he used by including stories that he found that were not in Ptolemy or Aristobulus. |