Appian

Appian (Lat. Appianus), a native of Alexandria, who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was author of a Roman history in twenty-four books, of which only eleven are extant. It was remarkable principally for the plan on which it was written. Instead of proceeding to exhibit chronologically the growth of the empire, its author divided his work into ethnographic sections, recording separately the history of each nation up to the time of its conquest by the Romans. First in order were the books devoted to the old Italian tribes, and afterwards followed the history of Sicily, Spain, Hannibal's wars, Libya, Carthage and Numidia, Macedonia, Greece proper and its colonies, Syria, Parthia, the Mithridatic war, the civil wars, and the imperial wars in Illyria and Arabia. As a historian, Appian is a mere compiler, and not very accurate in his compilation. His geographical knowledge, in particular, is singularly deficient, considering the age in which he lived. One specimen of his blunders will suffice; in his section on Spain, he states that it takes only half a day to sail from Spain to Britain. The edition by Schweighäuser (1785) is esteemed, but the best text is that in Bekker's edition (2 vols. Leip. 1852-53).