Diodoros of Sicily : Historiographical Theory and Practice in the Bibliotheke

by: Hau, L.I. Meeus, A. Sheridan, B.

Summary:
The Bibliotheke of Diodoros of Sicily is the most voluminous Greek historiographical text from the pre-Christian era, and contains the only preserved continuous account of Classical Greek history; for many aspects of this history, such as the events in Sicily, the rise of Macedon under Philip II or the history of the Successors, it is our main or only source. It is thus often used as a source by ancient historians, and a great deal of energy has been spent on identifying which sources Diodoros himself used. Interest in Diodoros as an author in his own right, however, is a comparatively recent phenomenon. The contributors to this volume, junior scholars as well as leading international experts, set out to confront the old and new approaches to Diodoros, studying his first century BC context, questions of genre and purpose, his relationship to his predecessors, composition and narrative technique, the role of the gods and myth in the work, the use of speeches, and Diodoros? interest in themes like war, writing, language and politics. In so doing they offer exciting new insights into the Bibliotheke and the development of Greek historiography, which in turn also shed important new light on the old question of Diodoros? value as a source.

This book is of interest to students of Greek and Roman history, myth, and ancient historiography in general.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
setting the scene
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Lisa Irene Hau, Alexander Meeus & Brian Sheridan
New and Old Approaches to Diodoros: Can They Be Reconciled? 13
Catherine Rubincam
Diodoros in the First Century
Diodoros of Sicily and the Hellenistic Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Kenneth S. Sacks
The Origins of Rome in the Bibliotheke of Diodoros . . . . . . . . . 65
Aude Cohen-Skalli
In Praise of Pompeius: Re-reading the Bibliotheke Historike . . . . 91
Richard Westall
Genre and Purpose
From Ἱστορίαι to Βιβλιοθήκη and Ἱστορικὰ Ὑπομνήματα . . . . . 131
Johannes Engels
History?s Aims and Audience in the Proem to Diodoros? Bibliotheke 149
Alexander Meeus
A Monograph on Alexander the Great within a Universal History:
Diodoros Book XVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Luisa Prandi

VI TABLE OF CONTENTS

New Quellenforschung
Errors and Doublets: Reconstructing Ephoros and Appreciating
Diodoros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Victor Parker
A Question of Sources: Diodoros and Herodotos on the River
Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Jessica Priestley
Diodoros? Narrative of the First Sicilian Slave Revolt (c. 140/35-
132 B.C.) – a Reflection of Poseidonios? Ideas and Style? . . . . . . 221
Piotr Wozniczka
How to Read a Diodoros Fragment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Liv Mariah Yarrow
Composition and Narrative
Narrator and Narratorial Persona in Diodoros? Bibliotheke (and
their Implications for the Tradition of Greek Historiography) . . 277
Lisa Irene Hau
Ring Composition in Diodoros of Sicily?s Account of the Lamian
War (XVIII 8–18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
John Walsh
Terminology of Political Collaboration and Opposition in Diodoros
XI-XX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Cinzia Bearzot
GODS and MYTHS
The Role of the Gods in Diodoros? Universal History: Religious
Thought and History in the Historical Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Cécile Durvye
Diodoros, Mythology, and Historiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Charles E. Muntz

TABLE OF CONTENTS VII
Diodoros and Myth as History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Abram Ring
Ethnography, Languages, and Literacy
Ethno-Geography as a Key to Interpreting Historical Leaders and
Their Expansionist Policies in Diodoros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Serena Bianchetti
Diodoros the Bilingual Provincial: Greek Language and Multilingualism
in Bibliotheke XVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Dylan James
Inscriptions and Writing in Diodoros? Bibliotheke . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Peter Liddel
Rhetoric and Speeches
Diodoros, the Speeches, and the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Dennis Pausch
The Road Not Taken: Diodoros? Reasons for Including the Speech
of Theodoros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Christopher Baron
Military History
Fate and Valour in Three Battle Descriptions of Diodoros . . . . 507
Joseph Roisman

The Moral Dimension of Military History in Diodoros of Sicily . 519
Nadejda Williams
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
Index Locorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Diodoros of Sicily : Historiographical Theory and Practice in the Bibliotheke

by: Hau, L.I. Meeus, A. Sheridan, B.

• ISBN-13: 9789042934986 / 978-90-429-3498-6
• ISBN-03: 9042934980 / 90-429-3498-0
• Peeters, Leuven, 2018