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:''For the grammarian, see Aelius Herodianus. For the dynasty, see Herodian Dynasty. For the saint numbered among the Seventy Disciples, see Herodion of Patras.'' Herodian or Herodianus ((ギリシア語:Ἡρωδιανός)) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς μετὰ Μάρκον βασιλείας ἱστορία) in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is more useful than that of Cassius Dio. He was a Greek (perhaps from Antioch) who appears to have lived for a considerable period of time in Rome, but possibly without holding any public office. From his extant work, we gather that he was still living at an advanced age during the reign of Gordianus III, who ascended the throne in 238. Beyond this, nothing is known of his life. Herodian writes (i.1.§ 3, ii.15.§ 7) that the events described in his history occurred during his lifetime. Photius (Codex 99) gives an outline of the contents of this work and passes a flattering encomium on the style of Herodian, which he describes as clear, vigorous, agreeable, and preserving a happy medium between an utter disregard of art and elegance and a profuse employment of the artifices and prettinesses which were known under the name of Atticism, as well as between boldness and bombast. He appears to have used Thucydides as a model to some extent, both for style and for the general composition of his work, often introducing speeches wholly or in part imaginary. In spite of occasional inaccuracies in chronology and geography, his narrative is in the main truthful and impartial. However, some charge him with showing too great a partiality for Pertinax. ==Birth, life, and death== The dates of the birth and death of Herodian are unknown. All available information concerning his life is derived from what he himself wrote, so the evidence is scarce. One can assume that he must have reached the age of ten by the year 180 due to the attentive detail in his descriptions of the events of that time. One notion is that Herodian must have finished writing around 240, which would have made him about 70. He mentions, “My aim is to write a systematic account of the events within a period of seventy years, covering the reigns of several emperors, of which I have personal experience.” (2.15.7) This reaffirms the notion that Herodian was about 70 years of age when this was written and that the actions did indeed occur during his lifetime. However, it is possible that his history was composed at a later date. Herodian’s descriptions of Gordian III are less than flattering, and it is doubtful that he released such a negative review of a current emperor. Following this logic, his history was finished in 244 at the earliest, when Gordian III died. In his first and third books, Herodian mentions the games of Commodus in 192, and the Secular Games of Septimius Severus in 204. If Herodian did attend the games of Commodus, he must have been at least 14 at the time, which is to say that he was born in 178 at the latest. The nationality of Herodian is also unclear. He was not from Italy, for he says the Alps were bigger than anything “in our part of the world.” (2.11.8) It has been suggested that Herodian was from Alexandria since he placed such a large emphasis on Caracalla's massacre of this city and its inhabitants. It is also believed that he could have possibly been an eyewitness to these attacks. Herodian does refer to Alexandria as the second city of the empire; however, this may be disregarded since he also applies the same title to Antioch and Carthage. It has been proposed that the Herodian was the son of Aelius Herodianus, an Alexandrian grammarian. However while this does fit chronologically, there is no other evidence to support it. The popular speculation, however, is that Herodian was from Antioch. Herodian describes the character of the Syrians as quick-witted and mentions them twice more. However, there are also gaps in Herodian's knowledge of Syrian affairs which lead one to believe that he might not have been from the region at all. For example, he confuses two Parthian kings, and his chronology and geography of the Parthian campaign in 197–198 are deeply flawed. These flaws could be mended due to a lack of knowledge of a small part of the empire; however one would assume that an inhabitant of Syria would have had access to this knowledge. In short, unless an inscription is discovered, Herodian’s place of birth will never be known for certain. 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「Herodian」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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