Phylarchus

For the spider genus, see Euryopis.

Phylarchus (Greek: Φύλαρχoς, Phylarkhos; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Greek historical writer whose works have been lost, but not before having been considerably used by other historians whose works have survived.

Life

Phylarchus was a contemporary of Aratus, in the 3rd century BC. His birthplace is doubtful. In the Suda it is stated that three different cities are mentioned as his native place: Athens, Naucratis in Egypt, or Sicyon; Athenaeus calls him an Athenian or Naucratian. Respecting the date of Phylarchus there is less uncertainty. Polybius writes that Phylarchus was a contemporary of Aratus, and gave an account of the same events as the latter did in his history. Aratus died 213 BC, and his work ended at 220 BC, therefore placing Phylarchus at about 215 BC.

His influence

The credit of Phylarchus as an historian is vehemently attacked by Polybius, who charges him with falsifying history through his partiality to Cleomenes III, king of Sparta, and his hatred against Aratus and the Achaeans. The accusation of Polybius is repeated by Plutarch, but it comes with rather a bad grace from the latter writer, since there can be little doubt that his lives of Agis and Cleomenes are taken almost entirely from Phylarchus, to whom he is likewise indebted for the latter part of his life of Pyrrhus. The vivid and graphic style of Phylarchus was well suited to Plutarch's purpose. It has likewise been remarked that Pompeius Trogus took from Phylarchus that portion of his work which treated of the same times as were contained in the history of Phylarchus. That Plutarch and Trogus borrowed almost the very words of Phylarchus, appears from a comparison of Justin, xxviii. 4, with Plutarch's Cleomenenes, 29.

His style

The style of Phylarchus is strongly censured by Polybius, who blames him for writing history for the purpose of effect, and for seeking to harrow up the feelings of his readers by the narrative of deeds of violence and horror. This charge is to some extent supported by the fragments of his work; but whether he deserves all the reprehension which Polybius has bestowed upon him may well be questioned, since the unpoetical character of this great historian's mind would not enable him to feel much sympathy with a writer like Phylarchus, who seems to have possessed no small share of imagination and fancy. It would appear that the style of Phylarchus was too ambitious; it was oratorical, and perhaps declamatory; but at the same time it was lively and attractive, and brought the events of the history vividly before the reader's mind. He was, however, very negligent in the arrangement of his words, as Dionysius has remarked.

His known works

The following six works are attributed to Phylarchus by the Suda: —

• Histories (Iστoριαι), in 28 books, which were by far the most important of his writings. This work is thus described by the Suda: — "The expedition of Pyrrhus of Epirus against the Peloponnese in 28 books; and it comes down to Ptolemy who was called Euergetes, and to the end of Berenice, and as far as Cleomenes the Spartan, against whom Antigonus made war." When the Suda entitles it "the expedition of Pyrrhus, &c." he merely describes the first event in the work. The expedition of Pyrrhus into the Peloponnese was in 272 BC; the death of Cleomenes in 220 BC: the work therefore embraced a period of fifty-two years. From some of the fragments of the work which have been preserved, it has been conjectured by some writers that Phylarchus commenced at an earlier period, perhaps as early as the death of Alexander the Great. The work gave the history not only of Greece and Macedonia, but likewise of Aegypt, Cyrene, and the other states of the time; and in narrating the history of Greece, Phylarchus paid particular attention to that of Cleomenes and the Spartans.
• The story of Antiochus and Eumenes of Pergamum (Tα κατα τoν Aντιoχoν και τoν Περγαμηνoν Eυμενη), was probably a portion of the preceding work, since the war between the Attalid Eumenes I and the Seleucid Antiochus I Soter was hardly of sufficient importance to give rise to a separate history, and that between Eumenes II and Antiochus III the Great was subsequent to the time of Phylarchus.
• Epitome of myth on the apparition of Zeus, was one work, although cited by the Suda as two: the general title was Epitome mythike, and that of the first part Peri tes tou Dios epiphaneias.
• On discoveries, on which subject Ephorus and Philochorus also wrote.
• Digressions.
• Agrapha, not mentioned by the Suda, and only by the Scholiast on Aelius Aristides, was probably a work on the more abstruse points of mythology, of which no written account had ever been given.

References

• Polybius; Histories, Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (translator); London - New York, (1889)
• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Philarchus", Boston, (1867)

Notes

"Ibid" redirects here. For other uses, see Ibid (disambiguation).

An example of Ibid. citations in use, from "Justice" by Michael J. Sandel.

Ibid. is an abbreviation for the Latin word ibīdem, meaning "in the same place", commonly used in an endnote, footnote, bibliography citation, or scholarly reference to refer to the source cited in the preceding note or list item. This is similar to Idem, literally meaning "the same", abbreviated id., which is commonly used in legal citation.

Ibid. may also be used in the Chicago (name-date) system for in-text references where there has been a close previous citation from the same source material. The previous reference should be immediately visible, e.g. within the same paragraph or page.

Some academic publishers now prefer that "ibid." not be italicised, as it is a commonly found term. Usage differs from style or citation guides as to whether ibid should be suffixed with a full stop. For example, Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities omits full stops and does not capitalise, while the Economist Style guide uses a lower case starting letter with ending full stop.

Example

[1] E. Vijh, Latin for Dummies (New York: Academic, 1997), 23.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., 29.

[4] A. Alhazred, The Necronomicon (Petrus de Dacia, 1994).

[5] Ibid. 1, 34.

Reference 2 is the same as reference 1: E. Vijh, Latin for Dummies on page 23, whereas reference 3 refers to the same work but at a different location, namely page 29. Intervening entries require a reference to the original citation in the form Ibid. <citation #>, as in reference 5.

Cultural references

• Ibid. is used in the 1960s play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. Albee uses an unabbreviated ibid in his stage directions to tell an actor to use the same tone as the previous line.
• In the 1989 book Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, one of the Ephebian philosophers is called "Ibid".
• In the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, the main character, Will Hunting, when arguing for himself in court against the dismissive rebuttals of the prosecuting attorney, cites obscure case law, then follows up by stating "Ibid, your Honor."

See also

• Ditto mark
• Em dash
• Loc. cit.
• Op. cit.
• Supra (grammar)
• List of Latin abbreviations

External links

• Ibid. on Dictionary.com
• Introduction to bibliographies and citation styles

References

This article includes text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please add to the article as needed.

• Template:SmithDGRBM

External links

• Phylarchus:Fragments English translation at attalus.org