eul_wid: mnu-aa
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20335421 PDFMarkdown

Fragments on History by Metrodorus of Scepsis

The Fragments on History attributed to Metrodorus of Scepsis constitute a collection of citations from his lost historical works. Metrodorus, a historian and philosopher of the first century BCE, composed prose accounts that were later utilized by ancient authors. His writings survive only through quotations, primarily in the geographer Strabo and the biographer Plutarch, who referenced him for information on the history and geography of Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, particularly concerning the Mithridatic Wars. The surviving fragments indicate his work encompassed historical ethnography, such as descriptions of the customs of peoples like the Tibareni, political history including accounts of figures like the Roman general Gaius Marius, and court history featuring anecdotes from the court of his patron, King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Metrodorus’s works are entirely lost, with no independent manuscript tradition; their transmission depends entirely on these later excerpting authors. He served as a source for subsequent historians due to his detailed knowledge and proximity to the events of the Mithridatic Wars. His principal value lies in providing a perspective from within the Pontic sphere of influence, though the loss of his original texts precludes a full assessment of his historiographical method and impact.

ΤΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΙΓΡΑΝΗΝ.

Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Ῥοδίου Σχόλια : Μητρόδωρος ἐν πρώτῳ τῶν Περὶ Τιγράνην τὸν Θερμώδοντα Ἀράξην φησὶ λέγεσθαι.

ΠΕΡΙ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ.

Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Ῥοδίου Σχόλια : Περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ πυρὸς ἀναφυσήματα γίνεται, ὥστε καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν θερμαίνεσθαι, ὥς φησι καὶ Μητρόδωρος ἐν πρώτῳ Περὶ ἱστορίας.

Στέφανος ὁ Βυζάντιος : Ὕπανις, ποταμὸς καὶ πόλις μεταξὺ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ τῆς Μαιώτιδος λίμνης ... Μητρόδωρος δʼ ἐν τετάρτῳ καὶ κρήνην τινὰ πικρὰν ἐς αὐτὸν ἐγχεῖσθαι καὶ ἄποτον ποιεῖν τὸν ποταμόν.

Στράβων : Ὁ Σκήψιος Μητρόδωρος καὶ Ὑψικράτης, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ ἄπειροι τῶν τόπων γεγονότες Γαργαρεῦσιν ὁμόρους αὐτάς φασιν οἰκεῖν ἐν ταῖς ὑπωρείαις ταῖς πρὸς ἄρκτον τῶν Καυκασίων ὀρῶν, ἃ καλεῖται Κεραύνια.

Τζέτζης : Κύμη καὶ Ὄσσα, ὄρη Ἰταλίας μέγιστα, ὥς φησι Μητρόδωρος.

ΠΕΡΙ ΣΥΝΗΘΕΙΑΣ.

Στράβων : Κροκούττας δʼ ἐστὶ μίγμα λύκου καὶ κυνὸς, ὥς φησιν οὗτος ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος. Ἃ δʼ ὁ Σκήψιος λέγει Μητρόδωρος ἐν τῷ Περὶ συνηθείας μύθοις ἔοικε, καὶ οὐ φροντιστέον αὐτῶν.

Ἀθήναιος : Καὶ Μητρόδωρος δʼ ἐν τῷ Περὶ συνηθείας ἀντορχουμένους φησὶν ἁλίσκεσθαι τοὺς σκῶπας.

ΠΕΡΙ ΑΛΕΙΠΤΙΚΗΣ.

Ἀθήναιος : Μητρόδωρος ὁ Σκήψιος ἐν βʹ Περὶ ἀλειπτικῆς Ἱππώνακτα τὸν ποιητὴν οὐ μόνον μικρὸν γενέσθαι τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ λεπτόν· ἀκρότονον δʼ οὕτως, ὡς πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ κενὴν λήκυθον βάλλειν μέγιστόν τι διάστημα, τῶν ἐλαφρῶν σωμάτων διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν ἀέρα τέμνειν, οὐκ ἐχόντων βιαίαν τὴν φοράν.