Cassius Dio Cocceianus

Born in Nicaea in Bithynia in the 2nd century CE, Cassius Dio was a Roman statesman and historian of Greek language and culture. He built a distinguished public career under several emperors and is known to have held major offices, including the consulship, while also devoting years to historical writing.

His great work, usually called Roman History, originally covered roughly a millennium of Roman history, from the arrival of Aeneas in Italy to Dio’s own lifetime. Much of it survives only in part, but the portions that remain are among the most important sources for the late Republic and early Empire, including figures such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, and the emperors of the 2nd and early 3rd centuries.

What makes Dio especially compelling is the way he writes from both experience and distance: he was close enough to imperial government to understand how power worked, yet broad-minded enough to shape that knowledge into a sweeping historical narrative. For modern readers, he offers not just facts but a sharp sense of Roman politics, ambition, and instability.