author
Siculus Diodorus
Best known for a sweeping history of the ancient world, this Sicilian writer tried to gather myth, legend, and recorded events into one vast narrative. His work remains one of the most useful surviving windows into Greek, Egyptian, and Roman traditions.
1 Audiobook
Arguments of Celsus, Porphyry, and the Emperor Julian, Against the Christians Also Extracts from Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and Tacitus, Relating to the Jews, Together with an Appendix
by active 180 Celsus (Platonic philosopher), Siculus Diodorus, Flavius Josephus, Emperor of Rome Julian, Porphyry, Cornelius Tacitus
About the author
A Greek historian from Agyrium in Sicily, Diodorus Siculus was active in the 1st century BCE. Ancient sources and standard reference works describe him as the author of the Bibliotheca historica (Library of History), an ambitious universal history in 40 books that traced the story of the world from mythic times down to his own era.
He appears to have traveled widely while gathering material, including time spent in Egypt and Rome. That broad curiosity shows in his writing: instead of focusing on just one city or war, he tried to bring together geography, legend, politics, and cultural history from many parts of the Mediterranean world.
Although not all 40 books survive, large sections do, and they are still valuable because they preserve traditions and earlier sources that might otherwise have been lost. For modern readers, Diodorus is especially appealing as a compiler with a grand plan: to make the past readable as one connected human story.