Ctesias

Ctesias (/ˈtiːʒəs/; Ancient Greek: Κτησίας, Ktēsíās, 5th century BC), also known as Ctesias the Cnidian or Ctesias of Cnidus, was a Greek physician and historian from the town of Cnidus in Caria, when Caria was part of the Achaemenid Empire.

For the beetle genus, see Ctesias (beetle).

Historical events
Ctesias was on the Achaemenid side, attending to Artaxerxes II, at the Battle of Cunaxa (401 BC), Jean Adrien Guignet

Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger. Ctesias was part of the entourage of King Artaxerxes at the Battle of Cunaxa (401 BC) against Cyrus the Younger and his Greek mercenaries called the Ten Thousand, and brought medical assistance to the king by treating his flesh wound.[1] He reportedly was involved in negotiations with the Greeks after the battle, and also helped their Spartan general Clearchus before his execution at the royal court at Babylon.[2]

Ctesias was the author of treatises on rivers, and on the Persian revenues, of an account of India entitled Indica (Ἰνδικά), and of a history of Assyria and Persia in 23 books, called Persica (Περσικά), written in opposition to Herodotus in the Ionic dialect, and professedly founded on the Persian Royal Archives.

Persica

The first six books covered the history of Assyria and Babylon to the foundation of the Persian empire; the remaining 17 went down to 398 BC. Of the two histories, abridgments by Photius and fragments are preserved in Athenaeus, Plutarch, Nicolaus of Damascus, and especially Diodorus Siculus, whose second book is mainly from Ctesias. As to the worth of the Persica, much controversy occurred, both in ancient and modern times. Although many ancient authorities valued it highly, and used it to discredit Herodotus, a modern author writes, "(Ctesias's) unreliability makes Herodotus seem a model of accuracy."[3] Ctesias's account of the Assyrian kings does not reconcile with the cuneiform evidence. The satirist Lucian thought so little of Ctesias' historical reliability that in his satirical True Story he places Ctesias on the island where the evil were punished. Lucian wrote, "The people who suffered the greatest torment were those who had told lies when they were alive and written mendacious histories; among them were Ctesias of Cnidus, Herodotus, and many others."[4]

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Ctesias mentioned that Darius I's grave at Persepolis was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.[5]

Indica
Main article: Indica (Ctesias)
Some absurd claims form part of Indica, such as the stories of a race of people with only one leg, or with feet so big they could be used as an umbrella

A record of the view that the Persians held of India, under the title Indica, it includes descriptions of god-like people, philosophers, artisans, and unquantifiable gold, among other riches and wonders.[6] It is of value as it records the beliefs of the Persians about India. The book only remains in fragments and in reports made about the book by later authors.

References
  1. "The first certain event related to Ctesias is his medical assistance to the king during the battle of Cunaxa and his treatment of his flesh wound (Plut. Art. 11.3) in 401 BCE" in Dąbrowa, Edward (2014). The Greek World in the 4th and 3rd Centuries BC: Electrum vol. 19. Wydawnictwo UJ. p. 13. ISBN 9788323388197.
  2. Dąbrowa, Edward (2014). The Greek World in the 4th and 3rd Centuries BC: Electrum vol. 19. Wydawnictwo UJ. pp. 13–14. ISBN 9788323388197.
  3. Burn A.R. Persia and the Greeks. Duckworth. London. 1984. As quoted by Peter Frederick Barker, FROM THE SCAMANDER TO SYRACUSE. STUDIES IN ANCIENT LOGISTICS, page 9, chapter 1. http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1740/00dissertation.pdf?sequence=2
  4. Lucian, A True Story, 2.31
  5. "Persepolis". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  6. Lavers, Chris (2009). The Natural History of Unicorns. New York, NY: Morrow. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-06-087414-8.

Further reading
  • Ed., trad. et commentaire par Dominique Lenfant, Ctésias de Cnide. La Perse. L'Inde. Autres fragments, Collection Budé, Belles Lettres, Paris, 2004 (ISBN 2251005188).
  • Schmitt, Rüdiger (1993). "CTESIAS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VI, Fasc. 4. pp. 441–446.
  • Jan P. Stronk: Ctesias' Persian History. Part I: Introduction, Text, and Translation, Wellem Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2010 (ISBN 9783941820012).
  • Andrew G. Nichols, Ctesias: On India. Translation and Commentary, Duckworth, 2011, ISBN 1-85399-742-0
  • Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson, Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient, Oxford, 2010 (ISBN 9780415364119).
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