the Persian Cyrus the Younger, whose cause they were supporting, at the battle of
Cunaxa in 401. His interest in the Persians is reflected in his pseudo-historical account
of the life of Cyrus the Great in his Cyropaedia.His practical support for the Persians
may have led to his exile from Athens. Alternatively, his exile may have been caused
by his later association with the Spartans. He became a friend of the Spartan king
Agesilaos and accompanied him on campaigns fighting against opponents that
included Athenians. A great admirer of the Spartan system his Constitution of the
Spartans is an important contemporary source. His exile was eventually lifted and he
spent the last years of his life in Athens. Probably his most important work is his
Hellenikabeginning where Thucydides left off in 411 and continuing down to the battle
of Mantinea in 462. Like Thucydides, therefore, he writes about his own times but
without the latter’s concentration, objectivity and penetrating interest in causes. His
Spartan bias tells against his reliability and from other sources it is apparent that he
was unduly selective in his accounts. His Oeconomicusis one of a number of other
works, which are important sources for aspects of Greek social and economic life.
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus was born in Sicily in the early years of the first century BC. He called his
history Bibliotheke, ‘Library of World History’, comprising forty books from earliest
times down to Julius Caesar’s Gallic War (54 BC). Books 11 to 17, covering the years
480–323, that is from the Persian Wars to the death of Alexander, have survived
entire. From a comparison of his work with surviving fragments of earlier historians,
it is apparent that he often reproduces his sources not merely in summary but in
substantially unaltered form. He is thought to have relied substantially on The History
of Greece composed by Ephorus of Cyme (c.405–330). Ephorus was a pro-Athenian
writer said to have been a pupil of the rhetorician Isocrates. The rhetorical school of
history might put more emphasis on a dramatic and emotionally involving narrative
at the expense of factual accuracy. Nevertheless, for the period from 411 onwards he
is a useful supplement to Xenophon and other sources down to the death of
Alexander.
Plutarch
The parallel lives of Plutarch AD46–120 have been popular works. Here is his
introduction to his life of Alexander the Great whom he paired with Julius Caesar:
My subject in this book is the life of Alexander, the king, and of Julius Caesar, the
conqueror of Pompey. The careers of these men embrace such a multitude of
events that my preamble shall consist of nothing more than this one plea: if I doHISTORY 43