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Search - List of Books by Quintus Curtius Rufus

Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, writing probably during the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) or Vespasian. His only surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni, is a biography of Alexander the Great in Latin in ten books, of which the first two are lost, and the remaining eight are incomplete. His work is fluidly written, where while smattering study shows ignorance of geography, chronology and technical military knowledge at first, detailed study reveals focusing instead on character and protest against Emperors of his times he considered tyrants.

As demonstrated by the quote below, he was a man who not only fought against tyrants but also for greater peace and understanding among nations.

"Holy shadows of the dead, I’m not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and brother people, to fight one another. I do not feel happy for this victory of mine. On the contrary, I would be glad, brothers, if I had all of you standing here next to me, since we are united by the same language, the same blood and the same visions."

(Addressing the dead Greeks of the Battle of Chaeronea, as quoted in “Historiae Alexandri Magni”, 6.3.11)

Historical Value of His Work   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Quintus Curtius Rufus", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 56
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