Timaeus (c. 345 BC – 250 BC), historian

Timaeus (ca. 345 BC – ca. 250 BC, Greek Τιμαῖος), ancient Greek historian, was born at Tauromenium in Sicily. Driven out of Sicily by Agathocles, he migrated to Athens, where he studied rhetoric under a pupil of Isocrates and lived for fifty years. During the reign of Hiero II he returned to Sicily (probably to Siracusa), where he died.

While at Athens he completed his great historical work, The Histories, probably some 40 books. This work was divided into unequal sections, containing the history of Greece from its earliest days till the first Punic war. The Histories treated the history of Italy and Sicily in early times, of Sicily alone, and of Sicily and Greece together.

Timaeus devoted much attention to chronology, and introduced the system of reckoning by Olympiads. In order to plot chronologies, he employed names of Archons of Athens, names of Ephors of Sparta, names of winners of the stadion race, etc. This system, although not adopted in everyday life, was afterwards generally used by the Greek historians.

Timaeus recognized in his work the importance of Rome, which was gaining power.

Very few parts of the elaborate work of this historian were preserved after Antiquity:

• some fragments of the 38th book of the Histories (the life of Agathocles);
• A reworking of the last part of his Histories, On Pyrrhus, treating the life of this king of Epirus until 264 BC;
• History of the cities and kings of Syria (unless the text of the Suda is corrupt);
• The chronological sketch (The victors at Olympia) perhaps formed an appendix to the larger work.

Timaeus‘ work was however well spread in antiquity, as many ancient historians and other writers refer to it, and/or based their work on his writings.

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