Autocrates the Historian (Αὐτοκράτης ὁ Ἱστορικός) was a Hellenistic author of the 3rd–2nd century BCE. His existence is attested solely by a single citation in Athenaeus of Naucratis, who references his work on Thessaly [1][2]. No biographical details survive.

His only known work is the Thessalica (Θεσσαλικά), a lost regional history of Thessaly. A single fragment from this text is preserved in Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistae.

Autocrates represents the prolific tradition of local historians (horographoi) in the Hellenistic period. His significance lies entirely in his status as a fragmentary author, providing a minor example of the vast body of lost regional historical literature from this era.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0002%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D78 2. ToposText (Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation): https://topostext.org/work/206#9.402