Carystius of Pergamum (Καρύστιος ὁ τῆς Περγάμου) was a Greek historian of the 2nd century BCE. His name indicates an origin from Pergamum, a major cultural center under the Attalid dynasty. No specific biographical details survive; his chronology is inferred from the content of his work and the authors who cite him [1]. He is known exclusively through fragments preserved by later writers.

His only known work is the Historical Notes (Ἱστορικὰ ὑπομνήματα / Historika hypomnēmata), which is now lost. It survives in fragments quoted by later authors, primarily Athenaeus of Naucratis [1][2]. These fragments indicate the work was a collection of anecdotes and biographical details concerning philosophers, poets, and other notable figures.

Carystius is a minor figure whose significance lies in his role as a source for later compilers. His fragments, preserved chiefly in Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistae, provide glimpses of otherwise lost information about Hellenistic intellectual figures [1][2]. He represents the Hellenistic tradition of compiling biographical and doxographical notes that served as material for subsequent ancient scholarship.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2013.01.0001:chapter=1:section=1a&highlight=carystius (Search for "Carystius" within Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae; fragments are cited in the text and notes). 2. ToposText (Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation): https://topostext.org/work/741 (Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae is the primary source for fragments of Carystius; the work entry lists Carystius as a source author).