Cleitarchus the Historian (Κλείταρχος ὁ ἱστορικός)

Life Cleitarchus was a Greek historian of the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE, the son of the Persian historian Deinon [1]. His floruit is placed around 310 BCE [1]. He is associated with Alexandria in Egypt, where he taught and likely composed his work [1][2].

Works His major work was the History of Alexander (also On Alexander or Ta peri Alexandron), a multi-volume account of Alexander the Great's campaigns. The work is now lost, surviving only in fragments and testimonia cited by later authors [1][2][3].

Significance Cleitarchus’s history was immensely popular in antiquity and formed a core source for the "Vulgate" tradition of Alexander historiography used by Diodorus Siculus, Curtius Rufus, and Justin [1][2]. Though later historians like Arrian criticized its sensational and rhetorically embellished style, its vivid, dramatic narrative focusing on the exotic and marvelous was instrumental in shaping the legendary image of Alexander for subsequent centuries [1][2].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alexander-the-great/#HistSour 2. Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cleitarchus 3. Perseus Digital Library, Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dcleitarchus-bio-1