Dexippus of Athens (Δέξιππος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος)

Life Publius Herennius Dexippus was a 3rd-century CE Athenian historian, statesman, and military commander from a prominent family [1]. He held high civic and religious offices in Athens and is famed for organizing a local defense force that harassed and helped repel a Herulian invasion around 267/268 CE [1][2][3]. His career and writings responded directly to the Roman Empire's profound military and political crises of this period.

Works His major work, the Scythica (or History of the Scythian Wars), was a history in at least twelve books covering from Alexander the Great's death to the Gothic and Herulian invasions of the 260s CE; substantial fragments survive [1][2][4]. He also composed a universal Chronicle and a chronological Syntagma, both now lost except for minor references [1][2].

Significance Dexippus is a pivotal, contemporary source for the 3rd-century Gothic Wars. His classicizing, Thucydidean style marks him as the last major historian in the classical Greek tradition before the Byzantine era, providing crucial insight into how a Greek aristocrat perceived the empire's fragmentation [1][2][4].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford University): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dexippus/ 2. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics (Oxford University Press): https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2162 3. World History Encyclopedia: https://www.worldhistory.org/Herulian/ 4. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0611%3Asection%3D1