Fabius Pictor the Historian (Φαβίος Πίκτωρ ὁ ἱστορικός)

Life Quintus Fabius Pictor was a Roman senator and the earliest known Roman historian. A member of the patrician gens Fabia, he served during the Second Punic War and, after the Battle of Cannae in 216 BCE, was part of a delegation sent to consult the Oracle at Delphi [1][2].

Works He composed a history of Rome in Greek prose, titled Ἱστορίαι (Historiai) or Πρᾶξεις (Praxeis) [1][2]. The work, now lost and surviving only in fragments, covered from Rome’s origins through the Second Punic War and is considered the first prose history of Rome by a Roman.

Significance Fabius Pictor holds a foundational position in Roman historiography. His decision to write in Greek aimed to justify Roman actions to a Hellenistic audience, adapting Greek historiographical models for Roman self-presentation [1]. He established an annalistic structure followed by later historians and served as a key, if biased, source for authors like Polybius [1][2].

Sources 1. Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Quintus-Fabius-Pictor 2. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2617