Menesthenes the Historian (Μενεσθένης ὁ ἱστορικός)

Life Menesthenes was an Athenian historian of the 4th century BCE. He is known only from brief references in later Byzantine sources, which identify him solely as a historian who wrote about Alexander the Great. No further biographical details survive.

Works His sole known work is a history of Alexander the Great, now lost. It survives only in fragments, including a citation for the foundation of a city named Bouthoe in Illyria [1] and a quotation noting the Kabul River was 100 stades wide at its mouth [2].

Significance Menesthenes is a minor figure among the lost early historians of Alexander. His fragments, preserving specific geographical details, indicate his work contributed to the Alexander historiographical tradition and was used by later grammarians and compilers.

Sources 1. Suda and Etymologicum Magnum references (ToposText): https://topostext.org/people/1200 2. Fragment in Priscian (Perseus Digital Library): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0020:book=6:chapter=13&highlight=Menesthenes