ARRIA'NUS, FLAVIITS, a native of Nicomedia, in Bithynia, b. about 100 A.D. He became a disciple of Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, and, tinder his instructions, a warm advocate of that system. On bringing before the public the earliest products of his pen, the learned men of Athens were highly pleased with them, and honored him with the freedom of their city. 'A. had chosen Xenophon as his model of composition, and hence the Athenians called him the young Xenophon. In 124 A.D., he was introduced to the emperor Hadrian in Greece, who conferred on him the freedom of the eternal city. He was appointed prefect of Cappadocia in the year 136. Under Antoninus Pius, the suc cessor of Hadrian, he was promoted to the consulship. But some four years afterwards, lie appears to have retired from public life, and devoted himself to literature in his native place. As the pupil and friend of Epictetus, he edited the manual of ethics (Eneheiridion) left by his master, and wrote the Lectures of Epictetus, in 8 books, of which only 4 have been preserved—to be had in Schweighauser's Philosophim Epicteteas 2fonumenta, vol. iii. (Paris, 1827). He wrote also The Conversations of Epictetus, a work which has been lost, except a flaw fragments. The most important work by A. is the
Anabasis of Alexander, or History of the Campaigns of Alexander the Great, which has come down to us entire, all but a gap in the 12th chapter of the 7th book. This book is our chief authority on the subject of which it treats, and is a work of great value. In close connection with it, A. wrote his Indian History, giving an account of the people of India. Other writings by his letter to Hadrian on A Voyage round the Coasts of the Fuxin Sea, and another, A Voyage round the Coasts of the Red Sea, are valuable with regard to ancient geography. There is still another work by our author—a treatise on the chase (.1)jnegetieos)—in which, as well as in the Anabasis, he has imitated Xenophon.
A. was one of the best writers of his day. His works bear the marks of care, hon esty, and correctness; and they were numerous, though several have not been handed down to our time. All that we are possessed of appear to have had translations into Latin. There is a good French translation of the Anuixesis by Chaussard, with commentary, 3 vols. (1802), and also a good one of the Leetures of Epictetus by Thurot (1838). The best critical edition of A. is that by Muller (Paris, 1846).