Quintus Curtius Rufus

Timothy Howe (Saint Olaf College)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (The American University of Paris)

Dates

Born c. 30
Died c. 90
Activity c. 40-c. 80

Places

Born in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)
Active in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)

Activities

Primary

Historian / Chronicler

Resources

Life and Times

Establishing the dates for Quintus Curtius Rufus is no easy task since the first two books of his only surviving work, The Histories of Alexander, where we would expect autobiographical information, are missing. Also lacking are direct references in the Histories to the Roman world of the author’s own time—the closest is in Book 10 (10.9.1-6), where Curtius leverages Alexander’s death to present a eulogy for a new Roman emperor, who has either averted, or put a swift end to, recent civil war. This eulogy in Book 10 has caused scholars to place Curius in a number of historical contexts: the reign of Tiberius (Devine 1979), Nero (Verdiere), Galba (Milns 1966), Titus (Barzano 1985), Trajan (…

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1115 words

Citation: Howe, Timothy. "Quintus Curtius Rufus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 February 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13007, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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