TIMAEUS

born c. 356 BC, , Tauromenium, Sicily died c. 260 Greek historian whose writings shaped the tradition of western Mediterranean history. Expelled from Sicily by Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, Timaeus went to Athens, where he studied rhetoric under Isocrates' pupil Philiscus and passed 50 years of his life. Whether he ever returned home is uncertain. The 38 books of his History covered events up to Agathocles' death in 289, but a separate work on Pyrrhus of Epirus seems to have extended the historical treatment to the Roman crossing into Sicily in 264. Books 15 contained the early history of Italy and Sicily, books 633 the history of Sicily from the foundation of the Greek colonies to Agathocles' accession, with digressions sometimes touching on Greece, and books 3438 form a separate account of Agathocles. The Olympionikai (Victors at Olympia) was probably a chronological study. Timaeus was bitterly attacked by later historians, especially Polybius. Some of his faults, such as the composition of artificial rhetorical speeches, are common to the historiography of the age; but a somewhat naive attitude toward marvels reflects a genuine feeling for folklore. He was spiteful to those he disliked, such as Dionysius and Agathocles, and he exaggerated the virtues of the Corinthian general Timoleon. Above all, he showed the faults of the armchair historian. But his interests were wide; he was assiduous in assembling material, including inscriptions; and Polybius' charge of ignorance and willful dishonesty is unjust. Timaeus' system of reckoning by Olympiads furnished a valuable chronological tool for his successors, including Polybius. He also employed a pleasing Asiatic style, of which Cicero approved.