or Lucianos Latin Lucianus
born с AD 120, Samosata, Commagene, Syria
died after 180, Athens
Ancient Greek rhetorician, pamphleteer, and satirist.
As a young man he acquired a Greek literary education while traveling through western Asia Minor. He became a public speaker before turning to writing essays. His works, outstanding for their mordant wit, are a sophisticated critique of the shams and follies of the literature, philosophy, and intellectual life of his day. In such works as Charon , Dialogues of the Dead , True History , and Nigrinus , he satirized nearly every aspect of human behaviour. His best work of literary criticism is How to Write History .