Title(s):
- On the patria of Alexandria
- Περὶ τῶν πατρίων ᾽Αλεξανδρείας(Peri tōn patriōn Alexandreias, On the patria of Alexandria)
Period covered:
Distant past of Alexandria
Language:
Greek
State of Preservation:
Fragmentary
Genre:
- Secular history (patria)
Remarks:
The only reference to the Patria of Horapollon comes from Photius, Bibliotheca codex 279, and the identification of its author is far from clear. The Suda mentions two different namesakes: the first is a grammarian who lived under the reign of Theodosius, without clarifying which Theodosius is meant); the second is a Neo-Platonist philosopher contemporary to the emperor Zeno (Suda ω 159). According to the testimony of P. Cairo Masp. III 67295 and of the Life of Isidore by Damascius, the elder Horapollon was the grandfather of the younger (Maspero 1914: 176-181). Some scholars (Caprara 1998: 8, 22-23; Janiszewski 2006: 321-322; Focanti 2018) have attributed the Patria of Alexandria to the elder grammarian, others (Maspero 1918: 177; Cameron 1965: 492; PLRE I, 570; BNJ 630 T 3) to the younger. The Suda's mention of the elder Horapollon raises another problem, for it does not specify under which emperor the grammarian worked. Following Jacoby, Cameron (1965: 488) dates him to the reign of Theodosius I, whereas Maspero (1914: 176), Rémondon (1952: 64), Caprara (1998: 20-23), and Masson (1992: 231-235) think of Theodosius II. On balance, the likeliest solution to this conundrum is that the work was composed by the Elder Horapollon (Focanti 2018).
As Janiszewski (2006: 323-324) points out, there is no evidence to relate a passage of John Malalas concerning οἱ δὲ ἐκθέμενοι τὰ πάτρια Ἀλεξανδρείας τῆς μεγάλης ('those who wrote about the local history of Alexandria': cf. Chronicle 9.10, p. 167 Thurn) to the patria of Horapollon.
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