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Aspasius of Byblos

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Aspasius (Ancient Greek: Ἀσπάσιος) of Byblos was a sophist of Ancient Greece who according to the Suda was a contemporary of the sophists Adrianus and Aelius Aristides, and who consequently lived in the reign of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, around 180 CE.[1] He was a pupil of Apsines (this was the 2nd-century Athenian sophist Apsines, and not Apsines of Gadara or the 4th century sophist Apsines).[2]

He is mentioned among the commentators on Demosthenes and Aeschines; and in the Suda several other works are ascribed to him, including works on Byblos (one of the rare Greek-written histories of the Phoenicians), meditations, rhetoric, declamations, an encomium on the emperor Hadrian, and some other writings. All of these are lost, with the exception of a few extracts from his commentaries.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Some scholars have suggested that some works previously ascribed to Apsines were actually the works of this person. He may also be the same person as Aspasius of Tyre.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Suda, s.v. Ἀσπάσιος
  2. ^ a b Heath, Malcolm (2004). Menander: A Rhetor in Context. Oxford University Press. pp. 56–60. ISBN 9780199259205.
  3. ^ Ulpian, Scholia on Demosthenes "Against Leptines" p. 11
  4. ^ Photios I of Constantinople, Bibliotheca p. 492a., ed. Bekk.
  5. ^ Scholia on Hermogenes p. 260, &c.
  6. ^ Scholia on Aeschines "Against Timarchus" p. 105
  7. ^ Schmitz, Philip C. (2022). "Research Tools". In Brian R., Doak; Carolina, López-Ruiz (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780197654422.
  8. ^ Finley, M.I. (2013). Studies in Ancient Society. Routledge Revivals. Taylor & Francis. p. 181. ISBN 9781136505645.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSchmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Aspasius (1)". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 387.