Pompeius Trogus

A contemporary of Livy , author of the first Roman general history. He was of Gallic origin; his grandfather received the Roman citizenship from Pompeius in the Sertorian War, and his father served under Caesar, and discharged at the same time the offices of a secretary, an ambassador, and a keeper of the seals. His extensive work in forty-four books was drawn from Greek sources, and was a universal history entitled Historiae Philippicae, because the history of the various peoples was grouped round the Macedonian Empire founded by Philip; it began with Ninus, and reached down to his own time. With the historical narrative there were interwoven interesting descriptions relating to geography, ethnography, and natural science; and he is said to have also composed zoölogical and botanical works, derived largely from Aristotle and Theophrastus. Of the histories we now possess only lists of the contents of the several books (called the prologi) and the epitome of Iustinus. See Crohn, De Trogi apud Antiquos Auctoritate (Strassburg, 1882); and the article Iustinus.