Appian (Appianus) was a Greek official of Alexandria. He saw the Jewish rebellion of 116 CE, and later became a Roman citizen and advocate and received the rank of eques (knight). In his older years he held a procuratorship. He died during the reign of Antoninus Pius who was emperor 138–161 CE. Honest admirer of the Roman empire though ignorant of the institutions of the earlier Roman republic, he wrote, in the simple ’common’ dialect, 24 books of ’Roman affairs’, in fact conquests, from the beginnings to the times of Trajan (emperor 98–117 CE). Eleven have come down to us complete, or nearly so, namely those on the Spanish, Hannibalic, Punic, Illyrian, Syrian, and Mithridatic wars, and five books on the Civil Wars. They are valuable records of military history.

Loeb Classical Library 3

Appian’s history of the rise of Rome is a record of expansion and conquests. In his animated narrative the historian--a Greek from Alexandria--often shows us events from the point of view of the conquered peoples. His accounts of the Spanish, Hannibalic, Punic, Illyrian, Syrian, and Mithradatic wars are in Volumes I and II.