Editing Agathias (section)

== Biography ==
Agathias was a native of [[Myrina (Mysia)]], an Aeolian city in western [[Asia Minor]]. His father was Memnonius. His mother was presumably Pericleia. A brother of Agathias is mentioned in primary sources, but his name has not survived. Their probable sister Eugenia is known by name. The ''[[Suda]]'' clarifies that Agathias was active in the reign of the Roman emperor [[Justinian I]], mentioning him as a contemporary of [[Paul the Silentiary]], [[Macedonius of Thessalonica]] and [[Tribonian]].<ref>[[Suda]] s.lem. Agathias (Alpha, 112: Ἀγαθίας)</ref>

Agathias mentions being present in [[Alexandria]] as a law student at the time when an earthquake destroyed Berytus ([[Beirut]]).<ref name="PLRE"/> The [[law school of Berytus]] had been recognized as one of the three official law schools of the empire (533). Within a few years, as the result of the [[551 Beirut earthquake|disastrous earthquake of 551]],<ref name=LebEmbU.S.>[http://www.lebanonembassyus.org/country_lebanon/history.html Profile of Lebanon: History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128123851/http://www.lebanonembassyus.org/country_lebanon/history.html |date=January 28, 2011 }} Lebanese Embassy of the U.S.</ref><ref name=DTBcom>[http://www.downtownbeirut.com/AboutBeirut.html About Beirut and Downtown Beirut], DownTownBeirut.com. Retrieved November 17, 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/History-of-Phoenicia7/#p2 History of Phoenicia], fulltextarchive.com. Retrieved November 17, 2007.</ref> the students were transferred to [[Sidon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ikamalebanon.com/national_heritage/south_nh/sth_cities_nh/saida.htm |title=Saida (Sidon) |publisher=Ikamalebanon.com |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628084129/http://www.ikamalebanon.com/national_heritage/south_nh/sth_cities_nh/saida.htm |archive-date=2009-06-28 }}</ref> The dating of the event to 551: as a law student, Agathias could be in his early twenties, which would place his birth to {{circa|lk=no|530}}.<ref name="PLRE"/>

He mentions leaving Alexandria for [[Constantinople]] shortly following the earthquake. Agathias visited the island of [[Kos]], where "he witnessed the devastation caused by the earthquake". At the fourth year of his legal studies, Agathias and fellow students Aemilianus, John and Rufinus are mentioned making a joint offering to [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] the [[Archangel]] at Sosthenium, where they prayed for a "prosperous future".<ref name="PLRE"/>

He returned to [[Constantinople]] in 554 to finish his training, and practised as an [[advocatus]] (''scholasticus'') in the courts. [[John of Epiphania]] reports that Agathias practiced his profession in the capital. [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] and [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos]] describe Agathias as a [[Rhetoric|rhetor]] ("public speaker"). The ''Suda'' and a passage of [[John of Nikiû]] call him "Agathias the scholastic".<ref name="PLRE"/><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2392385 Perseus.Tufts.edu], Rhetor, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus</ref> He is known to have served as pater civitatis ("Father of the City", effectively a [[Roman Magistrates|magistrate]]) of [[Smyrna]]. He is credited with constructing public [[latrine]]s for the city. While Agathias mentions these buildings, he fails to mention his own role in constructing them.<ref name="PLRE"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1989/079pdf/079103.pdf|format=PDF|first=H.S. |last=Sivan|title=Town, country and province in Late Roman Gaul|year=1989|website=uni-koeln.de}}</ref>

Myrina is known to have erected statues to honor Agathias, his father Memnonius, and Agathias' unnamed brother. He seems to have been known to his contemporaries more as an advocatus and a poet. There are few mentions of Agathias as a historian.<ref name="PLRE"/>

Few details survive of his personal life – mainly in his extant poems. One of them tells the story of his pet cat eating his [[partridge]]. Another (Gr.Anth. 7.220) responds to his seeing the tomb of the courtesan [[Lais of Corinth]], implying a visit to that city, which he refers to using the poetic name Ephyra. No full account of his life survives.<ref name="PLRE"/>