Editing Ctesias

{{Short description|Fifth century BC Greek physician and historian}}
{{For|the genus|Ctesias (beetle)}}
'''Ctesias''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|iː|ʒ|ə|s}} {{respell|TEE|zhəs}}; {{langx|grc|Κτησίᾱς|Ktēsíās}}; {{fl.|5th century BC}}), also known as '''Ctesias of Cnidus''', was a [[Hellenic civilization|Greek]] [[physician]] and [[historian]] from the town of [[Cnidus]] in [[Caria]], then part of the [[Achaemenid Empire]].

==Historical events==
[[File:Adrien Guignet - Retreat of the ten thousand.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Ctesias attended to [[Artaxerxes II]] at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]] in 401 BC (depiction of the battle by Jean Adrien Guignet)]]
Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Achaemenid king, [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]], whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother [[Cyrus the Younger]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Ctesias|volume=7|page=594}}</ref> Ctesias was part of the entourage of King Artaxerxes at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]] (401 BC) against Cyrus the Younger and his Greek mercenaries called the [[Ten Thousand]], when Ctesias provided medical assistance to the king by treating his flesh wound.<ref>"The first certain event related to Ctesias is his medical assistance to the king during the battle of Cunaxa and his treatment of his flesh wound (Plut. Art. 11.3) in 401 BCE" in {{cite book |last1=Dąbrowa |first1=Edward |title=The Greek World in the 4th and 3rd Centuries BC: Electrum vol. 19 |date=2014 |publisher=Wydawnictwo UJ |isbn=9788323388197 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIbOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref> He reportedly was involved in negotiations with the Greeks after the battle, and also helped their Spartan general [[Clearchus of Sparta|Clearchus]] before his execution at the royal court at Babylon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dąbrowa |first1=Edward |title=The Greek World in the 4th and 3rd Centuries BC: Electrum vol. 19 |date=2014 |publisher=Wydawnictwo UJ |isbn=9788323388197 |pages=13–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIbOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref>

Ctesias was the author of treatises on rivers and on the Persian revenues, as well as an account of India, ''[[Indica (Ctesias)|Indica]]'' ({{langx|grc|Ἰνδικά|label=none}}), and of a history of [[Assyria]] and [[History of Persia|Persia]] in 23 books, ''Persica'' ({{langx|grc|Περσικά|label=none}}), drawn from documents in the Persian Royal Archives, written in opposition to [[Herodotus]], in the [[Ionic Greek|Ionic dialect]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

== ''Persica'' ==
{{Main|Persica (Ctesias)}}

The first six books of ''Persica'' cover the history of Assyria and [[Babylon]] to the foundation of the Persian empire in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great; the remaining 17 books cover the years to 398 BC. Of the two histories, abridgments by [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] and fragments are preserved by [[Athenaeus]], [[Plutarch]], [[Nicolaus of Damascus]], and especially [[Diodorus Siculus]], whose second book is derived mainly from Ctesias. As to the worth of ''[[Persica (Ctesias)|Persica]]'', much controversy occurred, both in ancient and modern times.<ref name="EB1911"/> Although many ancient authorities valued the work highly and used it to discredit [[Herodotus]], a modern author writes, "(Ctesias's) unreliability makes Herodotus seem a model of accuracy."<ref>[http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1740/00dissertation.pdf?sequence=2 Peter Frederick Barker, ''From The Scamander To Syracuse, Studies In Ancient Logistics'', page 9, chapter 1.]</ref> Reportedly, Ctesias's account of the Assyrian kings does not reconcile with the [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] evidence.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} The satirist [[Lucian]] thought so little of the historical reliability of Ctesias that in his satirical ''[[True History|True Story]]'' he places Ctesias on an island where the evil were punished. Lucian wrote, "The people who suffered the greatest torment were those who had told lies when they were alive and written mendacious histories; among them were Ctesias of Cnidus, Herodotus, and many others."<ref>Lucian, ''A True Story'', 2.31</ref>

According to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Ctesias mentioned that the grave of [[Darius I]] at [[Persepolis]] was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Persepolis|title=Persepolis|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=30 October 2023 }}</ref>

== ''Indica'' ==
{{main|Indica (Ctesias)}}
[[File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Strange_People_-_Umbrella_Foot_(XIIr).jpg|thumb|right|Some absurd claims form part of ''Indica'', such as the stories of a [[Monopod (creature)|race of people with only one leg]], or with feet so big they could be used as an umbrella]]
A record of the view that the Persians held of India was written by Ctesias under the title ''[[Indica (Ctesias)|Indica]]''. It includes descriptions of artisans, philosophers, and people having the qualities of deities, as well as accounts of unquantifiable gold, among other riches and wonders.<ref>{{cite book | last = Lavers | first = Chris | title = The Natural History of Unicorns | publisher = Morrow | year = 2009 | location = New York, NY | pages = 5 | isbn = 978-0-06-087414-8}}</ref> The work is of value as it documents the beliefs of the Persians about India.<ref name="EB1911"/> The book only remains in fragments and in reports made about the book by later authors.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ed., trad. et commentaire par Dominique Lenfant, ''Ctésias de Cnide. La Perse. L'Inde. Autres fragments'', [[Collection Budé]], Belles Lettres, Paris, 2004 ({{ISBN|2251005188}}).
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = CTESIAS  | last = Schmitt | first = Rüdiger | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ctesias- | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VI, Fasc. 4 | pages = 441–446 | year = 1993 }}
* Jan P. Stronk: ''Ctesias' Persian History. Part I: Introduction, Text, and Translation'', Wellem Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2010 ({{ISBN|9783941820012}}).
* Andrew G. Nichols, ''Ctesias: On India. Translation and Commentary'', Duckworth, 2011, {{ISBN|1-85399-742-0}}
* Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson, ''Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient'', Oxford, 2010 ({{ISBN|9780415364119}}).

==External links==
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/ctesias-of-cnidus/ Ctesias of Cnidus]
*[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/ctesias-overview-of-the-works/ Overview of all fragments of the ''Persica'' and ''Indica''] by Jona Lendering
*[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/ctesias-overview-of-the-works/photius-excerpt-of-ctesias-persica/ Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' ''Persica''] translated by J. H. Freese (1920)
*[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/ctesias-overview-of-the-works/photius-excerpt-of-ctesias-indica/ Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' ''Indica''] translated by J.H. Freese (1920)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=diwAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA517 Greek text] ([[Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller|Müller]] 1858)
*[http://demonax.info/doku.php?id=classical:ctesias Texts of Ctesias]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Classical-era Greek historians]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Greek historians]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Greek physicians]]
[[Category:Ancient Cnidians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greeks from the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:5th-century BC births]]
[[Category:4th-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:Historians from ancient Anatolia]]
[[Category:Physicians from the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:Historians of Iran]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Greek Indologists]]
[[Category:Historians from the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:People from Muğla Province]]
[[Category:Court physicians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Greek historians]]