Philochorus of Athens (/fɪˈlɒkərəs/; Ancient Greek: Φιλόχορος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; c. 340 BC – c. 261 BC),[1] was a Greek historian and Atthidographer of the third century BC, and a member of a priestly family. He was a seer and interpreter of signs, and a man of considerable influence.[2]
Philochorus was strongly anti-Macedonian in politics, and a bitter opponent of Demetrius Poliorcetes. When Antigonus Gonatas, the son of the latter, besieged and captured Athens (261 BC), Philochorus was put to death for having supported Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, who had encouraged the Athenians in their resistance to Macedonia.[2][3]
His investigations into the usages and customs of his native Attica were embodied in an Atthis, in seventeen books, a history of Athens from the earliest times to 262 BC. Considerable fragments are preserved in the lexicographers, scholiasts, Athenaeus, and elsewhere. The work was epitomized by the author himself, and later by Asinius Pollio of Tralles (perhaps a freedman of the famous Gaius Asinius Pollio).[2]
English translation and commentary: Phillip Harding, The story of Athens: the fragments of the local chronicles of Attika (Routledge, London - New York 2008). ISBN0-415-33809-3
Italian translation and commentary: Virgilio Costa, Filocoro di Atene. vol. I: I frammenti dell'Atthis (Edizioni TORED, Tivoli [Roma] 2007). ISBN978-88-88617-01-5
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Philochorus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 413.
