Extract

Said by some to have been a freedman of Jewish faith (see Suda). His range of interests and his literary outlook resemble those of *Dionysius (7) of Halicarnassus, who mentions him as a friend (Pomp. 3. 20). No fragments remain of his history of the slave wars (attested by Ath. 6. 272 f.), but there is a good deal of evidence for his rhetorical works. His book ‘On the Sublime’ (Περὶ ὕψους) was the target *‘Longinus’ attacked, and from which he no doubt drew many of his examples; his comparison of *Demosthenes (2) and *Cicero also attracted criticism (Plut.Dem. 3). A treatise on figures is often quoted by later writers, and the reported titles ‘What is the Difference between the Attic and the Asianic Taste (ζῆλος)?’ and ‘Against the Phrygians’ make his Atticist position clear (see asianism and atticism).