HISTORIANS from Greece

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Greek Historians of all time. This list of famous Greek Historians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Greek Historians.

1. Thucydides (-460 - -397)

With an HPI of 80.13, Thucydides is the most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 88 different languages on wikipedia.

Thucydides (, thew-SID-ih-deez; Ancient Greek: Θουκυδίδης, romanized: Thoukudídēs [tʰuːkydǐdɛːs]; c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work. He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal text of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles' Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics. More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plagues, massacres, and wars.

2. Xenophon (-430 - -354)

With an HPI of 78.85, Xenophon is the 2nd most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 84 different languages.

Xenophon of Athens (; Ancient Greek: Ξενοφῶν [ksenopʰɔ̂ːn]; c. 430 – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat. Xenophon's Anabasis recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. Anabasis is a unique first-hand, humble, and self-reflective account of a military leader's experience in antiquity. On the topic of campaigns in Asia Minor and in Babylon, Xenophon wrote Cyropaedia outlining both military and political methods used by Cyrus the Great to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Anabasis and Cyropaedia inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC. A student and a friend of Socrates, Xenophon recounted several Socratic dialogues – Symposium, Oeconomicus, Hiero, a tribute to Socrates – Memorabilia, and a chronicle of the philosopher's trial in 399 BC – Apology of Socrates to the Jury. Reading Xenophon's Memorabilia inspired Zeno of Citium to change his life and start the Stoic school of philosophy. For at least two millennia, Xenophon's many talents fueled the debate of whether to place Xenophon with generals, historians or philosophers. For the majority of time in the past two millennia, Xenophon was recognized as a philosopher. Quintilian in The Orator's Education discusses the most prominent historians, orators and philosophers as examples of eloquence and recognizes Xenophon's historical work, but ultimately places Xenophon next to Plato as a philosopher. Today, Xenophon is best known for his historical works. The Hellenica continues directly from the final sentence of Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War covering the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) and the subsequent forty-two years (404 BC–362 BC) ending with the Second Battle of Mantinea. Despite being born an Athenian citizen, Xenophon came to be associated with Sparta, the traditional opponent of Athens. Experience as a mercenary and a military leader, service under Spartan commanders in Ionia, Asia Minor, Persia and elsewhere, exile from Athens, and friendship with King Agesilaus II endeared Xenophon to the Spartans. Much of what is known today about the Spartan society comes from Xenophon's works – the royal biography of the Spartan king Agesilaus and the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians. Xenophon is recognized as one of the greatest writers of antiquity. Xenophon's works span multiple genres and are written in plain Attic Greek, which is why they have often been used in translation exercises for contemporary students of the Ancient Greek language. In the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laërtius observed that Xenophon was known as the "Attic Muse" because of the sweetness of his diction. Several centuries later, Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero described Xenophon's mastery of Greek composition in Orator with the following words: "the muses were said to speak with the voice of Xenophon". Roman orator, attorney and teacher of rhetoric Quintilian echoes Cicero in The Orator's Education saying "the Graces themselves seem to have molded his style and the goddess of persuasion sat upon his lips". The sub-satrap Mania (satrap) is primarily known through Xenophon's writings.

3. Polybius (-208 - -126)

With an HPI of 75.67, Polybius is the 3rd most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 68 different languages.

Polybius (; Greek: Πολύβιος, Polýbios; c. 200 – c. 118 BC) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work The Histories, a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 BC, recording in detail events in Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt and Africa, and documented the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars among many others. Polybius's Histories is important not only for being the only Hellenistic historical work to survive in any substantial form, but also for its analysis of constitutional change and the mixed constitution. Polybius's discussion of the separation of powers in government, of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", all influenced Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws, John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, and the framers of the United States Constitution. The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), who published studies related to him for 50 years, including a long commentary of his Histories and a biography. Polybius was a close friend and mentor to Scipio Africanus the Younger, and had a lasting influence on his decision making and life.

4. Callisthenes (-360 - -327)

With an HPI of 64.65, Callisthenes is the 4th most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Callisthenes of Olynthus (/kəˈlɪsθəˌniːz/; Greek: Καλλισθένης; c. 360 – c. 327 BCE) was a Greek historian in Macedon with connections to both Aristotle and Alexander the Great. He accompanied Alexander the Great during his Asiatic expedition and served as his historian and publicist. He later opposed Alexander’s adoption of Persian culture and was arrested after being implicated in a plot on the king's life; he died in prison. During his life, he authored several works on Greek history and a biography of Alexander the Great.

5. Theopompus (-400 - -320)

With an HPI of 63.52, Theopompus is the 5th most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Theopompus (Greek: Θεόπομπος, Theópompos; c. 380 BC – c. 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician.

6. Quintus Curtius Rufus (41 - 53)

With an HPI of 62.68, Quintus Curtius Rufus is the 6th most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni, "Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, "All the Books That Survive of the Histories of Alexander the Great of Macedon." Much of it is missing. Apart from his name on the manuscripts, nothing else certain is known of him. This fact alone has led philologists to believe that he had another historical identity, to which, due to the accidents of time, the link has been broken. A few theories exist. They are treated with varying degrees of credibility by various authors. Meanwhile, the identity of Quintus Curtius Rufus, historian, is maintained separately.

7. Afet İnan (1908 - 1985)

With an HPI of 54.55, Afet İnan is the 7th most famous Greek Historian.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ayşe Afet İnan (30 October 1908 – 8 June 1985) was a Turkish historian and sociologist. She was one of the eight adopted daughters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. She was known to be involved in the practice of physical anthropology, as she measured over sixty thousand skulls in Anatolia, which was aimed to support the Turkish History Thesis.

8. Krste Misirkov (1874 - 1926)

With an HPI of 52.38, Krste Misirkov is the 8th most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Krste Petkov Misirkov (Macedonian: Крсте Петков Мисирков, pronounced [kr̩'stɛ pɛ'tkɔf mi'sirkɔf]; Bulgarian: Кръстьо/Кръстю Петков Мисирков; Serbian: Крста Петковић Мисирков; 18 November 1874 – 26 July 1926) was a philologist, journalist, historian and ethnographer from the region of Macedonia. In the period between 1903 and 1905, he published a book and a scientific magazine in which he affirmed the existence of a Macedonian national identity separate from other Balkan nations, and attempted to codify a standard Macedonian language based on the central Western Macedonian dialects. A survey conducted in the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) found Misirkov to be "the most significant Macedonian of the 20th century". For his efforts to codify a standard Macedonian language, he is often considered "the founder of the modern Macedonian literary language". On the other hand, he was one of the founders of the pro-Bulgarian Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Circle established in 1900 in St. Petersburg. In 1905 he began publishing predominantly articles, written from a Bulgarian nationalist perspective in the IMARO-affiliated press. In his diary written during the Balkan Wars, he espoused pro-Bulgarian views. During the First World War, he became a member of the local parliament in Bessarabia as a representative of the Bulgarian minority there. During the 1920s he encouraged the Macedonian Slavs to adopt a Bulgarian national identity. Misirkov returned to Macedonian nationalism for a period in 1914 and again in 1924 and 1925. Misirkov died in 1926 and was buried in the Sofia Central Cemetery with the financial support from the Ministry of Education, as an honoured Bulgarian educator. Because Misirkov expressed conflicting views about the national identity of the Macedonian Slavs at different points in his life, his national affiliation and legacy remain a matter of dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. While Misirkov's work and personality remain highly controversial and disputed, there have been attempts among international scholars to reconcile the conflicting and self-contradictory statements made by Misirkov. According to historian Ivo Banac, Misirkov viewed both himself and the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians, and espoused pan-Bulgarian patriotism in a larger Balkan context. However, in the context of the larger Bulgarian unit/nation, Misirkov sought both cultural and national differentiation from the other Bulgarians and called both himself and the Slavs of Macedonia, Macedonians.

9. Philochorus (-340 - -260)

With an HPI of 52.26, Philochorus is the 9th most famous Greek Historian.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Philochorus of Athens (; Ancient Greek: Φιλόχορος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; c. 340 BC – c. 261 BC), 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.

10. Michael Glykas (1125 - 1204)

With an HPI of 52.07, Michael Glykas is the 10th most famous Greek Historian.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Michael Glykas or Glycas (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Γλυκᾶς) was a 12th-century Byzantine historian, theologian, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He was probably from Corfu and lived in Constantinople. He was a critic of Manuel I Komnenos, and was imprisoned and blinded due to his participation in a conspiracy against the emperor. He is also identified by modern scholarship with Michael Sikidites (Μιχαὴλ Σικιδίτης), who was condemned as a heresiarch in 1200.