Life
Pompeius Trogus was a Roman historian who was likely born around 60 BCE. Very little information is known about his life. His grandfather fought against Q. Sertorius under the command of Pompey the Great, which led to him becoming a Roman citizen as a client of Pompey’s. His father then served under Julius Caesar in the war against Pompey.
Because his grandfather was a client of Pompey’s, some editions add the praenomen Gnaeus to Trogus’ name, assuming it was inherited from the original grant, but he is only ever named Pompeius Trogus in the manuscripts.
Works
While no works of Trogus survive intact, an abridgment of his Historiae Philippicae exists. The original work was a universal history in forty-four books from ancient Assyria to Augustan Rome, though the vast majority of it narrated the events surrounding Philip of Macedon and the founding of the Macedonian Empire and its successors. The work in full would have been an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of Seleucid and Parthian history, especially since, contrary to Livy, the focus is not centered on Rome’s rise.
The abridgment was made in the second century by the historian Justin.
Trogus also reportedly wrote a natural history (sometimes called De Animalibus), from which Pliny the Elder quotes, but this too has been lost.
Trogus Online
Latin: PHI Latin Texts
