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C.H. Oldfather remarks on the "striking coincidence" that one of only two Greek inscriptions known to him from Agyrium (I.G. XIV, 588) is the tombstone of one "Diodorus, the son of Apollonius".

His history, which he named Bibliotheca historia ("Historical Library"), consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt (book I), of Mesopotamia, India, ScythiaScythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by a people known as the Scythians . The location and extent of Scythia varied over time from the Altai region where Mongolia, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan come together to the lower Danube river, and ArabiaArabia is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. It lies north of Ethiopia and northern Somalia; south of Israel, the disputed Palestinian territories, and Jordan; and southwest of Iran. The coastal limits of Arabia comprise: on (II), of North Africa (III), and of Greece and Europe (IV - VI). In the next section (books VII - XVII), he recounts the history of the World starting with the Trojan WarThe Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of Greece, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. The war figures centrally in Greek mythology and was narrated, down to the death of Alexander the Greatbust of Alexander the Great Alexander III (late July, 356 BC June 10, 323 BC), King of Macedon ( 336 BC-323 BC), known as Alexander the Great was one of the most successful military commanders of the ancient world. Following the unification of the multipl. The last section (books XVII to the end) concerns the historical events from the successors of AlexanderThe word Diadochi means "successors" in Greek. Specifically, the Diadochi were the rival successors to Alexander the Great, and the Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the so-called Hellenistic period of Greek histor down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Caesar'sAlternative meanings: Julius Caesar (disambiguation). Gaius Julius Caesar ( Latin: C·IVLIVS·C·F·C·N·CAESAR) ( July 13, 100 BC March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader whose conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way t Gallic War in 45 BCCenturies: 2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century Decades: 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC 0s Years: 50 BC 49 BC 48 BC 47 BC 46 BC 45 BC 44 BC 43 BC 42 BC 41 BC 40 BC Events January 1 Julian calendar goes into effec. (The end has been lost, so it unclear whether Diodorus reached the beginning of the Gallic War as he promised at the beginning of his work or, as evidence suggests, old and tired from his labors he stopped short at 60 BC.) He selected the name "Bibliotheca" in acknowledgement that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. The authors he drew from, who have been identified, include: HecataeusHecataeus (c. 550 BC c. 476 BC), was a Greek historian, a native of Miletus of a wealthy family. He flourished during the time of the Persian invasion. After having travelled extensively, he settled in his native city, where he occupied a high position, a,

This liberal use of earlier historians underlies the harsh opinion of the author of the

The faults of Diodorus arise partly from the nature of the undertaking, and the awkward form of annals into which he has thrown the historical portion of his narrative. He shows none of the critical faculties of the historian, merely setting down a number of unconnected details. His narrative contains frequent repetitions and contradictions, is without colouring, and monotonous; and his simple diction, which stands intermediate between pure Attic and the colloquial Greek of his time, enables us to detect in the narrative the undigested fragments of the materials which he employed.

Far more sympathetic is the estimate of C.H. Oldfather , who wrote in the introduction to his translation of Diodorus:

While characteristics such as these exclude Diodorus from a place among the abler historians of the ancient world, there is every reason to believe that he used the best sources and that he reproduced them faithfully. His First Book, which deals almost exclusively with Egypt, is the fullest literary account of the history and customs of that country after Herodotus. Books II-V cover a wide range, and because of their inclusion of much mythological material are of much less value. In the period from 480 to 301 B.C., which he treats in annalistic fashion and in which his main source was the Universal History of Ephorus, his importance varies according as he is the sole continuous source, or again as he is paralleled by superior writers. To the fifty years from 480 to 430 B.C. Thucydides devotes only a little more than thirty chapters; Diodorus covers it more fully (11.37-12.38) and his is the only consecutive literary account for the chronology of the period. ... For the years 362-302 B.C. Diodorus is again the only consecutive literary account, and ... Diodorus offers the only chronological survey of the period of Philip, and supplements the writers mentioned and contemporary sources in many matters. For the period of the Successors to Alexander, 323-302 B.C. (Books XVIII-XX), he is the chief literary authority and his history of this period assumes, therefore, an importance which it does not possess for the other years.

As indicated, Diodorus' immense work has not survived intact: we have the first five books and books 10 through 20. The rest exists only in fragments preserved in Photius and the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

The editio princeps of Diodorus was a Latin translation of the first five books by Poggio Bracciolini at Bologna in 1472. The first printing of the Greek original (at Basel in 1535) contained only books 16-20, and was the work of Vincentius Opsopoeus . It was not until 1559 that all of the surviving books, and surviving fragments of books 21 to the end was published by H. Stephanus at Geneva.

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Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian, born at Agyrium in Sicily (now called Agira, in the province of Enna). Jerome dates Diodorus' floruit to 49 BC Chronica s. Abraham 1968), which is supported by Diodorus' own statements. The earliest date Diodorus me Diodorus of TarsusAfter the early School of Antioch came into decline, the presbyter Diodore of Tarsus re-founded it in the middle of the fourth century as a semi-monastic community. He was a native of Antioch who had studied philosophy in Athens together with his friend B