Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Abydenus

by William Smith

ABYDE'NUS (Ἀβυδηνός), a Greek historian, who wrote a history of Assyria (Ἀσσυριακά). The time at which he lived is uncertain, but we know that he made use of the works of Megasthenes and Berosus ; and Cyrillus (adv. Julian, pp. 8, 9) states, that he wrote in the Ionic dialect. Several fragments of his work are preserved by Eusebius, Cyrillus and Syncellus: it was particularly valuable for chronology. An important fragment, which clears up some difficulties in Assyrian history, has been discovered in the Armenian translation of the Chronicon of Eusebius. The fragments of his history have been published by Scaliger, "De Emendatione Temporum," and Richter, "Berosi Chaldaeorum Historiae," &c., Lips. 1825.