Antipater of Thessalonica
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- For others of this name, see Antipater (disambiguation).
Antipater of Thessalonica was the author of over a hundred epigrams in the Greek Anthology. He is the most copious and perhaps the most interesting of the Augustan epigrammatists. He lived under the patronage of Lucius Calpurnius Piso (consul in B.C. 15 and then proconsul of Macedonia for several years), who appointed him governor of Thessalonica.
There are many allusions in his work to contemporary history:
- one celebrates the foundation of Nicopolis by Octavianus, after the battle of Actium
- one anticipates his victory over the Parthians in the expedition of 20 BC
- one is addressed to Gaius Caesar, who died in A.D. 4. None can be ascribed securely to a date later than 4.
Antipater is also known for being the first to mention use of the waterwheel in a poem of his, while the Chinese followed soon after on a separate account involving the author Huan Tan in 20 AD and the engineer Du Shi (circa 31 AD).
[edit] Source
- Ancient History
- Select Epigrams from The Greek Anthology, Edited with a Revised Text, Translation, and Notes, by J. W. Mackail (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890)
[edit] See also
- Apollodorus (runner) ,Antipater's epigram
- Greek Anthology
- Watermill