Polyaenus
2nd-century Greek author and rhetorician
Polyaenus or Polyenus ( POL-ee-EE-nəs; see ae (æ) vs. e; Ancient Greek: Πoλύαινoς, romanized: Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century Roman Macedonian author and rhetorician, known best for his Stratagems in War (Ancient Greek: Στρατηγήματα, romanized: Strategemata), which has been preserved. The Suda calls him a rhetorician, and Polyaenus himself writes that he was accustomed to plead causes before the Roman emperor. Polyaenus dedicated Stratagems in War to the two emperors Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) and Lucius Verus (r. 161–169), while they were engaged in the Roman–Parthian War of 161–166, about 163, at which time he was too old to accompany them in their campaigns.
Stratagems
This work is divided into eight books: the first six contain accounts of the stratagems of the most celebrated Greek generals and rulers, the seventh book contains stratagems of non Greeks and Romans, and the eighth book those of the Romans and of illustrious women. Parts, however, of the sixth and seventh books are lost, so that of the 900 stratagems which Polyaenus described, 833 have survived.
The book has survived in a single copy made in the 13th century, although there exist five abridged versions. The full copy once belonged to Michel Apostolios. It contains a vast number of anecdotes respecting many of the most celebrated men in antiquity, and has uniquely preserved many historical facts.
Polyaenus was first printed in a Latin translation, executed by Justus Vulteius, at Basel, 1549.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Polyaenus” is 2nd-century Greek author and rhetorician. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Polyaenus, 2nd-century and Greek, not as a finished interpretation.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q537755. VIAF identifies the subject as 15564840. The Library of Congress control number is n94028544. 2 of 13 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1549.
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This entry incorporates text from “Polyaenus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.