Knowra Quintus Curtius Rufus Quintus Curtius Rufus Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, probably active in the first century CE. His surviving Latin work recounts the life and campaigns of Alexander the Great.
Histories of Alexander the Great : Ancient accounts of Alexander the Great’s life and campaigns, written by Greek and Roman authors. Curtius’s surviving work is one of the major ancient narratives of Alexander.
Historiae Alexandri Magni : Quintus Curtius Rufus’s Latin history of Alexander the Great, surviving in ten books with the first two lost. This is the surviving work through which Curtius’s historical writing is known.
Roman historians : Authors who composed historical narratives about Rome or other peoples in the Roman world. Curtius belongs to this broad tradition, although his biography remains uncertain.
Alexander in the Roman imagination : Roman literary and political interpretations of Alexander the Great as conqueror, ruler, and moral example. Curtius presents Alexander through Roman concerns about ambition, fortune, and kingship.
Alexander the Great : King of Macedon who created an empire stretching from Greece to northwestern India. Alexander is the central subject of Curtius’s history.
Alexander Romance : A legendary tradition about Alexander that blends historical material with marvels and fictional episodes. Its legendary mode differs from Curtius’s historical narrative, though both shaped Alexander’s later image.
Roman Empire : The state ruled by Rome from Augustus’s accession in 27 BCE until the fall of the western empire in 476 CE. Curtius is usually placed in the imperial period, but his exact date is disputed.
Medieval Alexander literature : Medieval writings that retold Alexander’s conquests through history, legend, romance, and moral instruction. Curtius’s Latin history became one source for later medieval accounts of Alexander.
Latin historiography : The writing of history in Latin, from the Roman Republic through late antiquity. Curtius’s account is a surviving example of Roman history written in Latin.
Roman declamation : A Roman rhetorical exercise in which speakers argued imaginary legal or ethical cases. Curtius’s speeches and moral contrasts reflect rhetorical techniques cultivated in Roman education.
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