Sosylus of Lacedaemon
{{Infobox person
| name = Sosylus
| image =
| native_name = Σωσύλος
| native_name_lang = el
| nationality = Lacedaemon
| occupation = Historian
| employer = Hannibal
| known_for = Tutoring Hannibal
}}
{{Expand Polish
|Sosylos| date = September 2017
| fa = no
}}
Sosylus of Lacedaemon (Greek: Σωσύλος) was a Greek historian in the 3rd century BC. He would campaign alongside Hannibal throughout the Second Punic War, teaching him Greek and recording the events of his campaign.{{Cite book|last=Augoustakis|first=Antony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gn4tDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22|title=Brill's Companion to Silius Italicus|date=2009-11-23|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-21711-9|language=en}}
Biography
There are some disputes regarding where Sosylus was born. The predominant theory sides with his epithet, claiming that he was born in Lacedaemon.{{Cite book|last=Scullard|first=Howard Hayes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWBoAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22|title=Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician|date=1970|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801405495|language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Charles-Picard|first1=Gilbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7INyAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22+of+Lacedaemon|title=The Life and Death of Carthage: A Survey of Punic History and Culture from Its Birth to Its Final Tragedy|last2=Charles-Picard|first2=Colette|date=1968|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|isbn=9780283352553|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Renatus|first=Flavius Vegetius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=II9fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22+of+Lacedaemon|title=Epitoma Rei Militaris|date=1990|publisher=P. Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-1403-4|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=MacDonald|first=Eve |author-link=Eve MacDonald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dRtBgAAQBAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22+Hannibal&pg=PA330|title=Hannibal: A Hellenistic Life|date=2015-02-24|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-21015-6|language=en}} There is evidence however, that he may have been born in Ilium or Elis as stated by competing testimony from Diodorus.{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=James Westfall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mgGAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22|title=A History of Historical Writing ...|date=1942|publisher=Macmillan|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=ToposText|url=https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=134#26.4.1|access-date=2021-04-07|website=topostext.org}}
= Serving Hannibal =
Sosylus accompanied Hannibal during the Second Punic War and is the author of the Deeds of Hannibal, a lost historical work of seven volumes; only fragments of the work are known.[http://www.attalus.org/translate/fgh.html#176.0 Sosylus, in] Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Fragments of Greek Historians) by Felix Jacoby{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Daly|first=Gregory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxOCAgAAQBAJ&q=Sosylos&pg=PA21|title=Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War|date=2005-08-18|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-50712-2|language=en}} It is often assumed that Sosylus only recounted the first part of the war due to Battle of Ebro River being recorded in the fourth volume of the work.{{Cite book|last=Scullard|first=Howard Hayes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeM8AAAAIAAJ&q=Sosylus+history+of+the+war+in+seven+books&pg=PA7|title=Scipio Africanus in the Second Punic War|date=1930|publisher=CUP Archive|language=en}} Sosylus taught Hannibal Greek, while also recording the events of the war.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UzJ3BwAAQBAJ&q=Sosylus+of+Lacedaemon&pg=PA100| author=Dexter Hoyos | title=A Companion to the Punic Wars | date=26 May 2015 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons (2011)| page= 100| isbn= 9781119025504}}{{Cite book|last=Rahe|first=Paul Anthony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiLYCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Sosylus%22+of+Lacedaemon&pg=PA378|title=The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta: The Persian Challenge|date=2015-11-24|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-21860-2|language=en}} He also is believed to have served as an advisor to Hannibal.{{Cite book|last=Hunt|first=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XukqDwAAQBAJ&q=Sosylos&pg=PA4|title=Hannibal|date=2017-07-11|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4391-0217-6|language=en}}
It is possible that Polybios may have used material from Sosylus' history for his writing about Hannibal in The Histories.{{Cite book|last=Hazel|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzmCAgAAQBAJ&q=Sosylus&pg=PA289|title=Who's Who in the Roman World|date=2002-09-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-59251-7|language=en}}{{cite web| url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hannibal-3-barca/hannibal-in-the-alps/| author=Jona Lendering|title=Hannibal in the Alps |publisher=Livius.org |date=April 6, 2016|accessdate=April 7, 2016}}