The death of Pheidippedes

[Jona Lendering]

Id like to take you up on the idea that in 'How to Write History' Lucian invented the historians of Lucius Verus' Parthian War .. His advice on the type of person the historian should be is, IMHO, spot on!

Of course Lucian is completely right in his advise. I also suspect that the authors he attacks closely resemble real historians. But the fact that those authors are mentioned by Lucian only (and without name) strongly suggests that he has made them up. That would not be unique, BTW. His younger contemporary Philostratus also invents sources, only to disagree with them;* it is also in the Historia Augusta, although that text is a lot younger. This baroque literary game is "in the air".

*
I am referring to "Damis" in the Vita Apollonii. Most scholars think that this source did not exist, and that -by implication- Philostratus first invents a source, only to disagree with it. Personally, I believe that Damis did in fact exist.