Lost Works from Classical Literature

  • A considerable body of Lost Works from Classical Antiquity (800 BCE-600 CE) were rediscovered during the Renaissance (1300-1700 CE).
  • The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE accelerated the Renaissance due to the mass exodus of Greek scholars and monks with their ancient books written in Greek, not Latin.

The Listing

Listed below are some of the works that are still missing or only exist in fragments:

  1. Africanus: (c.160-240 CE)
    • Chronographiai: A History of the World in 5 Volumes from his Creation date of 5,500 BC to 221 CE. Although lost,  the contents were copied extensively in the ‘Chronicon’ of Eusebius.
    • Also lost, ‘The Kestoi’, an Encyclopedia, of which his authorship is disputed.
  2. Aeschylus: (c.525 – c.455 BCE)
    • 80 plays written of which only 7 have survived.
  3. Agatharchides: (b.208 BCE – d. unknown)
    • ‘On the Erythraean Sea’ (5 books), four are lost, but the fifth book has survived intact, and describes the lands around the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.
    • ‘Affairs in Asia’ (10 books) describing Asian Empires down to the second century BCE is lost.
    • ‘Affairs in Europe’ (49 books) describing European history in the third to second century BCE is lost.
  4. Ammianus Marcellinus (c.325 – c.392 BCE)
    • Res Gestae: A History of Rome from 96 – 378 CE in 31 Books. Books 1-13 covering the years 96 to 353 CE have been lost.
  5. Antimachus of Teos (8th Cent. BCE) or possibly Homer:
    • ‘Epigonoi’ – a sequel to the Thebeid in 7,000 lines of verse. However, it was saved by Sophocles (5th cent BCE), who rewrote the story as a Greek Tragedy called ‘Epigoni’.
  6. Appian: (95 – 165 CE)
    • ‘Roman History’, Half of the 24 books have been lost. Books 6-9 and 11-17 have survived. Books 1-5, 10 and 18-24 are lost.
  7. Archimedes: (287 – 212 BCE)
    • ‘On sphere making’, Lost Work on how to construct orreries and astronomical clocks such as the Antikythera mechanism.
  8. Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BCE):
    • Lost Work detailing his theory of a Heliocentric Universe, where the Earth orbited the Sun.
  9. Aristeas: c. 700 BCE.
    • Lost Work of Poetry called the ‘Arimaspeia’. It contains an account of travels in the far North, of the Hyperboreans with whom Apollo lives during the Winter, of a Tribe called the Issedones who relate of other more Northerly Peoples. Aristeas and the Arimaspeia are mentioned by Herodotus, in The Histories, Book IV, lines 13-16.
  10. Aristophanes: (c.446 – c.386 BCE)
    • 40 plays of which only 11 have survived.
  11. Arrian: (92 – 175 CE)
    • ‘Parthica’: history of Trajan’s eastern wars against the Parthian Empire in 17 books, all lost.
  12. Aulus Gellius (c.125-c.180 CE)
    • ‘Attic Nights’ (177 CE) published in 20 Books, a work on grammar, philosophy and history, all of which have survived except Book 8, of which only the Index exists.
  13. Avienus: (b. unknown – d. 375 CE)
    • Ora Maritima: ‘The Sea Coasts of the Ancient World’.
    • This Work refers to two Lost Periplus’, both covering the Atlantic: The Massiliote Periplus (6th century BCE) and the Periplus of Himilco (5th century BCE), the latter described what appears to be the Sargasso Sea.
  14. Berossus: (3rd century BCE)
    • ‘Babylonaica’ 281 BCE. Lost:
      • A World history in three volumes from The Creation and the Flood to his day, covering a period according to Berossus of 432,000 years.
      • The World History has strong similarities to Manetho ‘Aegyptiaca’ writing at the same time, except that Manetho was glorifying Egypt and did not mention the Flood, whereas Berossus was glorifying Chaldea (Babylonia).
      • The Bible also started being translated into Greek during the third century BCE.
    • Book I: Description of the country of Babylon and its creation.
    • Book II: Book of Kings before the Flood and Dynasties afterwards.
    • Book III: Book of Kings from Tiglath Pileser to Alexander the Great.
  15. Callimachus (310-240 BCE)
    • ‘Pinakes’ meaning ‘The Tables’ written c. 245 BCE, was a catalogue of the contents of the Great Library of Alexandria, now lost, in 120 volumes. It was organised by author and by subject.
    • Allegedly, Callimachus produced 800 works, but only 6 hymns and 64 Epigrams have survived.
  16. Celsus: (c.25 BCE – c.50 CE)
    • He compiled an Encyclopedia which is now lost. All that has survived is ‘De Medicina’, a treatise on Medicine.
  17. Chrysippus of Soli: (334-262 BCE)
    • All Works on Stoic Philosophy lost including ‘Logical Questions’ and ‘On Providence’.
  18. Claudius (Roman Emperor (41-54 CE). All his works are lost.
    • Tyrrhenica: a work on Etruscan history in 20 books.
    • An Etruscan Dictionary.
    • A history of the reign of Augustus.
    • Carchedonica: a work on the history of Carthage in 8 books.
    • De arte aleae: a work on the art of dice-playing.
  19. Ctesias (Fifth Cent BCE)
    • ‘Persica’ A history of Persia and Assyria in 23 books, written in opposition to Herodotus and claimed to be based on the Persian Royal Archives.
    • ‘Indica’  A record of the beliefs and perceptions by Persians of India.
  20. Dexippus, Publius Herenius (c.210-c.273 CE)
    • Greek Historian and hereditary Priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Photias names three Works by Dexippus, which now only exist in fragments:
    • The Events after Alexander (from a work by Arrian)
    • Scythica (A History of the Wars between Rome and Scythia)
    • Chronike Historia (12 books covering 1,000 years up to Claudius Gothicus (270 CE).
  21. Dexippus (c. 350 CE)
    • Greek Neo-Platonist Philosopher.
    • ‘Commentary on the Categories of Aristotle’. Books 1 and 2 are intact. Book 3 has 40 chapters, the first 10 are intact, the rest are only chapter headings.
  22. Diodorus Siculus (c.90-c.30 BCE)
    • ‘Bibliotheca Historia’. 40 books of which Books 6-10 and 21-40 are missing. Fragments from these books have been found in other works.
  23. Diogenes (c.412-323 BCE)
    • Thought to have written 10 works, none of which have survived.
  24. Ennius: (239 – 169 BCE)
    • ‘Annales’ a lost Epic Poem on the history of Rome, which was partially reconstructed from quotations during the 16th century.
    • ‘Scipio’ a lost work on Scipio Africanus.
  25. Epicurus  (341-270 BCE)
    • The majority of his 300 works have been lost, and the main source for his teaching comes from later Roman authors, such as Diogenes Laertius.
    • His surviving Works are Letters to Menoecceus, Pythocles and Herodotus and two collections of quotes, the Principal Doctrines and the Vatican Sayings. Also, some fragments remain of a work called ‘On Nature’ in 37 Books.
  26. Eratosthenes: (276-194 BCE)
    • ‘On the Measurement of the Earth’, a lost work giving an accurate measurement of the circumference of the earth, but whose calculations were documented by Strabo and Cleomedes.
    • Sieve of Eratosthenes is a lost work on Prime Numbers, but which was recorded by Nicomedes in his ‘Introduction to arithmetic’.
  27. Euripides: (480 – 406 BCE)
    • 90 plays of which only 15 have survived. One lost work is Bellerophon.
  28. Eudoxus: (c.390 – 337 BCE)
    • All Works lost including, ‘On Velocities’ a book on Astronomy explaining the Solar System as a series of 27 spheres of rotation.
    • Eudemus (c.370-c.300 BCE) described the same theory in his lost history of Astronomy.
    • Sosigenes (c.45 BCE) described the theory in his lost work.
    • Fortunately, Simplicius (490-560 CE) again described the theory of spheres, and thus we know of Eudoxus’ original theory.
  29. Frontinus: (c.35 – c.104 CE)
    • ‘The Art of War’ describing military strategy is missing.
    • However, the Appendix, Strategemata has survived and consists of four books describing 500 examples of Tactics.
  30. Gnaeus Naevius (270-201 BCE)
    • He wrote 30 plays, both comedies and tragedies, and various poems, however, only fragments of his works have survived.
  31. Hecataeus of Abdera (4th century BCE)
    • All Lost Works with only fragments having survived: ‘On the Hyperboreans’, ‘Aegyptiaca’ and ‘the poetry of Homer and Hesiod’.
  32. Hero of Alexandria: (c.10 – c70 CE)
    • Inventor of the steam engine and numerous mechanical devices. Many Works lost, others preserved in Arab Literature.
  33. Hipparchus: (c.190-c.120 BCE)
    • He recorded writing a total of fourteen Works, but only the ‘Commentary’ has survived.
    • The is called the ‘Commentary on the Phaenomena (appearances) of Eudoxus and Aratus’:
  34. Homer: (c.850 BCE)
    • 6 of the 8 Works covering the Fall of Troy and the travels of Odysseus are missing.
    • Only two remain, the Iliad (The last few weeks of the Seige of Troy) and the Odyssey (the ten year jouney by Odysseus after the Fall of Troy)
  35. Hypatia (370-415 CE)
    • Chief librarian of the Great Library of Alexandria and a celebrated Mathematician. None of her Works have survived.
  36. Livy: (c.59 BCE – 17 CE)
    • ‘Ab urbe condita libra’ – ‘History of Rome’ – 800 years of Roman History in 142 books of which only 35 have survived.
  37. Lucan (39-65 CE)
    • 13 Lost Works according to Vacca and Statius, including ‘De Incendio Urbis’ which may have blamed Nero for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE.
  38. Macrobius (370-430 CE)
    • De differentis et societatibus graeci latinique verbi: ‘On the Differences and Similarities of the Greek and Latin Verb (Lost)
  39. Manetho (Third Century BCE)
    • ‘Aegyptiaca’
      • written in 3 volumes in which he divided the rulers of Egypt into dynasties. Manetho’s work bears strong similarities with Berossus writing at the same time, except that Manetho was glorifying Egypt and does not mention the Flood, whereas Berossus was glorifying Chaldea (Babylonia), and does mention the Flood. The Bible also started being translated into Greek during the third century BCE.
    • Vol I: The Gods of Egypt
    • Vol II: Dynasties XII-XIX
    • Vol III: Dynasties XX-XXX
  40. Megasthenes (350-290 BCE)
  41. Peutinger Table
    • This is a map which is a 13th century CE copy of a Roman Document dating from the third or fourth century CE, which was in itself a copy of Agrippa‘s original map made under Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE).
    • The map is a Michelin style pictorial road map of the Roman Empire, with the exception of Britannia which is missing.
  42. Philitas of Cos (340-285 BCE)
    • ‘Disorderly Words’, a dictionary of rare words. ‘Demeter’, An Elegiac poem. ‘Hermes’, A mythological story about Odysseus. ‘Playthings’, a collection of poems.
    • All Lost Works with only about 50 verses of these works having survived.
  43. Plato (c.424 – 347 BCE)
    • ‘Hermocrates’: the lost sequel to the Timaeas and the Critias, which probably described Atlantis in detail.
  44. Plautus (c.254-284 CE)
    • He wrote 130 Plays of which 20 have survived.
  45. Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 CE)
    • Pliny was a Roman Procurator and Encyclopedist who wrote the first encyclopedia, Natural History (37 books) in 77-79 CE, which is his only Work to survive. His lost works are:
    • ‘History of the German Wars’, mentioned in a letter by his nephew Pliny the Younger.
    • ‘The Life of Pomponius Secundus’, a biography of his commander in Germany in two volumes.
    • ‘Studiosus’, a manual on rhetoric in three books and six volumes.
    • ‘Dubii Sermonis’, a manual on grammar, meaning ‘of doubtful phraseology’ in eight books.
  46. Plutarch (46 – c.120 CE)
    • The catalogue of Lamprias lists 227 Works of Plutarch, (Moralia XV) of which only 78 have survived.
    • Parallel Lives: 23 exist (4 are missing their parallel Lives)
    • But 12 Lives are missing including the Lives of Hercules, Augustus, Claudius, Nero, Scipio Africanus and Epaminondas.
    • Moralia: 3 works are missing: The Difference between Pyrrhoneans and the Academics, On Pyrrho’s Ten Modes, Whether one who suspends judgement on everything is condemned to inaction.
  47. Polybius (c.20-c.118 BCE)
    • ‘The Histories’ in 12 Books: Books I-V are intact, as is the majority of Book VI, Books VII-XII are fragments only.
    • Lost: ‘Tactics’, ‘Philopoemen’ and ‘The Numantine War’.
  48. Pompeius Trogus (1st century BCE)
    • 44 Books of the ‘Historiae Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs’ meaning ‘the Philippic Histories and the Origin of the Whole World and the Places of the Earth’.
    • We know of it through Justin and other authors.
  49. Posidonius (c.135-51 BCE)
    • The Art of War, The Histories, in 52 Books, a work on Euclidean Geometry and the Geography of the Celtic lands.
    • All his works are lost but preserved by quotations from other authors such as Diodorus Siculus, Livy and Plutarch.
  50. Probus: (232 – 282 CE)
    • Lost Work on Cryptography, referred to by Aulus Gellius in his ‘Attic Nights’  17.9.1-5. where he mentions a treatise by Probus on Julius Caesar’s letters containing more complicated Ciphers.
  51. Pytheas: (c. 330 BCE)
    • The Greek Explorer, he wrote ‘On the Ocean’, which is lost.
  52. Quintus Curtius Rufus: (c. 50 CE)
    • Historian who wrote 10 Books on Alexander the Great, the ‘Historiae Alexandri Magni’ of which 8 have survived and books 1 and 2 are lost:
    • Book I: Birth and youth of Alexander and destruction of Thebes.
    • Book II: Alexander crosses to Asia, Battle of the river Granicus.
    • Books V, VI and X are incomplete.
  53. Rhodian Sea Law: (c.800 – 46 BCE)
    • The ‘Lex Rhodia’ (c.800-46 BCE). No copy of the ‘Lex Rhodia’ has ever been found.
      • They were the Sea Laws of Rhodes which were incorporated into Roman Sea Law and later Byzantine Sea Law.
  54. Sallust: (86-c.35 BCE)
    • Historian who wrote 3 Works, The Catiline Conspiracy and Jugurtha which have survived, but the third work is lost, ‘Historiae’ a history of Rome between 78-67 BCE, with only fragments having survived.
  55. Sappho: (622-570 BCE)
    • Poetess and Singer-Songwriter who wrote Nine books of lyric poems, most of which have been lost.
    • Only one complete poem has survived, ‘Ode to Aphrodite’.
  56. Seneca the Elder: (c.54 BCE-39 CE)
    • History of Rome ‘from the beginning of the civil wars’. Although a lost work it has been partly preserved by Lactantius in Institutiones Divinae 7.15.14
  57. Sophocles: (c.496 – 406 BCE)
    • 120 plays written of which only 7 have survived. Fragments of the lost ‘Epigoni’ were found in 2005 by Researchers at Oxford University.
  58. Sosigenes (c.46 BCE)
    • 3 Treatises on the Calendar, all lost. Sosigenes was an Astronomer at Alexandria who advised Julius Caesar on the creation of the Julian Calendar.
  59. Sotion of Alexandria (c.200-170 BCE)
    • All works lost. However his Main Work ‘The Successions’, a biography of Philosophers possibly in 23 books, was widely quoted by Diogenes Laertius (c. 200-250 CE) and Atheneus. He was the first author to describe the Druids, the priests, judges and doctors of Celtic Society.
  60. Suetonius
    • Four Works have survived, including ‘The Lives of the Twelve Caesars’.
    • 13 known other Works have been lost.
  61. Sibylline Books:
    • Lost when they were destroyed by Stilicho in 405 CE.
  62. Tacitus: (c.56 – c.117 CE)
    • 16 Books of which the following are lost:
      • half of book 5 (Tiberius yrs 29-30 CE)
      • books 7-10 (Caligula Books 7,8,9, yrs 37-41 CE) and (Claudius Book 10: yrs 41-48 CE)
      • most of book 11 (Claudius yr 48 CE))
      • the end of book 16, (Nero yrs 65+ CE) which may be unfinished.
  63. Theopompus of Chios (380-320 BCE)
    • Hellenica in 12 Books.
    • History of Philip II in 58 Books.
  64. Timaeus of Tauromenium (c.345-c.250 BCE)
    • The Histories, some 40 books now lost, covering Sicily, Rome and Greece from the start of Greek history down to the Punic Wars.
    • He was widely known in Antiquity. His Works are referred to by Cicero, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch.
  65. Varro (116-27 BCE)
    • Varro wrote 74 Works of which 72 have been lost. He was respected by Quintilian and Plutarch as being an erudite scholar.
      • The 2 surviving works are, Rerum Rusticarum libri III (On Agricultural Subjects) and ‘De Lingua Latina Libri XXV, (on the Latin Language).
    • Known Lost works are:
      • Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum libri XLI
      • De Antiquitate Litterarum libri II
      • De familiis troianis
      • De gente populi Romani libri III
      • De Origine Linguae Latinae libri III
      • De Philosophia
      • De Rebus urbanis libri III
      • De Similitudine Verborum libri III
      • De Sermone Latino libri V
      • De sua vita libri III
      • De Utilitate Sermonis libri III
      • Disciplinarum libri IX
      • Hebdomades vel de imaginibus
      • Logistoricon libri LXXVI
      • Questiones Plautinae libri V
      • Saturarum Menippearum libri CL (150 books)

Lost Works from other Empires

  • Phoenicia
    • Sanchuniathon (Possibly 1,200 BCE or 700 BCE)
      • Three Lost Works written in Phoenician.
      • ‘Phoenician History’
        • A Creation Myth.
        • A Geneaology and History of the Gods in the Near East.
        • A Guide to the Worship of Serpents.
      • ‘On the Phoenician Alphabet’
        • A Treatise on the Phoenician Alphabet.
  • Persia
    • Avesta:
      • The Avesta is the main Work of Zoroastrianism, the religion of Ancient Persia.
      • The last complete manuscript appears to have been burnt in 330 BCE, during the occupation of Persepolis by Alexander the Great.
      • A master copy was produced under the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE) and is known as the Sassanian Archetype. It is now lost.
      • The oldest surviving manuscript of the Avesta dates from 1323 CE. It would appear to have preserved the original canonical texts, but three quarters of the original texts have been lost, mainly those concerning law, history and myth.
  • China
    • ‘The Sixth Classic’.
    • Huangdi Waijing (Outer Canon of the Yellow Emperor)
      • Mentioned in the Book of Han (111 CE) along with the preserved Huangdi Neijing, but now lost.

Lost Libraries

  • The Great Library of Alexandria
    • The Great Library of Alexandria was said to have held 700,000 Books (almost one million). It contained a copy of every known book in the Ancient World.
    • The Sources claim the Great Library was burnt four times. Each time it seems to have survived sufficiently to be burnt again. So possibly these were minor fires, or the Works were removed. The Destructions may account for the Lost Works from Classical Literature.
      • 48 BCE: Julius Caesar was alleged to have burnt the Library.
      • c.273 CE: Aurelian burnt the Library after recapturing Egypt from the Palmyrene Empire.
      • 391 CE: The Coptic Pope Theophilus, destroyed the Serapium and the Library with it, after Theodosius I passed an Edict banning Paganism.
      • 642 CE: Alexandria was captured by the Arab Armies, and the Great Library was again burnt and lost for the last time.
  • Imperial Library of Constantinople
    • Very little is known about this Library, except that it seems to have contained Works in both Greek and Latin.
    • It is believed that much of the Great Library of Alexandria was either moved or copied to the Imperial Library of Constantinople during the split between the Eastern and Western Roman Empire.
    • Constantius II (337-61 CE) began the Imperial Library of Constantinople, according to Themestios writing in 367 CE.
    • In 475 CE we are told by Johannes Zonaras that the Imperial Library was damaged by fire and that it already contained 120,000 Books.
    • In 1453 CE, the Library came to an end after the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople.
  • Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible
    • This Library was alleged to be a collection of Lost Works from Classical Literature, written in Greek, Latin, Hebrew and also Chinese texts from the second century CE, saved from the Imperial Library of Constantinople, and even some from the Great Library of Alexandria.
    • In 1472 CE, The Russian Grand Prince Ivan III married Princess Sophia Paleologue, who’s uncle was the last Emperor of Byzantium. Part of her Dowry seems to have been a collection of Works from the Imperial Library of Constantinople, rescued from the Ottoman Invasion.
    • Ivan the Terrible (1530-84 CE), his grandson, is known to have amassed a huge Library of Works from the Classical Age.

 

 

 

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