Potamo of Mytilene

Potamo or Potamon (Greek: Ποτάμων ὁ Μυτιληναῖος; c. 75 BC – c. 15 AD) of Mytilene in Lesbos,^[1] son of Lesbonax the rhetorician, was himself a rhetorician in the time of the Roman emperor Tiberius, whose favour he enjoyed.^[2] He is mentioned by Plutarch as an authority regarding Alexander the Great.^[3] It is probably he whom Lucian states to have attained the age of ninety.^[4]

Works[]

The Suda informs us that, in addition to his work On Alexander of Macedon (Περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος), he wrote several other works, namely:

• Annals of the Samians (Ὅρους Σαμίων)
• Encomium of Brutus (Βρούτου ἐγκώμιον)
• Encomium of Caesar (Καίσαρος ἐγκώμιον)
• On the Perfect Orator (Περὶ τελείου ῥήτορος)

To these should perhaps be added On the Different, quoted by Ammonius Grammaticus.

Notes[]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Potamon of Mytilene". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. III. p. 513.