View source for Alexander Numenius

'''Alexander Numenius''' ({{langx|grc|Ἀλέξανδρος Νουμήνιος}}), or (according to the ''[[Suda]]'') '''Alexander, son of Numenius''' (Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Νουμηνίου), was a [[Roman and Byzantine Greece|Greek]] [[rhetoric]]ian who flourished in the first half of the 2nd century.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Schmitz | first = Leonhard | title = Alexander Numenius | editor = [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 123 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0132.html | url-status = usurped | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518080312/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0132.html | archive-date = 2007-05-18 }}</ref>
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About his life almost nothing is known.  We possess two works ascribed to him. The one which certainly is his work bears the title Περὶ τῶν τῆς διανοίας καὶ τῆς λέξεως σχημάτων {{Transliteration|grc|Peri ton tes dianoias kai tes lexeos schematon.}}  [[Julius Rufinianus]], in his work on the same subject expressly states that [[Aquila Romanus]], in his [[Latin]] treatise ''De Figuris Sententiarum et Elocutionis'', took his materials from Alexander's work.<ref>[[Julius Rufinianus]], p. 195, ed. [[David Ruhnken|Ruhnken]]</ref> Another epitome was made in the 4th century by a [[Christianity|Christian]] for use in Christian schools, containing additional examples from [[Gregory Nazianzus]].<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Alexander (rhetorician)|display=Alexander|volume=1|page=564}}</ref>

The second work traditionally attributed to Alexander Numenius, titled ''On Show-Speeches'' ({{lang|grc|Περὶ Ἐπιδεικτικῶν}}), is acknowledged by virtually all critics not the work of this Alexander, but of a later grammarian also named Alexander; that is, made up very clumsily from two distinct works, one of which was written by one Alexander, and the other by [[Menander Rhetor]].<ref>Vales. ''ad [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Euseb.]] Hist. Eccles.'' p. 28</ref>  The [[editio princeps|first edition]] of these two works is the [[Aldine edition]] (''Rhetores Graeci'', Venice, 1508, fol., vol. i. p.&nbsp;574, &c.).  They are also contained in [[Ernst Christian Walz|Walz]]'s ''Rhetores Graeci'', vol. viii.  The genuine work of Alexander Numenius has also been edited, together with [[Minucianus]] and [[Phoebammon]], by L. Normann, with a [[Latin]] translation and useful notes, Upsala, 1690, 8vo.<ref>[[David Ruhnken]], ''ad [[Aquila Romanus|Aquil. Rom.]]'' p. 139, &c.</ref><ref>Westermann, ''Gesch. der Griech. Beredisamkeit'', ~ 95, n. 13, ~ 104, n. 7</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aquila Romanus]]

==References==
*{{SmithDGRBM|wstitle=Alexander Numenius}}
* Ahn Jaewon: Alexandri de figuris sententiarum et verborum. Göttingen 2004 (electronic dissertation)
* {{cite journal | last=Jaewon | first=Ahn | title=Anonymi christiani tractatus de figuris sententiarum et verborum (Nota Marginalis in Paris. 1741) | journal=Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies | volume=54 | date=2015-08-03 | issn=0076-0730 | pages=89–113 | doi=10.1111/j.2041-5370.2011.00018.x | url=https://www.academia.edu/8163282 | access-date=2017-02-17}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Greek text: [[Leonhard von Spengel]], ''Rhetores graeci'', vol. 3 (Leipzig: [[Teubner]], 1856), pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BgFKs8KaEcYC&pg=PA1 1]-40, with preface, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BgFKs8KaEcYC&pg=PR3 iii]-v (Google Books; [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721083654/http://www.toxolyros.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3219&lang=en&Itemid=704 HTML])
* ''The biographical dictionary of the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge'', vol. 3, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3bFjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA217 p. 217].

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[[Category:Ancient Greek rhetoricians]]
[[Category:Rhetoric theorists]]


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