John the Lydian
John the Lydian or John Lydus (; ) (ca. AD 490 – ca. 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer on antiquarian subjects. Life and career. He was born in 490 AD at Philadelphia in Lydia, whence his cognomen "Lydus". At an early age he set out to seek his fortune in Constantinople, and held high court and state offices in the praetorian prefecture of the East under Anastasius and Justinian. Around 543, Lydus was appointed to a chair of Latin language and literature at an institute of higher education of Constantinople. In 552, he lost Justinian's favour and  was dismissed. The date of his death is not known, but he was probably alive during the early years of Justin II (reigned 565–578). Literary work. During his retirement he occupied himself in the compilation of works on the antiquities of Rome, three of which have been preserved: The chief value of these books consists in the fact that the author made use of the works (now lost) of old Roman writers on similar subjects. Lydus was also commissioned by Justinian to compose a panegyric on the emperor, and a history of his campaign against Sassanid Persia; but these, as  well as some poetical compositions, are lost. He was interested in gynaecology and embryology and included several related passages in his "De Mensibus", with references to previous authors. His sources are mainly Greek, and two of them are Latin. Editions and translations. There is an edition of "De Ostentis" by Curt Wachsmuth (1897), with full account of the authorities in the prolegomena. There is an edition of "De Magistratibus" and "De Mensibus" by Richard Wünsch (1898–1903). See also the essay by CB Hase (the first editor of the "De Ostentis") prefixed to I. Bekker's edition of Lydus (1837) in  the Bonn "Corpus scriptorum hist. Byzantinae". For "De Magistratibus", Wünsch's edition has been superseded by Anastasius C. Bandy's 1983 edition and translation. See also: