Thallus (historian)
Greek historian / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Thallus or Thallos (Greek: Θαλλός), perhaps a Samaritan,[1] was an early historian who wrote in Koine Greek. He wrote a three-volume history of the Mediterranean world from before the Trojan War to the 167th Olympiad, 112–108 BC, or perhaps to the 217th Olympiad (AD 89-93) or 207th Olympiad (AD 49-52). Most of his work, like the vast majority of ancient literature, has been lost, although some of his writings were quoted by Sextus Julius Africanus in his History of the World.[2][3][4] It is not known when he lived and wrote, but his work is quoted by Theophilus of Antioch, who died around AD 185, and most scholars date Thallus' writings to around 50 AD.[2]
The works are considered important by some Christians as confirming the historicity of Jesus and providing non-Christian validation of the Gospel accounts.[2] According to the early Christian scholar Julius Africanus, Thallus apparently refers, in the third book of his histories, to the darkness at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and explained it away as a solar eclipse; there is a range of interpretations on the matter.[5][6]