to
have displayed an undue love of recording signs and wonders. Polybius,
however (vi. 45), classes him among the best historical writers. His
style is said by Cicero (_de Or._ ii. 14) to approximate to the
rhetorical (Pauly).

KLEITARCHUS, a contemporary of Alexander, accompanied that monarch on
his Asiatic expedition, and wrote a history of the same in twelve books,
which must have included at least a short retrospect on the early
history of Asia. His talents are spoken of in high terms, but his credit
as an historian is held very light--"probatur ingenium, fides
infamatur," Quint. x. 1, 74. Cicero also (_de Leg._ i. 2) ranks him very
low. That his credit as an historian was sacrificed to a childish
credulity and a foolish love of fable and adventure is sufficiently
testified by the pretty numerous fragments which still remain (Pauly).
Demetrius Phalereus, quoted by Pearce, quotes a grandiloquent
description of the wasp taken from Kleitarchus, "feeding on the
mountainside, her home the hollow oak."

MATRIS, a native of Thebes, author of a panegyric on Herakles, whether
in verse or prose is uncertain. In one passage Athenaeus speaks of him
as an Athenian, but this must be a mistake. Toup restores a verse from
an allusion in Diodorus Siculus (i. 24), which, if genuine, would agree
well with the description given of him by Longinus: +Eraklea kaleesken,
hoti kleos esche dia Heran+ (see Toup ad Long. III. ii.)

PHILISTUS of Syracuse, a relative of the elder Dionysius, whom he
assisted with his wealth in his attack on the liberty of that city, and
remained with him until 386 B.C., when he was banished by the jealous
suspicions of the tyrant. He retired to Epirus, where he remained until
Dionysius's death. The younger Dionysius recalled him, wishing to employ
him in the character of supporter against Dion. By his instrumentality
it would seem that Dion and Plato were banished from Syracuse. He
commanded the fleet in the struggle between Dion and Dionysius, and lost
a battle, whereupon he was seized and put to death by the people. During
his banishment he wrote his historical work, +ta Sikelika+, divided into
two parts and numbering eleven books. The first division embraced the
history of Sicily from the earliest times down to the capture of
Agrigentum (seven books), and the remaining four books dealt with the
life of Dionysius the elder. He afterwards added a supplement in two
books, giving an account of the younger Dion