Bibliotheca historica

E651458

1st-century BCE book Greek prose work ancient historical work universal history

Bibliotheca historica is an extensive universal history written in Greek in the 1st century BCE, covering mythic origins through the author’s own era and serving as a key source for many lost ancient works.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Bibliotheca historica canonical	1
Bibliotheca historica by Diodorus Siculus	1
Bibliotheke historike	1
Book 10 of Historical Library	1
Book 8 of Historical Library	1
DiodorusSiculusLibraryOfHistory	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7253494 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Bibliotheca historica
Context triple: [Diodorus Siculus, notableWork, Bibliotheca historica]

A. Chronicon
Chronicon is a medieval historical chronicle that records events in chronological order, often used as a key source for understanding the period it covers.
B. Geschichte des Altertums
Geschichte des Altertums is a multi-volume scholarly history of the ancient world by German historian Eduard Meyer, renowned for its comprehensive and systematic treatment of ancient civilizations.
C. Hypatian Chronicle
The Hypatian Chronicle is a key medieval East Slavic historical chronicle that preserves important accounts of Kievan Rus' and neighboring regions.
D. Annals of the World
Annals of the World is a 17th-century chronological history of the world by Archbishop James Ussher, best known for its detailed biblical timeline that famously dates Creation to 4004 BC.
E. Νέα Ἱστορία
Νέα Ἱστορία is the Greek title of the historical work "New History," a text traditionally associated with late antique or Byzantine historiography.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Bibliotheca historica
Target entity description: Bibliotheca historica is an extensive universal history written in Greek in the 1st century BCE, covering mythic origins through the author’s own era and serving as a key source for many lost ancient works.

A. Chronicon
Chronicon is a medieval historical chronicle that records events in chronological order, often used as a key source for understanding the period it covers.
B. Geschichte des Altertums
Geschichte des Altertums is a multi-volume scholarly history of the ancient world by German historian Eduard Meyer, renowned for its comprehensive and systematic treatment of ancient civilizations.
C. Hypatian Chronicle
The Hypatian Chronicle is a key medieval East Slavic historical chronicle that preserves important accounts of Kievan Rus' and neighboring regions.
D. Annals of the World
Annals of the World is a 17th-century chronological history of the world by Archbishop James Ussher, best known for its detailed biblical timeline that famously dates Creation to 4004 BC.
E. Νέα Ἱστορία
Νέα Ἱστορία is the Greek title of the historical work "New History," a text traditionally associated with late antique or Byzantine historiography.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	1st-century BCE book ⓘ Greek prose work ⓘ ancient historical work ⓘ universal history ⓘ
aim	to provide a comprehensive history of the known world ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Bibliotheke historike ⓘ linked to: Bibliotheca historica Historical Library ⓘ
author	Diodorus Siculus ⓘ
coversPeriodFrom	mythic origins of the world ⓘ
coversPeriodTo	author’s own era ⓘ time of Julius Caesar ⓘ
dateWritten	1st century BCE ⓘ
focusesOn	Egyptian history ⓘ Greek history ⓘ Near Eastern history ⓘ Roman expansion ⓘ Sicilian history ⓘ
genre	historiography ⓘ history ⓘ
hasManuscriptTradition	medieval Greek manuscripts ⓘ
influencedBy	Apollodorus of Athens ⓘ Ephorus of Cyme ⓘ Hieronymus of Cardia ⓘ Polybius ⓘ Timaeus of Tauromenium ⓘ
language	Ancient Greek ⓘ
literaryStyle	straightforward narrative prose ⓘ
notableFor	attempting a universal history of known peoples ⓘ preserving information from otherwise lost sources ⓘ
numberOfBooks	40 ⓘ
originalTitleLanguage	Greek ⓘ
placeOfComposition	Rome ⓘ Sicily ⓘ
preservationStatus	partially lost ⓘ
section	history of non-Greek and Greek peoples ⓘ history of the Hellenistic and Roman periods ⓘ mythic history and early peoples ⓘ
sourceFor	lost works of Greek historians ⓘ lost works of Hellenistic historians ⓘ lost works of Sicilian historians ⓘ
structure	organized into three major sections ⓘ
subject	ethnography ⓘ geography ⓘ military history ⓘ mythology ⓘ political history ⓘ
survivingBooks	Books 11–20 ⓘ Books 1–5 ⓘ fragments of other books ⓘ
usedBy	modern historians of antiquity ⓘ
workPeriod	Hellenistic period ⓘ

How these facts were elicited