Olympiodorus of Thebes

Olympiodorus was an historical writer (5th century AD), born at Thebes in Egypt, who was sent on a mission to Attila by emperor Honorius in 412, and later lived at the court of Theodosius.

He was the author of a history in 22 books of the Western Empire from 407 to 425. The original is lost, but an abstract is given by Photius, according to whom he was an alchemist. A manuscript treatise on alchemy, reputed to be by him, is preserved in the National Library in Paris, and was printed with a translation by PEM Berthelot in his Collection des alchimistes grecs (1887-1888).

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.