Agathocles
Ἀγαθοκλῆς
(Ἀγαθοκλῆς), a Greek historian, who wrote the history of Cyzicus (περὶ Κυζίκου). He is called by Athenaeus both a Babylonian (i. p. 30a. ix. p. 375a) and a Cyzican. (xiv. p. 649f.) He may originally have come from Babylon, and have settled at Cyzicus. The time at which Agathocles lived is unknown, and his work is now lost.
Works
History of Cyzicus (περὶ Κυζίκου)
The first and third books are referred to by Athenaeus. (ix. p. 375f., xii. p. 515a.) and it seems to have been extensively read in antiquity, as it is also referred to by Cicero (de Div. 1.24), Pliny (Hist. Nat. Elenchus of books iv. v. vi), and other ancient writers.
On the Origin of Rome
Agathocles also spoke of the origin of Rome. (Festus, s. v. Romam; Solinus, Polyh. 1.)
Memoirs
The scholiast on Apollonius (4.761) cites Memoirs (ὑπομνήματα) by an Agathocles, who is usually supposed to be the same as the above-mentioned one. (Compare Schol. ad Hes. Theog. 485; Steph. Byz. s. v. Βέσβικος; Etymol. M. s. v. Δίκτη.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.