De fluviis
De fluviīs, also called Dē fluviōrum et montium nōminibus et dē iīs quae in illīs inveniuntur or the Greek Περὶ ποταμῶν καὶ ὀρῶν ἐπωνυμίας, is a Greek text by Pseudo-Plutarch written during the 2nd century CE. It discusses twenty-five rivers in Greece, Asia Minor, India, Gaul, Egypt, Scythia, and Armenia. The chapters typically start with a myth about the river, include information about local flora and stones, and end with details about a nearby mountain.
Scholars today classify it as paradoxography, or even a parody of paradoxography.
The work
Notably, Pseudo-Plutarch describes 22 of the 25 rivers as deriving their names from people who committed suicide in them. Six of the rivers were renamed twice due to suicide. Several of the mountains are also said to have gotten their names from suicides.Most of the plants and stones described have mystical qualities to them, from warding off spirits and gods, to causing and healing madness, to exposing liars and thieves.
Sources are cited throughout the book including the Treatise of Rivers by Achelaus, the Second Book of Rivers by Sostratus, the Third Book of Mountains by Dercyllus, the Third Book of Plants by Ctesiphon, and the History of Boeotia by Leo of Byzantium. A full list is given below.
Authorship
The work is considered pseudepigrapha, meaning written by someone other than the attributed author, Plutarch. It is only preserved by the 9th century codex Palatinus gr. Heidelbergensis 398, which includes a marginal note stating, "This is pseudepigraphic, for the intellectual level and diction are far from the genius of Plutarch. Unless he might be some other Plutarch."Works cited in-text
Some 49 different writers are cited with 65 works between them, including 13 on rivers, 9 on stones, 7 histories, and 12 on international relations. Five are listed as the thirteenth volume on that topic by that author. Based on the titles, there would be at least 204 works by these authors.In comparison, Plutarch's Alexander, a much longer work, cites around 25 sources by name. The authors cited in De fluviis seem to very conveniently come in rashes of similar syllables, e.g. Ctesias, Ctesiphon, Ctesippus. The text itself is highly repetitive. These facts among others cause scholars to doubt heavily that any of the works and authors cited ever existed.
However, it does provide insight into the mind of a 2nd century Greek writer, shedding some light on what they would have considered legitimate. If the intended genre was parody, then it gives insight on what a writer from the period found humorous.
| Author | Books | Chapters |
| Achelaus | Treatise of RiversFirst Book of RiversFirst Book of Stones | I, VIII |
| Agatharchides the Samian | Fourth Book of StonesPhrygian Relations | IX, X |
| Agatho the Samian | Second Book of Scythian Relations | XIV |
| Agathocles the Milesian | History of Rivers | XVIII |
| Agathocles the Samian | Commonwealth of Pessinus | IX |
| Alexander Cornelius | Third Book of Phrygian Relations | X |
| Antisthenes | Third Book of Meleagris | XXII |
| Aretazes | Phrygian Relations | XII |
| Aristobulus | First Book of Stones | XIV |
| Aristonymus | Third Book of | XXIV |
| Aristotle | Fourth Book of Rivers | XXV |
| Caemaron | Tenth Book of the Affairs of India | IV |
| Callisthenes | Third Book of Hunting | IV |
| Callisthenes the Sybarite | Thirteenth Book of Gallic Relations | VI |
| Chrysermus | History of IndiaThird Book of RiversThirteenth Book of Rivers | I, VII, XX |
| Chrysermus the Corinthian | First Book of his Peloponnesiacs | XVIII |
| Cleanthes | Third Book of the Wars of the GodsFirst Book of Mountains | V, XVII |
| Clitonymus | Third Book of Thracian Relations | III |
| Clitophon | Thirteenth Book of the Building of Cities | VI, VII |
| Clitophon the Rhodian | First Book of Indian Relations | XXV |
| Ctesias | First Book of Rivers | XIX |
| Ctesias the Cnidian | Second Book of Mountains | XXI |
| Ctesias the Ephesian | First Book of the Acts of Perseus | XVIII |
| Ctesiphon | Third Book of PlantsFirst Book of TreesThirteenth Book of Trees | XIV, XVIII, XXIII |
| Ctesippus | Second Book of Scythian Relations | V |
| Damaratus | Third Book of RiversFourth Book of Phrygia | IX |
| Demodocus | First Book of the History of Hercules | XVIII |
| Demostratus of Apamea | Second Book of Rivers | IX, XIII |
| Dercyllus | Third Book of MountainsFirst Book of SatyricsFirst Book of StonesThird Book of Aetolics | I, VIII, X, XIX, XXII |
| Diocles the Rhodian | Aetolics | XXII |
| Dorotheus the Chaldaean | Second Book of Stones | XXIII |
| Heraclitus the Sicyonian | Second Book of Stones | XIII |
| Hermesianax of Cyprus | Second Book of his Phrygian Relations | II, XII, XXIV |
| Hermogenes | XVII | |
| Jason of Byzantium | Thracian Histories | XI |
| Leo of Byzantium | History of BoeotiaThird Book of Rivers | II, XXIV |
| Nicanor the Samian | Second Book of Rivers | XVII |
| Nicias Mallotes | Book of Stones | XX |
| Plesimachus | Second Book of the Returns of the Heroes | XVIII |
| Sosthenes the Cnidian | Thirteenth Book of Iberian Relations | XVI |
| Sostratus | Second Book of RiversFirst Collection of Fabulous History | II, XXIV |
| Theophilus | First Book of Stones | XXIV |
| Thrasyllus | Third Book of Stones | XI |
| Thrasyllus the Mendesian | Thracian HistoriesRelation of Egypt | XVI |
| Timagenes the Syrian | VI | |
| Timagoras | First Book of Rivers | XXI |
| Timolaus | First Book of Phrygian Relations | IX |
| Timotheus | Eleventh Book of RiversArgolica | III, XVIII |