Berosus

Berosus (perhaps from Bar-Osea, the son of Oseas), a priest of Belus and historian at Babylon, lived, according to some, at 250 B.C., according to others, at the time of Alexander the Great. He wrote a history of Chaldaea, which he compiled from the temple archives of Babylon, of which he was the keeper. This work, which was highly valued by the ancients, was still extant at the time of Josephus, who used it to a considerable extent for his Antiquities, Other fragments may be found in the writings of Eusebius and others. Fabricius, in his Biblioth. Groeca (tom. 14), has collected the least doubtful fragments of Berosus. Other collections of these fragments were made by Richter, Berosi Chaldaeorum histories quae supersunt (Leipz. 1825), and by Didot (1848). A work with the title Antiquitatum libri quinque cum commentariis Joannis Annii, which first appeared at Rome 1498 (again Heidelb. 1599, Wittenb. 1612), is a forgery of the Dominican Giovanni Nanni, of Viterbo. Whether the historian Berosus is the same person as the astronomer is still a controverted question. The astronomer Berosus, who is likewise called a Chaldaean and priest of Belus at Babylon, left his native country, and established a school on the island of Cos. See Vossius, De Hist. Grace. 13; Fabricius, Bibl. Graeca, 4, 163; Biogr. Generale, s.v.; Smith, Dict. of Class. Biog. s.v.