Sosibius

(Σωσίβιος), historical.

1. A Tarentine, one of the captains of the body guards of Ptolemy Philadelphus. (J. AJ 12.2.2.) It is not improbable he may have been the father of the minister of Ptolemy Philopator.

2. The chief minister of Ptolemy Philopator, king of Egypt. Nothing is known of his origin or parentage. though he may have been a son of No. 1; nor have we any account of the means by which he rose to power; but we find him immediately after the accession of Ptolemy (B. C. 222), exercising the greatest influence aver the young king, and virtually holding the chief direction of affairs. He soon proved himself, as he is termed by Polybius, a ready and dexterous instrument of tyranny : it was by his ministration, if not at his instigation, that Ptolemy put to death in succession his uncle Lysimachus, his brother Magas, and his mother Berenice. Not long after, Cleomenes, of whose influence with the mercenary troops Sosibius had at this time dexterously availed himself, shared the same fate (Plb. 5.34-39, 15.25; Plut. Cleom. 33-35). While the young king gave himself up to luxury and debauchery, the whole administration of the kingdom appears to have been left to Sosibius, who allowed both the finances and military defences to fall into a state of the greatest decay, so that when Antiochus the Great declared war against Ptolemy, and invaded Coele-Syria, it was some time before the Egyptian monarch or his ministers could muster an army to oppose him. Sosibius, however, displayed some dexterity in delaying the progress of Antiochus by negotiation until he had time to organise a mercenary force : and when, in B. C. 218, Ptolemy at length took the field in person, Sosibius acccompanied him, and was present at the decisive battle of Raphia. After the close of the campaign he found a more congenial occupation in negotiating the terms of the treaty of peace, which Ptolemy commissioned him to arrange with Antiochus. (Plb. 5.63, 65, 66, 83, 87.)

During the remainder of the reign of Ptolemy Sosibius seems to have retained his power, without opposition, though sharing it in some degree with the infamous Agathocles, but we have very little information with regard to the latter years of his rule. We are told, however, that he was once more the minister of Ptolemy in putting to death his wife and sister Arsinoe, as he had previously been in the murder of his other relations (Plb. 15.25). But great as was the address of Sosibius in all the arts and intrigues of a courtier, he was no match for his yet baser colleague Agathocles ; and although, after the death of Philopator (B. C. 205), the two ministers at first assumed in conjunction the guardianship of the young king, Ptolemy Epiphanes, Sosibius seems to have been soon supplanted and put to death by his insidious rival. All particulars of these events are, however, lost to us. (Plb. 15.25, 34; and Schweigh. ad loc.)

3. A son of the preceding, who held the office of body-guard (Somatophylax) to the young king, Ptolemy Epiphanes; a post which Agathocles suffered him to retain (probably on account of his youth) even after the death of his father. In the tumult which led to the destruction of Agathocles, Sosibius took a decisive part, by appealing to the infant monarch himself to give up his hated favourites to the populace; and it was probably on this account that he subsequently obtained the guardianship of the young king's person, with the custody of the royal signet. These duties he discharged in a manner that gave general satisfaction ; but the intrigues of his more turbulent and ambitious brother, Ptolemy, having involved him in an open rupture with Tlepolemus, who was at the head of the administration, the latter obtained the advantage, and compelled Sosibius to resign his office; from which time we hear no more of him. (Plb. 15.32. 16.22.) [E.H.B]

(Σωσίβως), literary.

1. A philosopher mentioned by Diogenes Laertius (2.46) as having opposed the opinions of Anaxagoras; but it does not follow necessarily that he was contemporary with Anaxagoras. Nothing more is known of him.

2. A distinguished Lacedaemonian grammarian, who flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (about B. C. 251), and was contemporary with Callimachus. (Ath. xi. p. 493f., iv. p. 144. e.) He was one of those writers who employed themselves in solving the difficulties met with in the ancient authors, and who were therefore called Λυτικοί or ἐπιλυτικοί, in opposition to the ἐνστατικοί, who employed their ingenuity in proposing problems for others to solve. (Suid. s.v. Ath. xi. p. 493f.) Works

The following works of his are quoted : -- 1. Περλ̀ Ἀλκμᾶνος

(Ath. iii. p 115, a., xiv. p. 646a., p. 648b.) 2. Περὶ τῶν ἐν Λακεδαλ́μονι θυσιῶν

(Ath. xv. p. 674a., p. 678b.) 3. Ὁμοιότητες

(Ath. xv. p. 690e.) 4. A Chronography

Entitled περὶ χρόνων (Ath. xiv. p. 635f.) or χρονῶν ἀναγραφή (Clem. Alex. Strom. vol. i. p. 327c.) Work on the ancient Dorian comedy

One of his works, but we are not told which, contained information respecting the ancient Dorian Comedy of the Dicelistae and the Mimes. (Suid. s. vv. Σωσίβιος, Δικηλιστῶν; Ath. xiv. p. 621). Other quotations

Besides the passages now referred to, there are several other quotations from his writings. Futher Information

Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 379; Vossius, de Hist. Graec. pp. 136, 137, ed. Westermann; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p. 508.

3. A grammarian, who lived under Claudius, and was the tutor of Britannicus. (Tac. Ann. 11.1.)

4. Respecting the supposed tragic poet of this name, see Sositheus. [P.S]

(Σωσίβιος), an Athenian sculptor, known as the maker of a vase about two feet high, in the Louvre, adorned with eight figures in relief, of which two are those of Artemis and Hermes, and the remaining six represent a sacrifice. The two figures of divinities are in the archaic style, but the others display a freedom and grace, which has led Waagen to suppose it not improbable that the artist lived in the time of Pheidias. The architectural ornaments on the vase are quite in the style of that age. (Clarac, pl. 126, No. 332; Bouillon, 3.79; Waagen, Kunstwerke u. Künstler in Paris, p. 101; Nagler, Künstler-Lexicon, s. v. Sosibius.) [P.S]

(Σωσίβιος). A Lacedaemonian grammarian who flourished at Alexandria under Ptolemy II. (Athen. p. 493).