Biography
Aulus Licinius Archias (fl. c. 120 – 61 BC) was a Greek poet born in Antioch in Syria (modern Antakya in Turkey). In 102 BC, his reputation having been already established, especially as an improvisatore, he went to Rome, where he was well received amongst the highest and most influential families. His chief patron was Lucullus, whose gentile name he assumed. In 93 BC he visited Sicily with his patron, on which occasion he received the citizenship of Lucanian Heraclea, one of the federate towns, and indirectly, by the provisions of the Lex Plautia Papiria, that of Rome. In 62 BC he was accused by a certain Gratius of having assumed the citizenship illegally; and Cicero successfully defended him in his speech Pro Archia. This speech, which furnishes nearly all the information concerning Archias, states that he had celebrated the deeds of Gaius Marius and Lucullus in the Cimbrian and Mithridatic Wars, and that he was engaged upon a poem of which the events of Cicero's consulship formed the subject. The Greek Anthology contains thirty-five epigrams under the name of Archias, but it is doubtful how many of these are his work.
