Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Alexander Cornelius, Greek grammarian, surnamed Polyhistor from his great learning, born at Miletus or Myndus in Caria, flourished about 70 B.C. He was taken prisoner in the Mithridatic war by Sulla, from whom (or from Cornelius Lentulus) he received his freedom and assumed the name Cornelius. He accompanied Crassus on his Parthian campaigns, and perished at the destruction by fire of his house at Laurentum. He is said to have written "books without number," chiefly on historical and geographical subjects. Of the extant fragments (Müller, ''Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum,'' iii:) those relating to the Jews are important as containing quotations from lost Jewish authors. Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.