Quintus Curtius Rufus

Quintus Curtius Rufus
Quintus Curtius Rufus. Historia Alexandri Magni. Leiden: Elzevier, 1664.
OccupationHistorian
LanguageLatin
CitizenshipRoman Empire
GenresBiography, history
SubjectLife and times of Alexander the Great
Literary movementSilver age of Latin literature
Years activefirst century AD
Notable worksHistories of Alexander the Great

Quintus Curtius Rufus (/ˈkwɪntəs ˈkɜːrʃiəs ˈrfəs/) was a Roman historian, likely active in the 1st century AD. He is known solely for his surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni ("Histories of Alexander the Great"), more fully titled Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt ("The Surviving Books of the Histories of Alexander the Great of Macedon"). Significant portions of the original work are missing.

Aside from his name on the manuscripts, no biographical details about Curtius Rufus are definitively known. This lack of information has led some philologists to speculate that he may have had another, unidentified historical identity. Several theories have been proposed, though they are regarded with varying degrees of credibility. Nevertheless, the identity of Quintus Curtius Rufus as the author of the Histories is generally treated as distinct.