a native of Cnidus, who accompanied Cyrus the son of Darius in his expedition against his brother Artaxerxes, by whom he was taken prisoner. But having cured Artaxerxes of a wound which he had received in the battle, he became a great favourite at the court of Persia, where he continued practising physic for seventeen years, and was employed in several negotiations. He wrote a history of Persia in twenty-three books, and also a history of the Indies; but these works are now lost, and all that remains of them is an abridgement compiled by Photinus. The most judicious among the ancients looked upon Ctesias as a fabulous writer; yet several of the ancient historians and of modern Christian writers have adopted his chronology of the Assyrian kings.