Callinicus

Callinicus, surnamed or nicknamed Sutorius or Suetorius, sometimes known as Kallinikos of Petra or Callinicus of Petra was an ancient Greek historian of Arab descent, orator, rhetorician and sophist who flourished in the 3rd century. He came from a local eminent family from either Arabia Petraea or Syria. Little is known about his family except that his father's Praenomen was Gaius. Callinicus was one of the most cultural figures that came from the Eastern Roman Empire. He was a contemporary and friend to Roman Emperor Gallienus (253-268) and Queen of the Palmyrene Empire, Zenobia. During the reign of Gallienus and his father Valerian, Callinicus taught Rhetoric in Athens, Greece. Later Callinicus accepted the patronage of Syrian Queen of Palmyra, Zenobia (reigned before 258–273). Callinicus moved and lived in Zenobia's court first in Palmyra and later in Alexandria, Egypt.