were suppressed by Theodosius I. (379-395 A.D.); and xiii. 335
sqq., which contains a prophecy, the special particularity of
which, it is maintained by Koechly, limits its applicability to
the middle of the fourth century A.D.

His place of birth, and the precise locality, is given by himself
in xii. 308-313, and confirmatory evidence is afforded by his
familiarity, of which he gives numerous instances, with many
natural features of the western part of Asia Minor.

With respect to his authorities, and the use he made of their
writings, there has been more difference of opinion. Since his
narrative covers the same ground as the "Aethiopis" ("Coming of
Memnon") and the "Iliupersis" ("Destruction of Troy") of Arctinus
(circ. 776 B.C.), and the "Little Iliad" of Lesches (circ. 700
B.C.), it has been assumed that the work of Quintus "is little
more than an amplification or remodelling of the works of these
two Cyclic Poets." This, however, must needs be pure conjecture,
as the only remains of these poets consist of fragments amounting
to no more than a very few lines from each, and of the "summaries
of contents" made by the grammarian Proclus (circ. 140 A.D.),
which, again, we but get at second-hand through the "Bibliotheca"
of Photius (ninth century). Now, not merely do the only
descriptions of incident that are found in the fragments differ
essentially from the corresponding incidents as described by
Quintus, but even in the summaries, meagre as they are, we find,
as German critics have shown by exhaustive investigation, serious
discrepancies enough to justify us in the conclusion that, even
if Quintus had the works of the Cyclic poets before him, which is
far from certain, his poem was no mere remodelling of theirs, but