Aspasius of Byblos

Aspasius (Ancient Greek: Ἀσπάσιος) of Byblos was a sophist of Ancient Greece who according to the Suda was a contemporary of the sophists Adrianus and Aelius Aristides, and who consequently lived in the reign of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, around 180 CE.^[1] He was a pupil of Apsines (this was the 2nd-century Athenian sophist Apsines, and not Apsines of Gadara or the 4th century sophist Apsines).^[2]

He is mentioned among the commentators on Demosthenes and Aeschines; and in the Suda several other works are ascribed to him, including works on Byblos (one of the rare Greek-written histories of the Phoenicians), meditations, rhetoric, declamations, an encomium on the emperor Hadrian, and some other writings. All of these are lost, with the exception of a few extracts from his commentaries.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Some scholars have suggested that some works previously ascribed to Apsines were actually the works of this person. He may also be the same person as Aspasius of Tyre.^[2]