Little is known about the author of the only full-length biography of Alexander the Great written in Latin. Doubts have been raised not only about his name but also about the title of his work and the era in which he composed it. In regard to the author's name, most of the manuscripts mention a Curtius Rufus in their titles, but the colophons of the same manuscripts provide an additional name and read Quintus Curtius Rufus. The title, when it is not wholly lacking, varies from Historiae to Historiae Alexandri Magni Macedonis to Historiae Magni Macedonis Alexandri. Thus, in an irony of history, this biographer-historian seems to have left few clues as to his own story, and the questions remaining likely will not be answered.

Because so little information about Curtius Rufus has come down to present-day readers, and most of that was interpolated from his own words...