SPARZIANO, ELIO. — One of the six writers of the Historia Augusta. To him are attributed the biographies of: Hadrian, compiled from the emperor’s own autobiography or other sources (cf. chaps. I, 3, 5, 7, 16 and Vita Ael. Veri, 3); of Elagabalus, addressed to Diocletian, in whose prologue he declares his intention to write the lives even of those who were merely Caesars or princes without ever reaching the imperial throne; of Didius Julianus; of Septimius Severus; of Pescennius Niger; of Caracalla; and of Geta, the latter dedicated to Constantine.
BIBL.: V. AUGUSTA.
