His chief work was the
Olympiads, an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th
Olympiad (776 BC to AD 137), of which several chapters are preserved in
Eusebius'
Chronicle,
Photius, and
George Syncellus. Two short works by him are extant.
On Marvels consists of "anecdotes culled from sources as diverse as the Greek poet
Hesiod and the Roman natural historian
Pliny the Elder. Each... recounts a fantastical or paranormal event."
On Long-Lived Persons contains a list of Italians who had passed the age of 100, taken from the censuses of the Roman Empire. Other works ascribed to Phlegon in the
Suda are a description of
Sicily, a work on the Roman festivals in three books, and a topography of
Rome: :"Phlegon of Tralles, freedman of Augustus Caesar, but some say of Hadrian: historian. He wrote Olympiads in 16 books. Up to the 229th Olympiad they contain what was done everywhere. And these in 8 books:
Description of Sicily;
On long-lived and marvelous persons,
On the feasts of the Romans 3 books,
On the places in Rome and by what names they are called,
Epitome of Olympic victors in 2 books, and other things. :"Of this Phlegon, as
Philostorgius says, to relate fully in detail what befell with the Jews, while Phlegon and Dio mentioned [these events] briefly and made them an appendix to their own narrative. Since this man does not exhibit at all prudently those who would lead to piety and other virtues, as those others do not either. Josephus, on the contrary, is like one who fears and takes care not to offend the [sc.pagan] Greeks." ==Reference to Jesus==