Five
ancient Greek novels survive complete from
antiquity:
Chariton's
Callirhoe (mid-1st century),
Achilles Tatius'
Leucippe and Clitophon (early-2nd century),
Longus'
Daphnis and Chloe (2nd century),
Xenophon of Ephesus'
Ephesian Tale (late-2nd century), and
Heliodorus of Emesa's
Aethiopica (third century). There are also numerous fragments preserved on papyrus or in quotations, and summaries by the Byzantine bishop
Photius. The unattributed
Metiochus and Parthenope may be preserved by what appears to be a faithful Persian translation by the poet
Unsuri. The Greek novel as a genre began in the first century CE, and flourished in the first four centuries; it is thus a product of the
Roman Empire. The exact relationship between the Greek novel and the Latin novels of
Petronius and
Apuleius is debated, but both Roman writers are thought by most scholars to have been aware of and to some extent influenced by the Greek novels.