He was born in Crete, then a Venetian colony, but emigrated to Rome at a young age. In 1499 he helped bring out the Etymologicum Magnum in VeniceJohn Addington Symonds, Renaissance in Italy: The Revival of Learning, 1918, p.208 and in 1515 he set up a printing press where he published exclusively Greek volumes, among them the first Greek book printed in Rome, Pindar's Epinikion ("Victory Odes"). He also instituted the (Gymnasium Caballini Montis) where lectures were given, by among others, eminent fellow Cretan scholar Marcus Musurus and Janus Lascaris.
