Our knowledge of the Presocratic philosophers is almost entirely indirect; for even where we possess their actual words, those words are preserved, fragmentarily, as quotations in the works of later authors. The sources we rely upon for testimonia and fragments span two millennia: they differ widely, one from another, in their literary aims, their historical competence, and their philosophical interests.
This appendix lists in chronological order the ancient authors I have quoted from or alluded to in the text and the notes. Some of the authors are (from a Presocratic point of view) of minor or minimal importance. A single asterisk is prefixed to the names of the more freely flowing sources; and those few gushing streams are marked by a pair of stars. Each name is followed by a date, often roundly given, and the briefest of biographical sentences. When a ‘principal work’ is named, that is not necessarily the author’s major opus, but rather the book which holds most interest for students of the Presocratics.
Where no edition of the ancient text is mentioned, the reader may assume that I have used only the excerpts printed in Diels-Kranz. In citing editions I use these abbreviations:
CIAG Commentarai in Aristotelem Graeca (Berlin, 1881–1909)
OCT Oxford Classical Texts
SdA Die Scbule des Aristoteles, ed. F. Wehrli (Basel, 1967–92)
HERODOTUS: c.485-c.430; the father of history. Edition: OCT, Hude.
HIPPOCRATES: c.470-c.380. The Hippocratic corpus is a compilation of works of various dates and of a medical character; perhaps none of them was written by the great Hippocrates himself. Abbreviations:
cord de corde
morb de morbo
morb sacr de morbo sacro
nat puer de natura puerorum
vet med de vetere medicina (ed. Festugière [218])
vict de victu
Edition: Littré, Paris, 1839–61.
ISOCRATES: 436–338; orator, statesman, and opponent of the
Academy. Edition: Teubner, Benseler and Blass.
XENOPHON: c.430-c.355; general, historian, and pupil of Socrates.
Principal work: Memorabilia. Edition: OCT, Marchant.
*PLATO: 427–347; his dialogues contain numerous references to his Presocratic predecessors. Edition: OCT, Burnet.
SPEUSIPPUS: c.410–340; Plato’s nephew and successor as head of the Academy; only fragments of his writings survive. Edition: Lang, Bonn, 1911.
XENOCRATES: fl. second half of fourth century; pupil of Plato who succeeded Speusippus as head of the Academy. Only fragments remain. Edition: Heinze [311].
**ARISTOTLE: 384–322; son of a doctor, pupil of Plato, and master of those who know. Abbreviations and editions:
An de Anima (OCT, Ross)
APst Posterior Analytics (OCT, Ross)
Cael de Caelo (OCT, Allan)
EE Eudemian Ethics (Teubner, Susemihl)
EN Nicomachean Ethics (OCT, Bywater)
fr. Fragmenta (Teubner, Rose)
GA de Generatione Animalium (OCT, Drossaart Lulofs)
GC de Generatione et Corruptione (Joachim, Oxford, 1922)
HA Historia Animalium (Louis, Paris, 1964–9)
Met Metaphysics (OCT, Jaeger)
Meteor Meteorologica (Fobes, Cambridge Mass, 1919)
PA de Partibus Animalium (Loeb, Peck)
Phys Physics (OCT, Ross)
Poet Poetics (OCT, Kassel)
Pol Politics (OCT, Ross)
Resp de Respiratione (in Parva Naturalia, Ross, Oxford, 1955)
Rhet Rhetoric (OCT, Ross)
Sens de Sensu (in Parva Naturalia, Ross, Oxford, 1955)
Top Topics, including Sophistici Elenchi (OCT, Ross)
Pseudo-Aristotelian works:
lin insec de lineis insecabilibus (Timpanaro Cardini, Milan, 1970)
MM Magna Moralia (Teubner, Susemihl)
MXG de Melisso, Xenophane, Gorgia (Teubner, Apelt)
Prob Problems (Teubner, Ruelle)
HERACLIDESPONTICUS: c.390-c.310; Platonist and Pythagorean, renowned as a dandy. Only fragments survive. Edition: SdA VII.
*THEOPHRASTUS: 371–287; Aristotle’s greatest pupil and his successor. Only fragments survive. Abbreviation:
Sens de Sensibus
ARISTOXENUS: b. c. 370; pupil of Aristotle, musical theorist with Pythagorean interests. Edition: SdA II.
DICAEARCHUS: b. c. 370; Aristotelian philosopher, only fragments of whose writings are preserved. Edition: SdA I.
*EUDEMUS: fourth century; pupil of Aristotle, philosopher, and historian of mathematics. Edition: SdA VIII.
MENO: fourth century; pupil of Aristotle, and author of history of medicine.
EPICURUS: 342–270; founder and eponym of Epicureanism, a philosophy strongly influenced by Democritus. Principal work: Letter to Herodotus. Abbreviations:
ad Hdt Letter to Herodotus
ad Men Letter to Menoeceus
Edition: Arrighetti, Turin, I960.
HERMIPPUS: third century BC, follower of Callimachus; sensational biographer.
SATYRUS: third century BC, peripatetic biographer. TIMOR c. 320–230; sceptic philosopher and poet. Edition: Diels [3].
ERATOSTHENES: c. 280–200; geographer, scholar, and librarian at Alexandria.
CRATES OF MALLOS: mid-second century; scholar and librarian at Pergamum.
SOTION: second century BC, Peripatetic historian of philosophy.
ARIUS DIDYMUS: first century BC; philosopher, teacher of Augustus.
ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR: c. 105-c. 25 BC; a Greek who became a Roman prisoner of war and then a polymath.
DEMETRIUS OF MAGNESIA; flourished c. 50 BC; a source for Diogenes Laertius.
CICERO: 106–43 BC: statesman, orator, master of prose, poet manqué, and amateur philosopher.
LUCRETIUS: 97–55 BC; Roman interpreter of Epicureanism in rough hexameters. Work: de Rerum Natura. Edition: OCT, Bailey.
PHILODEMUS: c.80-c 35 BC; Epicurean philosopher, fragments of whose works were discovered in the lava of Vesuvius.
NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS: fl. second half of first century BC; historian and polymath, who wrote commentaries on Aristotle.
DIODORUS SICULUS: fl. c.35 BC; author of a Universal History. Edition: Teubner, Vogel and Fischer.
DIONYSIUS OF HALICARNASSUS: fl. end of first century BC; historian, and leading literary critic.
VITRUVIUS: fl. end of first century BC; leading Roman authority on architecture.
STRABO: 64 BC-AD20; Romanophile Greek geographer.
AGATHEMERUS:? first century AD; geographer.
OVID: 43 BC-AD18; amatory poet. Principal work: Metamorphoses. Abbreviation and edition:
Metam Metamorphoses (Ehwald and Albrecht, Zürich, 1966)
PHILO: c.10 BC-c. AD40. Jewish theologian and philosopher.
SENECA THE YOUNGER: 4/1 BC-AD 65: politician, Stoic philosopher, play-wright. Principal works: Quaestiones Naturales; Letters.
PLINY THE ELDER: 23–79: minor politician and omnivorous observer, killed while scrutinizing the eruption of Vesuvius. Work: Naturalis Historia.
*PLUTARCH: 45-c.120. Biographer and philosopher, whose numerous philosophical essays are known collectively as the Moralia. Abbreviations and editions:
adv Col adversus Colotem (Teubner, Pohlenz and Westman)
audpoet de audiendis poetis (Teubner, Bernardakis)
comm not de communibus notitiis (Teubner, Pohlenz)
exil de exilio (Teubner, Bernardakis)
Plat quaest Platonicae quaestiones (Teubner, Hubert)
soll anim de sollertia animalium (Teubner, Hubert)
tranq de tranquillitate animae (Teubner, Bernardakis)
*AËTIUS: fl. c. 100. Eclectic philosopher, whose doxography (the Placita or Opinions) was reconstructed by Diels from Stobaeus and pseudo-Plutarch (2). Edition: Diels [4].
NICOMACHUSOFGERASA: c.100; Platonist and mathematician.
FAVORINUS: c. 80-c.150, hermaphrodite, favourite of Hadrian, friend of Plutarch, polymath.
JULIUS SORANUS: fl. 100–140; leading physician and author of history of medicine. PTOLEMY: fl. c.150. Geographer, mathematician and astronomer.
Principal work: Syntaxis mathematica—the ‘Almagest’. Edition: Teubner, Heiberg.
THEON OF SMYRNA: first half of second century; Platonist mathematician.
ARISTOCLES: second century, teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias and historian of philosophy.
GALEN: 129–199; the most celebrated doctor of the age, and a copious author.
HERMOGENES: c.160–225; orator and rhetorician.
TERTULLIAN: fl. 196–212; Christian polemicist and theologian, whose wide interests included philosophy.
AULUS GELLIUS: second century, antiquarian and grammarian; his Nodes Atticae is a philosophico-legal miscellany.
JULIUS POLLUX: second century; successful teacher of rhetoric. Work: Onomasticon. DIOGENES OF OENOANDA: second century; Epicurean, who had his philosophy inscribed on stone. Edition: Teubner, Chilton (several new fragments not yet collectively published).
PSEUDO-PLUTARCH (1): mid-second century, author of Stromateis, a doxographical compilation. Edition: Diels [4].
*PSEUDO-PLUTARCH (2): mid-second century, author of an Epitome of the Placita (see Aëtius). Edition: Diels [4].
TATIAN: second half of second century, Christian apologist and rhetorician.
*CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: c. 150–215, the first major Christian philosopher. Principal work: Stromateis.
AELIAN: fl. second half of second century, author of miscellaneous natural histories.
ATHENAGORAS: fl. c.180, Athenian philosopher and Christian apologist.
*SEXTUSEMPIRICUS: fl. 180–200, massive compiler of sceptical topoi and our main source for ancient scepticism. Abbreviations and Editions:
adv Math Against the Mathematicians (Teubner, Mau)
Pyrr Hyp Outlines of Pyrrhonism (Teubner, Mau).
ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS: fl. c. 200, seminal commentator on the works of Aristotle. Abbreviation:
quaest nat quaestiones naturales
Edition: CIAG.
ATHENAEUS: fl. c. 200, author of the anecdotal miscellany, Deipnosophistae.
*HIPPOLYTUS: d. 235: presbyter of Rome, opposed to the Establishment. Principal work: Refutatio Omnium Haeresium (Ref. Haer). Edition: Wendland, GCS.
**DIOGENES LAERTIUS:? third century; scissors and paste historian of philosophy. Work: Lives of the Philosophers. Edition: OCT, Long.
PHILOSTRATUS: fl. c. 220, sophist and author of Lives of the Sophists.
CENSORINUS: grammarian. Principal work: de die natali (written in 238).
HERMIAS:? third to sixth century, author of Gentilium Philo-sophorum Irrisio. Edition: Diels [4].
PLOTINUS: c. 205–70, the principal philosopher of the period between Aristotle and Aquinas. Work: Enneads.
DIONYSIUSOF ALEXANDRIA: bishop of Alexandria 247–264, opponent of atomism.
PORPHYRY: 234-c. 303, Neoplatonist pupil of Plotinus. Abbreviations and editions:
de Abst de Abstinentia (Teubner, Nauck)
VP Vita Pythagorae (Teubner, Nauck)
ACHILLES:? third-century astronomer and mathematician.
EUSEBIUS: c. 260–340, bishop of Caesarea and leading churchman;
principal work: Praeparatio Evangelica (PE).
ANATOLIUS: fl. 280. Bishop of Laodicea, saint, Aristotelian, and mathematician.
CALCIDIUS: fl. early fourth century, Christian philosopher; his Latin commentary on Plato’s Timaeus had enormous influence on later ages.
IAMBLICHUS: c. 250–320, Neoplatonist. Abbreviations and editions:
comm math sc de communi mathematica scientia (Teubner, Festa)
VP de Vita Pythagorica (Teubner, Deubner)
LACTANTIUS: fl. c. 320, prolific Christian author, influenced by the Platonic and hermetic traditions. Principal work: de Ira.
THEMISTIUS: 317–388., Constantinopolitan orator and philosopher, who paraphrased Aristotle’s works.
EPIPHANIUS: c. 315–403, bishop of Salamis. Edition: Diels [4].
AUGUSTINE: 354–430, saint and church father, author of Confessions and City of God.
SERVIUS: fl. c. 400, grammarian and author of celebrated commentary on Vergil.
MACROBIUS: early fifth century, author of the literary symposium, Saturnalia.
*STOBAEUS: early fifth-century excerptor with particular interest in philosophy. Work: Florilegium. Edition: Diels [4].
HESYCHIUS: fifth-century lexicographer.
THEODORETUS: 393–466, Bishop of Cyrrhus, Christian apologist.
BOETHIUS: d. 522, the last of the Romans; author of the Consolatio Philosophiae and numerous more professional works.
MAMERTUS CLAUDIANUS: d. 474, Neoplatonist. Principal work: de statu animae.
PROCLUS: 412–485, leading Neoplatonist philosopher and author of valuable commentaries on Plato’s dialogues. Abbreviations and editions:
in Parm Commentary on the Parmenides (Cousin, Paris, 1864) in Tim Commentary on the Timaeus (Teubner, Diehl)
PSEUDO-GALEN: c. 500, author of Htstoria Philosopha. Edition: Diels [4].
EUTOCIUS: fl. c. 530, mathematician who wrote commentaries on Apollonius and Archimedes.
AMMONIUS: second half of fifth century. A pupil of Proclus and leading
Platonist of the Alexandrian school; commentator on Aristotle and influential teacher. Edition: CIAG.
PHILOPONUS: c. 480–570, Christian pupil of Ammonius; author of commentaries on Aristotle. Edition: CIAG.
**SIMPLICIUS: first half of sixth century; Ammonius’ greatest pupil, and a major source for early Greek philosophy. Edition: CIAG.
OLYMPIODORUS: c. 500–570, pupil of Ammonius and commentator on Plato.
ELIAS: sixth century, pupil of Olympiodorus and commentator on Aristotle. Edition: CIAG.
SUDA: tenth-century, a large Byzantine lexicon, formerly known as Suidas.
HISDOSUS: fl. c. 1100, wrote on Plato’s psychology.
TZETZES: c. 1110–85, leading Byzantine scholar.
ALBERTUS MAGNUS: c. 1200–80; St Albert the Great, teacher of Aquinas and Parisian exponent of Aristotle.
SCHOLIASTS on various authors: the margins of many ancient manuscripts contain notes or ‘scholia’; the dates and identities of most scholiasts are unknown.