Apart from the extant works of Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch and Suetonius, not a single ancient Greek or Roman biography has come down to us in its entirety, despite the great number of biographers from the early Hellenistic through the Imperial periods. Therefore, the study of the remaining testimonia and "fragments" - actually citations and excerpts passed on by later authors, and incomplete texts preserved on papyri - is indispensable for our knowledge and understanding of biographical writing in Antiquity. An important (...) representative of the genre from the Hellenistic period is Hermippos of Smyrna, a member of the intellectual circle working in the Alexandrian Museion during the 2nd half of the 3rd century B.C. No less than 85 fragments have been preserved, dealing with the great names of Greek culture and civilization (the Seven Sages, legislators, philosophers, rhetoricians and other literary figures). These texts reveal Hermippos as a typical exponent of his working environment, with a strong penchant for sensational and remarkable stories as well as a firm basis in bookish erudition.After a short introductory chapter on the author's life and works in general, the present study offers a detailed presentation of the extant biographical material and concentrates further on Hermippos' choice of subjects, the organization of his oeuvre and his method as a biographer. The book concludes with four appendices, one of which provides the English translations of the surviving testimonia and fragments. (shrink)

This is the first comprehensive study for nearly 200 years of what remains of the writings of the Presocratic philosopher Philolaus of Croton. These fragments are crucial to our understanding of one of the most influential schools of ancient philosophy, the Pythagoreans; they also show close ties with the main lines of development of Presocratic thought, and represent a significant response to thinkers such as Parmenides and Anaxagoras. Professor Huffman presents the fragments and testimonia with accompanying translations and introductory chapters (...) and interpretive commentary. He not only produces further argument for the authenticity of much that used to be neglected, but also undertakes a critique of Aristotle's testimony, opening the way for a quite new reading of fifth-century Pythagoreanism in general and of Philolaus in particular. Philolaus is revealed as a serious natural philosopher. (shrink)

For the first English edition of his distinguished study, Weisheit und Wissenschaft: Studien zu Pythagoras, Philoloas und Platon, Mr. Burkert has extensively ...

A fascinating portrait of the Pythagorean tradition, including a substantial account of the Neo-Pythagorean revival, and ending with Johannes Kepler on the threshold of modernism.

Betrifft die Handschrift Cod. 579 der Burgerbibliothek Bern.

The Pythagorean idea that numbers are the key to understanding reality inspired philosophers in late Antiquity (4th and 5th centuries A.D.) to develop theories in physics and metaphysics based on mathematical models. This book draws on some newly discovered evidence, including fragments of Iamblichus's On Pythagoreanism, to examine these early theories and trace their influence on later Neoplatonists (particularly Proclus and Syrianus) and on medieval and early modern philosophy.

It is almost a quarter of a century since this reviewer could observe that "Not another book on Philostratus!" was a cry unheard in Classical scholarship. Since then, one further general monograph by Alain Billault appeared in 2000. Now at last Bowie and Elsner have assembled a sixteen-strong team to take on this many-faceted author. The reasons that have deterred large-scale study are clear enough: the hitherto persistent problems of identifying the author among up to four Philostrati and the spread (...) of expertise necessary to face an author who can apply his sophistic talents to subjects as disparate as a Flavian holy man, the problems of third-century gymnastics, and the phenomenon he himself treacherously termed the Second Sophistic. The editors have rightly allowed their contributors to avoid the problem of attribution; safety in numbers provides the necessary spread of specializations. (shrink)

These two texts are fundamental for the understanding not only of Neoplatonism but also of the conventions of biography in late antiquity. Neither has received such extensive annotation before in English, and this new commentary makes full use of recent scholarship. The long introduction is intended both as a beginner’s guide to Neoplatonism and as a survey of ancient biographical writing.

v. 1. The sources -- v. 2., pt. 2. The compendium -- v. 3. Studies in the doxographical traditions of ancient philosophy.

Following earlier studies by Raubitschek 1964 and Cameron 1969 the paper reexamines literary and epigraphic evidence concerned an Athenian philosopher called Iamblichus, who apparently played an important role in the revival of interest to his famous namesake in early fifth century Athens. The paper is prepared thanks to generous support of the Onassis Foundation in Athens and based on my talk at the conference “Iamblichus: His Sources and Influence”.