Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 5.3.64

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[64] As soon as Arcesilaus has arrived, Iraeus shall, with Olympichus, Epicrates, and the other executors, prepare an account of the money expended upon the funeral and the other customary charges. Whatever money remains over, Arcesilaus shall take over from Olympichus, without however pressing him as to times and seasons. Arcesilaus shall also cancel the agreement made by Strato with Olympichus and Ameinias and deposited with Philocrates the son of Tisamenus. With regard to my monument they shall make it as Arcesilaus, Olympichus and Lyco shall approve.

Such are the terms of his extant will, according to the Collection of Ariston of Ceos. Strato himself, however, was, as stated above, a man entitled to full approbation,¹ since he excelled in every branch of learning, and most of all in that which is styled physics, a branch of philosophy more ancient and important than the others.

Vitae philosophorum. Diogenes Laertius. R. D. Hicks (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1925.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access.

Current edition Perseus

Lives of Eminent Philosophers (English) (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.)

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Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων Perseus (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.) — 5.3.64 focus

[64] τὸ δὲ περιὸν ἀργύριον κομισάσθω Ἀρκεσίλαος παρʼ Ὀλυμπίχου, μηδὲν ἐνοχλῶν αὐτὸν κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς καὶ τοὺς χρόνους· ἀράσθω δὲ καὶ τὰς συνθήκας Ἀρκεσίλαος ἃς ἔθετο Στράτων πρὸς Ὀλύμπιχον καὶ Ἀμεινίαν, τὰς κειμένας παρὰ Φιλοκράτει Τισαμενοῦ. τὰ δὲ περὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ποιείτωσαν ὡς ἂν δοκῇ Ἀρκεσιλάῳ καὶ Ὀλυμπίχῳ καὶ Λύκωνι.

Καὶ αἵδε μέν εἰσιν αἱ φερόμεναι αὐτοῦ διαθῆκαι, καθά που συνήγαγε καὶ Ἀρίστων ὁ Κεῖος.¹ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Στράτων ἀνὴρ γέγονε, καθὰ καὶ ἄνω δεδήλωται, πολλῆς τῆς ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιος, διαπρέψας ἐν παντὶ λόγων εἴδει καὶ μάλιστά γε ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ φυσικῷ, ὅπερ εἶδος ἀρχαιότερόν τε καὶ σπουδαιότερον.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. πολλῆς τῆς ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιος. This phrase might be taken as Diogenes Laertius’s defence for his inclusion of the Life of Strato. According to the scheme of i. 14, 15, the Peripatetics ended with Theophrastus, whose successors were often held to be vastly inferior, and unworthy to rank beside him; see Cicero, De Fin.v. §§ 12, 13; Strabo xiii. 609. The latter alleges as the reason for this decline the well-known story that the school was deprived of Aristotle’s library, which had been carried away to Scepsis.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 5.3.64

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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