Aëtiana (2 vols.)

The theme of this study is the Doxography of problems in physics from the Presocratics to the early first century BCE attributed to Aëtius. Part I focuses on the argument of the compendium as a whole, of its books, of its sequences of chapters, and of individual chapters, against the background of Peripatetic and Stoic methodology. Part II offers the first full reconstruction in a single unified text of Book II, which deals with the cosmos and the heavenly bodies. It is based on extensive analysis of the relevant witnesses and includes listings of numerous doxographical-dialectical parallels in other ancient writings. This new treatment of the evidence supersedes Diels’ still dominant source-critical approach, and will prove indispensable for scholars in ancient philosophy.

Jaap Mansfeld is Professor Emeritus in Ancient Philosophy at Utrecht University. He has published extensively on ancient philosophy and its traditions, and was given a Humboldt Research Award in 1998.

David T Runia is Master of Queen's College and Professorial Fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne. He has written widely on ancient philosophy, and particularly on the thought of Philo of Alexandria.

“Aetiana is perhaps the project of most fundamental importance now under way in ancient philosophy. It is a monumental work of scholarship by two of the leading scholars in the field. The publication of the reconstruction of Placita will give us the first complete edition of that work and one that is not likely to be superseded.”
- Richard McKirahan, Pomona College, California