eul_wid: pim-ab
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20335421 PDFMarkdown

Testimonies by Theon of Smyrna II

The Testimonies is a lost philosophical treatise written in Koine Greek by the Platonic philosopher and mathematician Theon of Smyrna, who was active in the early second century CE. The work is known only from a brief description by the sixth-century philosopher Olympiodorus, who reports that its purpose was to demonstrate the fundamental agreement between the core doctrines of Plato and Aristotle. Structured as a collection of eight passages, it likely presented paired quotations from each philosopher to illustrate their conceptual harmony on essential principles. This project is situated within the Middle Platonic tradition, which sought to systematize and reconcile classical philosophical thought. The treatise served as a pedagogical text, designed to provide students with a coherent framework that unified the two dominant schools. Theon's endeavor to establish the intellectual unity of Plato and Aristotle represents an early contribution to a harmonizing trend that would later be developed extensively by Neoplatonist thinkers. No fragments or manuscripts of the work survive.

Θέων, Ἀλεξανδρεὺς φιλόσοφος Στωϊκός, γεγονὼς ἐπὶ Αὐγούστου μετὰ Ἄρειον. ἔγραψε τῆς Ἀπολλοδώρου Φυσιολογικῆς εἰσαγωγῆς ὑπόμνημα, περὶ τεχνῶν ῥητορικῶν βιβλία γʹ.

Θέων Σμυρναῖος φιλόσοφος.

Θέων Ἀντιοχείας τῆς ἐν Δάφνῃ, φιλόσοφος Στωικός. ἔγραψεν Ἀπολογίαν Σωκράτους.

Θέων, ὁ ἐκ τοῦ Μουσείου, Αἰγύπτιος, φιλόσοφος, σύγχρονος δὲ Πάππῳ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ καὶ αὐτῷ Ἀλεξανδρεῖ. ἐτύγχανον δὲ ἀμφότεροι ἐπὶ Θεοδοσίου βασιλέως τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου. ἔγραψε Μαθηματικά, Ἀριθμητικά, Περὶ σημείων καὶ σκοπῆς ὀρνέων καὶ τῆς κοράκων φωνῆς, Περὶ τῆς τοῦ κυνὸς ἐπιτολῆς, Περὶ τῆς τοῦ Νείλου ἀναβάσεως, Εἰς τὸν Πτολεμαίου πρόχειρον κανόνα καὶ εἰς τὸν μικρὸν ἀστρόλαβον ὑπόμνημα.

Θέων Ἀλεξανδρεὺς, σοφιστής, ὃς ἐχρημάτισεν Αἴλιος. ἔγραψε Τέχνην, Περὶ Προγυμνασμάτων, Ὑπόμνημα εἰς Ξενοφῶντα, εἰς τὸν Ἰσοκράτην, εἰς Δημοσθένην, Ῥητορικὰς ὑποθέσεις, καὶ Ζητήματα περὶ συντάξεως λόγου, καὶ ἄλλα πλείονα.

Θέων, ὁ Οὐαλέριος χρηματίσας, σοφιστής, ὑπόμνημα εἰς Ἀνδοκίδην.

Θέων, Γυμνασίου τοῦ σοφιστοῦ παῖς, Σιδώνιος, σοφιστὴς παιδεύσας κατὰ τὴν πατρίδα, γενόμενος δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου, καὶ ἀπὸ ὑπάτων καὶ ὕπαρχος.

Θέων σοφιστὴς λόγων ῥητορικῶν, γεγονὼς ἀπὸ τῆς ἱερᾶς Μαρκέλλης τὸ γὲ ἀνέκαθεν, τὸ δὲ ἐξʼ ὑπογύου πατρόθεν ἀπὸ Ἐκδικίου, διδασκάλου καὶ τούτου τέχνης ῥητορικῆς, ἦν δὲ οὗτος ὁ Θέων οὐ μάλα ἀγχίνους οὐδὲ ὀξύς, φιλομαθὴς δὲ καὶ φιλόπονος εἰς ὑπερβολὴν, ταῦτά τοι καὶ ἐγεγόνει πολυμαθέστατος ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πολλὴν ἀρχαίαν ἱστορίαν, πολλὴν δὲ νέαν περιβαλλόμενος.