Assessing Philosophical Authors and Texts from Herculaneum and elsewhere on Early Stoicism: Insights into ancient logic, physics, and ethics towards a new von Arnim

Introduction

Alongside Epicurus’ school, Stoicism is the most important current of thought in Hellenistic philosophy. The first phase of this school extends from Zeno of Citium (334/333–262/261 BCE) to Chrysippus’ followers (viz. up to the end of the 2nd century BCE).

Historical Context

Apart from some fragments transmitted by the medieval manuscript tradition and by the Herculaneum papyri, only indirect witnesses on the early Stoics remain today. The huge corpus of this material was collected mostly in Hans von Arnim’s Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta (1903–05). Despite some partial attempts to correct and integrate this collection, von Arnim’s pioneering work is still the reference point in studies on early Stoicism.

Project Goals

The present project aims to remake this work entirely through an innovative, interdisciplinary methodology incorporating:

• Classical philology
• The history of ancient philosophy
• Doxography
• Papyrology and epigraphy
• New technologies for deciphering ancient manuscripts

Project Steps

The project will be divided into the following steps:

1. A new critical edition of most of the fragments and testimonia at issue.
2. A wider selection of the sources and a revision of some manuscripts.
3. A new methodology for reading and reconstructing the papyrological sources.
4. An innovative historico-philosophical methodology for commenting on and interpreting the extant sources.
5. The creation of a website, along with a digital database publication of partial and comprehensive outcomes for the project.

Editions Structure

The editions will be divided into four parts, focused on:

• Zeno of Citium
• The disciples of Zeno (including the heterodox Stoics)
• Chrysippus
• The disciples of Chrysippus

Each volume will be accompanied by commentaries also devoted to Stoic figures sometimes neglected in scholarship (e.g., Diogenes of Babylon).

Conclusion

This project aims to revolutionize our knowledge of this fundamental phase of Hellenistic philosophy by throwing new light on the history of ancient physics, logic, and ethics.