ABSTRACT
Much has been made of one small passage, a passing reference in one of Cicero’s letters: people are constantly told of the well-known dispute between Dicaearchus and Theophrastus, and several attempts have been made to amplify the story in different directions: even the sober Regenbogen refers to the Streit between Theophrastus and Dicaearchus and says that it was famous in ancient times. Fortenbaugh and Donini interestingly relate it to views about the existence of the soul and intellect, while F. Müller’s study of Cicero’s De republica, with Dicaearchus in mind, relates the discussion of the best way of life in the Peripatos to the question of the origins of philosophical thought. This may be correct, but the author wishes to apply a more sceptical approach. Much of the information about Dicaearchus comes from Cicero and other Latin authors, Tertullian, Lactantius, Gellius, Censorinus, Varro, Pliny, and Martianus Capella, though in Greek, is addressed to a Roman.
