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DIOGENES LAER-

tius on the lives, doctrines, and apo-
phthegms of those who distinguished
themselves in philosophy, BOOK 1 of 10.

An ornamental historiated initial letter 'T', depicting a landscape with classical-style buildings, trees, and a human figure in the foreground.

The pursuit of philosophy, some say,
began among the barbarians original: "barbarōn". To ancient Greeks, "barbarian" simply referred to anyone who did not speak Greek or share Greek culture.. For they claim that
among the Persians there were the Magi Magi: a priestly class in ancient Persia famed for their wisdom and knowledge of the stars, among the Ba-
bylonians or Assyrians the Chaldeans, and
among the Indians the Gymnosophists Gymnosophists: literally "naked philosophers," a group of ancient Indian ascetics known for their detachment from worldly goods; and among
the Celts and Gauls those called Druids and
Semnotheoi A Greek term meaning "venerators of the gods," used to describe Celtic priests.; as Aristotle says in his work On Magic, and So-
tion in the twenty-third book of his Succession of Philosophers. They also say that
Ochus was a Phoenician, Zamolxis a Thracian, and Atlas a Libyan. The
Egyptians, for their part, say that Hephaestus The Greek name for the Egyptian creator-god Ptah. was the son of the
Nile, and that he began philosophy, whose leaders are
priests and prophets. From his time until Alexander
the Macedonian, they say forty-
eight thousand, eight hundred and sixty-three years
passed. During this time, there were three
hundred and seventy-three solar eclipses, and eight
hundred and thirty-two lunar eclipses. As for the Magi,
led by Zoroaster the Persian, Hermodorus
the Platonist says in his work On Mathematical Sciences mathematical sciences
that five thousand years passed from his time
until the fall of Troy; but Xanthus the Lydian says
that there were six hundred years from
Zoroaster to the crossing of Xerxes Xerxes the Great's invasion of Greece in 480 BCE.; and that after him
there were many different Magi in succession, such as Ostanes and A-