On the Magistrates of the Roman Republic

I often reflect upon this image, both when observing this era—which shines forth like a fortunate island in a hostile sea—and when considering students of Byzantine history, who suddenly fall from the light of the Justinian age into the darkness of the Heraclian period. The "Heraclian darkness" refers to the 7th-century decline and transformation of the Roman Empire under Emperor Heraclius, often seen by older historians as the end of classical tradition and the beginning of a "darker" medieval Byzantine era.
Indeed, however blameworthy Justinian’s age may be in other respects, it nevertheless dazzles the eyes with a certain splendor, not only in military affairs but also in literature; it possessed tolerable poets, philosophers who were not entirely delusional, and even brilliant historians. Perhaps Lydus ought to be counted among their number, although the works he wrote in verse have not survived. That he did write poetry, however, is clear from the Emperor’s edict (page 200 of the edition), which praises his "sweetness" in poetic composition. original: suavitatem ejus in poëticis
But let us allow those works—which have fortunately perished or remain hidden—to rest in peace. Lydus certainly touched upon philosophy (see page 194 of the edition); however, it is doubtful whether he distinguished himself with any published writings on the subject. For the Commentary on Theophrastus regarding Sensation and Phantasy, or rather on a passage from the fifth book of Theophrastus’s Physics Theophrastus was a Greek philosopher and successor to Aristotle (see Harles’s Greek Library, Vol. III, page 444, and the Catalogue of the Royal Library of Paris, 1739 folio, Part II, page 424), which is attributed to him, is demonstrably false. For that commentary, which exists in our Royal Manuscript 1954 (and was first printed by...