INTRODUCTION

finished, or had ceased to regard Laertius with favor. As to her identity, in the general dearth of information about the early years of the third century, scholars have proposed no more than two names: an Arria, mentioned by Galen, and the wife of Septimius Severus, the empress Julia Domna, who died A.D. 217.

On the whole, the suggestion that the work is unfinished does not seem to be proven. Certainly the last six lines of x. 138—the last passage in the book where the author speaks in his own person—seem to point clearly to the opposite conclusion: "Come then, let me now set the seal on my entire work as well as on this philosopher's Life, by citing his Sovran Maxims, therewith bringing the whole work to a close, and making the end of it to coincide with the beginning of happiness." In any case, the last book was brought to its intended conclusion.

The amount of padding in Book X may seem strange, but the cause lies in the sources used by Laertius rather than in his manner of using them. This brings us to the consideration of his use of authorities and the general question of his indebtedness to his predecessors.

III

AUTHORITIES FOR THE LIVES

The chief authorities date from the third century B.C., and the inquiry respecting them opens a neglected chapter in Greek literature. It is true that Plato and the other authors of Socratic dialogues had brought the art of the biographer, under one