Laertius

Diogenes Laertius, commonly known simply as Laertius, was a Greek writer active in the 3rd century CE who is best known for his biographies of philosophers. Very little is certain about his life; his birthplace, exact dates, and other personal details are uncertain and the information that survives is largely derived from his own work and later references.

Works

His principal surviving work is the Lives of Eminent Philosophers, a ten-book collection that presents biographical sketches of Greek philosophers from the earliest figures such as Thales and Anaximander through the Hellenistic schools, including the Socratic, Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, and Epicurean lineages. The Lives combine biographical material with summaries of doctrines, notable sayings, and lists of works attributed to each thinker. Diogenes drew on earlier sources and traditions in compiling the biographies, and his work preserves testimonies and anecdotes that would otherwise be lost.

Significance

The Lives is a foundational source for the history of ancient philosophy and a key reference for scholars studying the lives, affiliations, and doctrines of early Greek thinkers. It shaped later biographical and historiographical traditions and remains an essential resource for reconstructing the philosophical landscape of antiquity. Modern scholarship treats its reliability with caution, noting occasional dubious anecdotes, possible later interpolations, and a lack of critical apparatus. The text survives in Greek in numerous manuscripts and in medieval Latin translations, and it influenced later editors, commentators, and readers, including figures in the Byzantine and Renaissance periods.

Legacy

Laertius’s Lives continues to be studied for its breadth and insight into ancient philosophical schools, even as scholars cross-check its reports against other ancient sources to assess credibility and context.