PREFACE. 



This work is intended to be a systematic presentation of the 

 rhetorical fragments of Philodemus, with an interpretation of 

 the more important passages, in the hope that they may be made 

 more accessible to the general reader than they have heretofore 

 been. On many points of interpretation the author's judgment 

 has changed repeatedly in the course of the work, and he is far 

 from positive that the correct rendering has in all cases been 

 attained. But in the present condition of the text perfection is 

 an unattainable ideal, and some slight gain in accuracy would 

 hardly justify a greater expenditure of time. It would perhaps 

 be more exact to call it a paraphrase than a translation. While 

 it has been possible in general to translate almost literally, there 

 are many passages where the papyrus is so fragmentary that 

 nothing more than an approximation is possible, and the gaps 

 must in some cases be filled entirely by conjecture. Moreover 

 at times it has seemed best to condense some of the more prolix 

 paragraphs. It is hoped that this will in no way hinder the 

 student who is seeking an introduction to Philodemus. 



The author is profoundly grateful to his colleagues and friends, 

 Professor G. L. Hendrickson and Dr. E. W. Nichols, who very 

 generously read the translation in manuscript, and offered 

 valuable criticism. 



