Between 1424 and 1433 he worked on the translation of the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius, which came to be widely circulated in manuscript form and was published at Rome in 1472 ( the first printed edition of the Lives ; the Greek text was printed only in 1533 ).

** Diogenes Laërtius, Vitae philosophorum ( Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers )

The main source for the life of Heraclitus is Diogenes Laërtius, although some have questioned the validity of his account as " a tissue of Hellenistic anecdotes, most of them obviously fabricated on the basis of statements in the preserved fragments.

Timon of Phlius calls him " the riddler " ( ainiktēs ) according to Diogenes Laërtius, who had just explained that Heraclitus wrote his book " rather unclearly " ( asaphesteron ) so that only the " capable " should attempt it.

Diogenes Laërtius ascribes to Theophrastus the theory that Heraclitus did not complete some of his works because of melancholia.

Diogenes Laërtius divides the physiologoi into two groups, Ionian and Italiote, led by Anaximander and Pythagoras, respectively.

The knowledge we have of them derives from accounts of later philosophical writers ( especially Aristotle, Plutarch, Diogenes Laërtius, Stobaeus and Simplicius ), and some early theologians, ( especially Clement of Alexandria and Hippolytus of Rome ).

Most of the details known about his life come from the anecdotes preserved by Diogenes Laërtius in his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

Diogenes Laërtius has preserved many clever and witty remarks by Zeno, the veracity of which cannot be ascertained.

According to Persaeus ( Diogenes Laërtius vii.

A plausible chronology for his life is as follows: He was born 334 / 3 BC, and came to Athens in 312 / 11 BC at the age of 22 ( Diogenes Laërtius, vii.

He studied philosophy for about 10 years ( Diogenes Laërtius, vii.

Diogenes Laërtius gives two different accounts of his death.

Around 387 BC, at the age of 23, he traveled with the physician Theomedon, who according to Diogenes Laërtius some believed was his lover, to Athens to study with the followers of Socrates.

Diogenes Laërtius, however, wrote that Protagoras invented the “ Socratic ” method.

But most modern scholars, following the suggestion of Diogenes Laërtius, consider them to be forgeries, some forged by the philosopher Heraclides Ponticus, others by or altered by Christian writers:

Diogenes Laërtius preserves several different accounts of this story ; one of them has Crates giving his money away to the citizens of Thebes, apparently after seeing the beggar king Telephus in a tragedy ; whereas another account has him placing his money in the hands of a banker, with the agreement that he should deliver it to his sons, unless they too became philosophers, in which case he should distribute it among the poor.

Crates wrote a book of letters on philosophical subjects, the style of which is compared by Diogenes Laërtius to that of Plato ; but these no longer survive.

* Diogenes Laërtius ( between 200 – 500 CE ), historian

* Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, translated by Charles Duke Yonge ( 1853 ) ( Uses a different method of enumerating the sections from the modern editions.

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Diogenes Laërtius says that his works filled ten volumes, but of these, only fragments remain.

Most of the biographical information we have of Theophrastus was provided by Diogenes Laërtius ' Lives of the Philosophers, written more than four hundred years after Theophrastus ' time.

From the lists of Diogenes Laërtius, giving 227 titles, it appears that the activity of Theophrastus extended over the whole field of contemporary knowledge.

Diogenes Laertius reports the story that he was prosecuted by Cleon for impiety, but Plutarch says that Pericles sent his former tutor, Anaxagoras, to Lampsacus for his own safety after the Athenians began to blame him for the Peloponnesian war.

" Diogenes Laertius also says that Nicocreon, the tyrant of Cyprus, commanded him to be pounded to death in a mortar, and that he endured this torture with fortitude and Cicero relates the same story.

His dates of birth and death are based on a life span of 60 years, the age at which Diogenes says he died, with the floruit in the middle.

Diogenes says that he abdicated the kingship ( basileia ) in favor of his brother and Strabo confirms that there was a ruling family in Ephesus descended from the Ionian founder, Androclus, which still kept the title and could sit in the chief seat at the games, as well as a few other privileges.

Diogenes says that Heraclitus used to play knucklebones with the youths in the temple of Artemis and when asked to start making laws he refused saying that the constitution ( politeia ) was ponêra, which can mean either that it was fundamentally wrong or that he considered it toilsome.

With regard to education, Diogenes says that Heraclitus was " wondrous " ( thaumasios, which, as Plato explains in the Theaetetus and elsewhere, is the beginning of philosophy ) from childhood.

Diogenes relates that Sotion said he was a " hearer " of Xenophanes, which contradicts Heraclitus ' statement ( so says Diogenes ) that he had taught himself by questioning himself.

" Theophrastus says ( in Diogenes ) "... some parts of his work are half-finished, while other parts make a strange medley.

" Diogenes says: " the book acquired such fame that it produced partisans of his philosophy who were called Heracliteans.

Diogenes Laertius, a fourth source for information about Zeno and his teachings, citing Favorinus, says that Zeno's teacher Parmenides was the first to introduce the Achilles and the Tortoise Argument.

Diogenes Laertius says Pythagoras died in a fire in Milo's house, but Dicaearchus says Pythagoras died in the temple of the Muses at Metapontum of self-imposed starvation.

He moved to Athens where tradition says he became a pupil of Diogenes of Sinope ; the precise relationship between Crates and Diogenes is uncertain, but there is one apparent reference to Crates referring to himself as " a fellow-citizen of Diogenes, who defied all the plots of envy.

Diogenes Laertius, quoting from Apollodorus of Athens, says that Pyrrho was at first a painter, and that pictures by him were exhibited in the gymnasium at Elis.

Diogenes Laërtius says that, like his successor Lacydes, he died of excessive drinking, but the testimony of others ( e. g. Cleanthes ) and his own precepts discredit the story, and he is known to have been much respected by the Athenians.

Diogenes Laërtius says that he left behind Commentaries, which consisted of 30, 000 lines ; but of these only fragments have been preserved.

Diogenes says that he left no writings, and the Eretrian school disappeared after a short and unobtrusive existence.

Diogenes Laërtius says the following works were written by Menippus:

Diogenes Laërtius, on the authority of Sotion and Panaetius, gives a long list of books whose authorship is ascribed to Aristippus, though he also says that Sosicrates of Rhodes states that he wrote nothing.

Diogenes Laërtius, on the authority of Sotion and Panaetius, provides a long list of books said to have been written by Aristippus, though he also says that Sosicrates stated that he wrote nothing.