COMMENTARY ON TESTIMONIA T1 1-3 Tclt ... :En.Ucmmo~. This is the transition from the life of Plato, a synthesis of several sources that stands by itself (cf. Wilamowitz, Antigonos, p. 45; Leo, Biographie, pp. 54-56), to the l:Jiographies of Speusippus and other members of the Academy, which seem to depend, in part at least, on a history of the school. Cf. on T I -2 infra. 2-3 &L•&i~u't'o . :En.Ucmmo~. It is the unanimous testimony of our sources that Speusippus succeeded Plato as head of the Academy, most probably at the latter's death (cf. on lines 4-5 infra; on F 28, line 2 cf. comm. ad loc.). On the diverse hypotheses concerning the choice of Speusippus as head of the Academy, cf. pp. 8-II supra. :En.Ucn'R'RO~. The name is rare, and few persons who bore it are known from Athens up to ca. I50 B.C.1 Fischer, p. II takes the name to refer to the Homeric virtue of "in equis regendis incitan­ disque." Pape-Benseler, Worterbuch der griech. Eigennamen, s.v. interpret it to mean "swift horse." However interpreted, the name may have prompted, or may have been a source of confirmation for, some of the anecdotes hostile to Speusippus. Cf. on lines 8-g infra. 3 E6pu,U&oVfO~t· Nothing else is known about Speusippus' father, Eurymedon of Myrrhinous. Since Speusippus was born ca. 4rojo8 1 They are: The councillor in 415 B.C. mentioned by Andocydes (cf. Kirchner, P.A. 12845); a landowner at Besa ca. 341/o B.C. (cf. Hesperia 19 [1950], p. 255, Nr. 18, line 26); Speusippus of Azenia, an ephebos in the archonship of Antiphon (cf. Hesperia 7 [1938], p. 112, Nr. 20, line 57), ca. 259 B.C. (cf. B. D. Meritt, Hesperia 26 [1957], pp. 210-211 [this Speusip­ pus escaped the attention of Davies, Ath. Prop. Fam., p. 334]); his grandson Speusippus of Azenia, on whose behalf his brother Alexiou contributed in 183/2 B.C. (cf. I.G. II1, 2332, lines II-IS; Kirchner, P.A. I2846); and an archon who may have been either the same as the previous Speusippus or a close relative of his (cf. S. Dow, Prytaneis [Hesperia, Suppl. I, 1937], p. 125, Nr. 65 with B. D. Meritt, The Athenian Year [Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1961], pp. 236-237. under years 177/6 and I53/2). From outside Athens Diogenes Laertius (T I, line 70) mentions one homonym only, an Alexandrian physician. On yet another Speusippus cf. on T I, line 2I infra. COMMENTARY ON TESTIMONIA B.C. (cf. p. 7 supra), his father could hardly have been the general EopufLe8wv 0oux!-eou~, who died in Sicily in 4I3 B.C. {cf. Davies, Ath. Prop. Fam. p. 334 with references). Nor is it likely, on chrono­ logical grounds, that he was identical with the Eurymedon of Myrrhinous named in Plato's will (Diog. Laert. III, 42) as a land­ owner in Eiresidai and (after Speusippus) as a trustee (Diog. Laert. III, 43 = T 37), as Fischer, p. rr believes he is (cf. contra Zeller, II, i, p. g86, n. 3). It is probable, however, that the Eurymedon mentioned last was a close relative of Speusippus (cf. Davies, op. cit.). MuppLvouaLo~. The deme Myrrhynous was in the phyle Pandionis. 4 ulo~ ..• Dw-rwvJJ~· Wilamowitz, Platon, I, pp. 35-36 thinks that Potone was older than Plato. Since, however, Adeimantus, certainly, and Glaucon, probably, were older than Plato (cf. on F I infra) who, at the latest, was born in 428/7 B.C. (cf. Davies, Ath. Prop. Fam. p. 333), and since Speusippus must have been born ca. 4Iojo8 B.C., it seems more probable than not that Potone was the youngest child of Ariston and Perictione. The correct spelling is probably llw-rwvYJ rather than llo-rwvYJ, cf. the Basle edition of Diog. Laert. III, note on III, r. 4-5 xed laxoMpxY}aEV ••• 'OA.u!J.mcilio~. Diogenes' statement that Speusippus was head of the Academy for eight years, beginning in Olymp. Io8 (348/4 B.C.), comes from Apollodorus (FGH 244 F 344a). The same duration of his headship is given also by the A cad. Index Hercul., col. VI, 39-40 (p. 38 [Mekler]) = T 2, lines I2-I3), probably on the authority of Philochorus (cf. on T 2, lines 3-I3 infra). If this is so, it is possible that Philochorus is the ultimate source of Apollodorus himself. The anonymous chronicle extant in Oxyrh. Pap., I, I2 (= FGH 255, § 3 = T 6) gives Olymp. Io8, I and the archonship of Theophilus (i.e. 348/7 B. C.) both as the year of Plato's death and as the beginning of Speusippus' headship of the Academy. We may therefore infer that Speusippus succeeded Plato at the latter's death. On Plato's death in the archonship of Theophi­ lus cf. also PhilochorusFGH 328 F 223, Acad. Index Hercut., col. II, 33-34 (p. 20 [Mekler]), Dionysius of Halic.,AdAmmaeum I, 5, Diog. Laert. V, g. On 348/7 as the year of Plato's death cf. also Theopom­ pus FGH II5 F 294, Hermippus FHG III, p. 43, Nr. 33 = frag. 4I (Wehrli), Favorinus F I3 (Mensching) = frag. 43 (Barigazzi). .