Theodo'sius
2. Of Tripolis, a mathematician and astronomer of some distinction, was a philosopher of the sect of the Sceptics, or, to speak more exactly, a follower of Pyrrhon, whose philosophy, Theodosius himself contended, ought not properly to be called sceptical (
D. L. 9.70).
Works
Attested works
Among other works of his, Suidas (
s. v.) mentions a Commentary on the
κεφάλαια of Theudas, who appears from another passage of Diogenes (9.116) to have lived not very long before the time of Sextus Empiricus, and therefore about the reign of Trajan. Suidas also enumerates
σκεπτικὰ κεφάλαια among the works of Theodosius (
s. v. and also
s. v. Πυῤῥώνιος), and the same work is mentioned by Diogenes (9.70). Of the ancient mathematicians, Ptolemy does not refer to Theodosius, but his works are quoted by Theon, in his Commentary on Ptolemy, by Pappus, in his
συναγωγή, and by Proclus, in his
Hypotyposis Astronomica, p. 7.
Suidas mentions the following as his mathematical and astronomical works : -
Σφαιρικὰ ἐν Βιβλίοις τρισίν,
Περὶ ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν δύο,
ὑπόμνημα εἰς τὸ Ἀρχιμήδους Ἐφόδιον,
Διαγραφὰς οἰκιῶν ἐν Βιβλίοις γ́,
Ἀστρολογικά,
Περὶ οἰκήσεων. Of these works, some have been printed.
The work on the Sphere is a treatise on the properties of the sphere, and of the circles described on its surface.
Editions
Latin Editions
The Sphaerica was first published in an ancient Latin version, edited by John Vögelin, Paris, 1529, 4to.;
and other Latin versions were published by F. Maurolycus, with the Sphaerica of Menelaus, and the work of Autolycus on the Sphere, Messanae, 1558, fol.; by
Jos. Auria, with Autolycus, from six MSS. in the Vatican, 1588, 4to.; by
Dr. Isaac Barrow, in his edition of Archimedes, Lond. 1675, 4to.; and by
And. Celsius, Upsal. 1730, 12mo.
Greek Editions
The first edition of the Greek text was published by Joannes Pena, the royal mathematician of France, Bellov. 1558, 4to.: many of the demonstrations, which are defective in the work of Theodosius, were supplied by Pena from Euclid's
Elements, and other geometrical works, both ancient and modern.
Another edition, founded on that of Pena, with the further aid of some MSS. at Oxford, from which, however, no readings of consequence were obtained, was published by
Joseph Hunt, Oxon. 1707. 8vo.
Translations
There are also translations of the work
into English, by Edward Sherbourne, as an appendix to his version of the Sphaerica of Manilius, Lond. 1675, fol., and
into German, by E. Nizze, whose notes are of high value, Stralsund, 1826, 8vo.
Editions
Theodosius' work
περὶ ημερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν,
de Diebus et Noctibus, was published from a MS. in the Vatican, in Latin only, with ancient Scholia, and figures, by Jos. Auria, Romae, 1591, 4to.; the propositions, without demonstrations, having been previously edited by
Conrad Dasypodius, Argentorat. 1572, 8vo.
Editions
Fabricius states that the book
Περὶ οἰκήσεων was also
published in Latin, by Jos. Auria, Romae, 1587, 4to.; but the edition is not mentioned in Hoffmann's
Lexicon Bibliographicum.
Editions and MSS
In the great collection of the works of the ancient mathematicians, planned by
Edward Bernard, after whose death the synopsis of the intended edition was published by Thomas Smith, Lond. 1704, 8vo., the known works of Theodosius were to have had a place in the seventh volume.
There are many MSS. of the above three works, in the principal libraries of Europe, in Greek, Latin, and Arabic.
The other works of Theodosius appear to be entirely lost.
Further Information
Fabric.
Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. pp. 21-23, 213; Menag.
ad Diog. Laert. 9.70.
