ty of the
name, inquired what he meant by the name of philosopher, and in what
philosophers differed from other men: on which Pythagoras replied, "That
the life of man seemed to him to resemble those games, which were
celebrated with the greatest possible variety of sports, and the general
concourse of all Greece. For as in those games there were some persons
whose object was glory, and the honour of a crown, to be attained by the
performance of bodily exercises: so others were led thither by the gain of
buying and selling, and mere views of profit: but there was likewise one
class of persons, and they were by far the best, whose aim was neither
applause nor profit, but who came merely as spectators through curiosity,
to observe what was done, and to see in what manner things were carried on
there. And thus, said he, we come from another life and nature unto this
one, just as men come out of some other city, to some much frequented
mart; some being slaves to glory, others to money; and there are some few
who, taking no account of anything else, earnestly look into the nature of
things: and these men call themselves studious of wisdom, that is,
philosophers; and as there it is the most reputable occupation of all to
be a looker-on, without making any acquisition, so in life, the
contemplating things, and acquainting oneself with them, greatly exceeds
every other pursuit of life."

IV. Nor was Pythagoras the inventor only of the name, but he enlarged also
the thing itself, and, when he came into Italy after this conversation at
Phlius, he adorned that Greece, which is called Great Greece, both
privately and publicly, with the most excellent institutions and arts; but
of his school and system, I shall, perhaps, find another opportunity to
speak. But numbers and motions, and the beginning and end of all things,
were the subjects of the ancient philosophy down to Socrates, who was a
pupil of Archelaus, who had been the disciple of Anaxagoras. These made
diligent inquiry into the magnitude of the stars, their distances,
courses, and all that relates to the heavens. But Socrates was the first
who brought down philosophy from the heavens, placed it in cities,
introduced it into families, and obliged it to examine into life and
morals, and good and evil. And his different methods of discussing
questions, together with the variety of his topics, and the greatness of
his abilities, being immortalized by the memory and writings of P