Extract

Stobaeus (Ἰωάννης Στοβαῖος ‘John of *Stobi’), author of an anthology of excerpts from poets and prose-writers, intended in the first instance for the instruction of his son Septimius. The work was probably composed in the early 5th cent. ce; it consisted originally of four books, which came to be grouped later under the titles Eklogai (‘Selections’) and Anthologion (‘Anthology’), though subject-matter and treatment are essentially homogeneous. It deals with a variety of topics, from metaphysics to household economy; from bk. 2 onwards it is concerned chiefly with ethical questions. The illustrative extracts, which Stobaeus probably owed in large measure to earlier collectors, are arranged under successive headings, being grouped generally in the same order, beginning with the poets. Stobaeus cites a multitude of authors, from *Homer to *Themistius; the writers of the *Second Sophistic are scarcely represented, but there are many excerpts from the Neoplatonists (see neoplatonism); the absence of excerpts from Christian authors suggests that he was a pagan.