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On arithmetic · Arith.3b–Arith.3c
Ancient Greek
p. 163 συνέχεια
Κανονικὰ γὰρ ἁ φύσις ἁ τῶ ἀριθμῶ καὶ ἁγεμονικὰ καὶ διδασκαλικὰ τῶ ἀπορουμένω παντὸς καὶ ἀγνοουμένω παντί. Οὐ γὰρ ἦς δῆλον οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν τῶν πραγμάτων, οὔτε αὐτῶν ποθ’ αὑτά, οὔτε ἄλλω ποτ’ ἄλλο, αἰ μὴ ἦς ἀριθμὸς καὶ ἁ τούτω ἐσσία. Νῦν δὲ οὗτος καττὰν ψυχὰν ἁρμόσδων αἰσθήσι πάντα γνωστὰ καὶ ποτάγορα ἀλλάλοις κατὰ γνώμονος φύσιν ἀπεργάζεται, σωματῶν καὶ σχίζων τὼς λόγους χωρὶς ἑκάστους τῶν πραγμάτων, τῶν τε ἀπείρων καὶ τῶν περαινόντων.
3 συνέχεια
Ἴδοις δέ κα οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς δαιμονίοις καὶ θείοις πράγμασι τὰν τῶ ἀριθμῶ φύσιν καὶ τὰν δύναμιν ἰσχύουσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρωπικοῖς ἔργοις καὶ λόγοις πᾶσι παντᾷ καὶ καττὰς δαμιουργίας τὰς τεχνικὰς πάσας καὶ καττὰν μουσικάν.
Ψεῦδος δὲ οὐδὲν δέχεται ἁ τῶ ἀριθμῶ φύσις, οὐδὲ ἁρμονία, οὐδὲ γὰρ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῖς ἐντι.
Τᾶς τῶ ἀπείρω καὶ ἀνοάτω καὶ ἀλόγω φύσιος τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ ὁ φθόνος ἐντί. Ψεῦδος δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἐς ἀριθμὸν ἐμπιτνεῖ, πολέμιον γὰρ καὶ ἐχθρὸν τᾷ φύσι τὸ ψεῦδος, ἁ δ’ ἀλάθεια οἰκεῖον καὶ σύμφυτον τᾷ τῶ ἀριθμῶ γενεᾷ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: On arithmetic
p. 173 continued
For the nature of number gives a rule, a guide, and instruction to everyone about everything that is puzzling or unknown. Without number and its essence, nothing whatsoever would be clear to anyone, whether things in themselves or one thing in relation to another. As it is, number, bringing all things into harmony with perception within the soul, makes them knowable and mutually commensurable, in the manner of a gnomon: it gives body to the ratios of things and separates them individually, both those of the unlimited things and those of the things that impose limit.13
3 continued
You may see the nature and power of number at work not only in supernatural and divine things, but everywhere in all human deeds and words, in every skilled craft, and in music.
The nature of number admits no falsehood, nor does harmony; falsehood is foreign to both.
Falsehood and envy belong to the nature of the unlimited, the unintelligent, and the irrational. Falsehood never enters number, for it is hostile and inimical to number’s nature; truth, however, is native to and inseparable from the race of number.14
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · On arithmetic · Arith.3b–Arith.3c
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
Rights
Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.