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Book I Chapter 5 · I.5.17a–I.5.17b
Ancient Greek
p. 18217 Ἐκ τῆς Ἰαμβλίχου πρὸς Μακεδόνιον ἐπιστολῆς (αʹ)
Πάντα μὲν τὰ ὄντα τῷ ἑνί ἐστιν ὄντα, καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ πρῶτον ὂν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐξ ἀρχῆς παράγεται, πολὺ δὲ διαφερόντως τὰ ὅλα αἴτια τῷ ἑνὶ τὸ δύνασθαι ποιεῖν παραδέχεται καὶ κατὰ μίαν συμπλοκὴν συνέχεται καὶ συναναφέρεται τῇ τῶν πολλῶν ἀρχῇ προϋπάρχοντα. Κατὰ δὴ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν φύσιν αἰτίων, πολυειδῶν ὄντων καὶ πολυμερεστάτων, ἠρτημένων τε ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἀρχῶν, ἀπὸ μιᾶς ὅλης αἰτίας τὸ πλῆθος ἐκκρέμαται, κατὰ μίαν δὲ σύνδεσιν πάντα πρὸς ἄλληλα συμπλέκεται καὶ εἰς ἓν ἀνήκει τὸ περιεκτικώτατον τῆς αἰτίας κράτος ὁ σύνδεσμος τῶν πλειόνων αἰτίων.
17 Ἐκ τῆς Ἰαμβλίχου πρὸς Μακεδόνιον ἐπιστολῆς (βʹ)
Οὗτος τοίνυν εἷς εἱρμὸς ⟨οὐ⟩ συμπεφορημένος ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους, οὐδ’ ἐπισυνισταμένην ἀπὸ τῆς συμπλοκῆς ποιεῖται τὴν ἕνωσιν, οὐδὲ διαπεφόρηται ἐν τοῖς καθ’ ἕκαστα· κατὰ δὲ τὴν προηγουμένην καὶ προτεταγμένην αὐτῶν τῶν αἰτίων μίαν συμπλοκὴν ἐπιτελεῖ πάντα καὶ συνδεῖ ἐν ἑαυτῷ καὶ πρὸς αὑτὸν μονοειδῶς ἀνάγει. Μίαν οὖν τάξιν, πάσας τάξεις ὁμοῦ περιλαβοῦσαν ἐν αὑτῇ, τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἀφοριστέον.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 5
p. 18317 From Iamblichus’s letter to Macedonius (1)
All beings have their being through the One; for even the first being itself is brought forth from the One at the outset. In a far more eminent way, the universal causes receive through the One their capacity to act, are held together in a single interweaving, and are referred back together to the principle of the many, in which they preexist.200
Accordingly, the causes concerned with nature, though of many kinds, divided into very many parts, and dependent on several principles, depend in their multiplicity on one universal cause. Through one connection all are interwoven with one another, and the bond of the many causes reaches back to the single, all-encompassing authority of the cause.
17 From Iamblichus’s letter to Macedonius (2)
This single chain, then, is ⟨not⟩ assembled from the multiplicity. It does not produce a unity that arises subsequently from interweaving, nor is it dispersed among particulars. Rather, in accordance with the single interweaving of the causes themselves that precedes and stands before them, it brings everything to completion, binds everything together within itself, and refers everything back to itself in a single form.
Fate, therefore, must be defined as one order that embraces all orders together within itself.201
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 5 · I.5.17a–I.5.17b
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.
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