Stobaeus, Volume I

Name: Stobaeus, Volume I
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek with an independent English translation.

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Stobaeus, Volume IBook I Chapter 19 · I.19.heading–I.19.1.2

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 216 of 879

Book I Chapter 19 · I.19.heading–I.19.1.2

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p. 428

Κεφάλαιον ΙΘʹ

I.19.heading

Περὶ κινήσεως.

1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · Πυθαγόρας

I.19.1.1

Πυθαγόρου. Κίνησίς ἐστι διαφορότης ἢ ἑτερότης ἐν ὕλῃ, ᾗ ἐστιν ὕλη. Οὗτος πάσης κινήσεως κοινὸς ὅρος.

1 ⟨Ἀετίου⟩ · 2

I.19.1.2

Δημόκριτος ἓν γένος κινήσεως τὸ κατὰ παλμὸν ἀπεφαίνετο. Ἐπίκουρος δύο εἴδη κινήσεως, τὸ κατὰ στάθμην καὶ τὸ κατὰ παρέγκλισιν. Εἰσὶ δέ τινες, οἳ καὶ τέταρτον εἶδος εἰσάγουσι, τὸ κατ’ οὐσίαν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ κατὰ γένεσιν. Ἄλλοι δὲ καὶ τὴν διανοητικὴν προστιθέασι, μέχρι γὰρ τῶν πέντε προὔβησαν.

Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 19

p. 429

Chapter 19: Motion

I.19.heading

On motion.⁵²³

1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Pythagoras

I.19.1.1

Of Pythagoras. Motion is difference or otherness in matter, insofar as it is matter. This is a common definition of every kind of motion.⁵²⁴

1 ⟨Aëtius⟩: Kinds of motion

I.19.1.2

Democritus declared that there is one kind of motion, motion by vibration. Epicurus distinguished two kinds, motion along a plumb line and motion by a swerve.⁵²⁵ Some introduce a fourth kind as well, motion in respect of substance, that is, coming into being. Others add intellectual motion too, carrying the number up to five.⁵²⁶

523.Kinēsis can include alteration and growth as well as movement from place to place. “Motion” is retained as the chapter’s governing term; individual extracts specify its extent. Phora is usually rendered “locomotion” where it is distinguished from other changes.

524.The heading attributes this definition to Pythagoras; it does not establish that these are his own words. “Insofar as” preserves the qualification attached to matter. Wachsmuth supplies the attribution of the collected report to Aëtius.

525.Palmos is a shaking or vibration; the printed text retains it rather than the proposed reading “blow” or “impact.” The plumb line gives the image of straight motion, while parenklisis denotes a deviation or swerve.

526.The jump to “fourth” is in the source. Wachsmuth explains the count by taking Democritus’s kind as the first and Epicurus’s two as the next two; another proposal assumes that a third kind has dropped out. No missing item is silently supplied here. “Intellectual” renders dianoētikē.

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.