From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEmpedoclea is the Latin title or designation of Sallustius’ Empedoclean poem in Cicero’s letter.
- In this workCicero at A27 first agrees with Quintus’ judgment that Lucretius’ poems contain flashes of genius and much artistry.
- In this editionThe English cannot reproduce the virum/hominem play exactly.
- A place to readContrasts praise of Lucretius with a joke about the endurance required to read Sallustius’ Empedoclea.
Meaning
Empedoclea is the Latin title or designation of Sallustius’ Empedoclean poem in Cicero’s letter. The contrasting nouns vir and homo, printed in the accusatives virum and hominem, allow a joke about manliness or heroic endurance and humanity. They do not name two technical kinds of reader.
Use in the book
Cicero at A27 first agrees with Quintus’ judgment that Lucretius’ poems contain flashes of genius and much artistry. He then says that Quintus will count as a vir if he gets through Sallustius’ Empedoclea, but scarcely as a homo. The translation chooses “hero” and “human” to keep the distinction legible in English.
This is evidence for a Latin literary work after Empedocles and for Cicero’s response to it. It is not a description of the difficulty or quality of Empedocles’ own Greek poem, and the joke should not be transferred to the original author. Nor does the short passage permit reconstruction of Sallustius’ contents or relationship to Lucretius beyond their juxtaposition in the letter.
The headword preserves an otherwise easily misplaced reception item: the name Empedocles can generate a title and a literary target whose textual history is distinct from the surviving Greek testimonia.
Places to read
- A 27 (reception)Cicero, Ad Quintum fratrem II 9,3. Contrasts praise of Lucretius with a joke about the endurance required to read Sallustius’ Empedoclea.
Translation in this edition
The English cannot reproduce the virum/hominem play exactly. “Hero” is a translation strategy for Cicero’s joke, not a claim that the Latin text calls Quintus a mythological hero.