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William W. Fortenbaugh and Eckart Schütrumpf, eds., Demetrius of Phalerum: Text, Translation, and Discussion. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 2000. Pp. ix +464. ISBN 0-7658-0017-9. $59.95.
Demetrius of Phalerum/Phaleron lived c. 355 to c. 280 BC, a period during which the Athenians were coming to terms with Macedonian overlordship. He has two major claims to fame: one, that he ran Athens for ten years for Kassander, and the other, that he was the inspiration or driving force behind the collection of books that became the Library at Alexandria.
The traditional story goes that for ten years, from 317 until 307, he was in charge of Athens, occupying a special post, epimeletes or overseer, to which he was appointed by Kassander or elected by the Athenians with Kassander's blessing. However, one of the discussion papers here (chapter 3) offers a spirited, albeit rather speculative, alternative reading of his career. S. V. Tracy argues that his tenure of the post of epimeletes lasted just one year, not ten, and that his influence during the rest of the period derived not only from his status as Kassander's representative, but also from his unofficial (high) standing as statesman, lawgiver and diplomat. So let us continue the traditional story by saying that while he was prominent, Athens enjoyed peace. Demetrius appears to have transformed the very dire social and economic situation in Athens that he inherited on entering office into a very comfortable one by the time that Demetrius Poliorcetes sailed into the Peiraios and ended Kassander's domination of the city.
Demetrius' relationship to intellectual life, especially to Theophrastos and to the Library at Alexandria, is less well known. It is because of his relationship to Theophrastos that this book has come to be, growing out of Project Theophrastos, and the principal figure behind that project is one of its editors (Fortenbaugh). Demetrius was taught by Theophrastos, and was one of the Lyceum's more prolific authors. He was highly regarded in antiquity for combining the skills of philosopher and politician -a rare achievement, though Gottschalk argues persuasively (chapter 5) that he was more adroit at administration than at politics (democratic or courtly). The sort of intellectual study he pursued concerned politics, ethics, rhetoric, myth-history, history and literature; a more...