The ‘pre-Socratic Section’ of Philodemus’ On Piety: A New Reconstruction. Praesocratica Herculanensia X (Part II)

The paper is divided into two parts. In the first, all the papyrological and bibliological observations necessary for a new edition of P.Herc. 1428 (= LDAB 3563; TM 62400) are given. This papyrus represents the innermost section (‘midollo’) of the large Herculanean roll that preserves Philodemus’ treatise "On Piety." The second part provides a new critical reconstruction, along with a translation and some selected notes, of the ‘pre-Socratic section’ of P.Herc. 1428. In this ‘section,’ Philodemus, via his harsh polemics against philosophers’ theological concepts, critically lays out the Presocratics’ opinions on the gods, from Thales to the Sophists.