Book 10
1.34
But we must return to the letter.The letter to Herodotus is the second and most valuable instalment of Epicurean doctrine. The manuscript seems to have been entrusted to a scribe to copy, just as it was: scholia and marginal notes, even where they interrupt the thread of the argument, have been faithfully reproduced. See §§ 39, 40, 43, 44, 50, 66, 71, 73, 74, 75.
1.34
Epicurus to Herodotus, greeting.
1.35
For those who are unable to study carefully all my physical writings or to go into the longer treatises at all, I have myself prepared an epitomeThis, as the most authentic summary of Epicurean physics which we possess, serves as a groundwork in modern histories, e.g. Zeller’s. The reader may also consult with advantage Giussani, Studi Lucreziani (vol. i. of his Lucretius); Bignone, Epicurea, pp. 71-113; Hicks, Stoic and Epicurean, pp. 118-181. of the whole system, Herodotus, to preserve in the memory enough of the principal doctrines,Only the principal doctrines are contained in this epistle; more, both general and particular, was given in the Larger Compendium. to the end that on every occasion they may be able to aid themselves on the most important points, so far as they take up the study of Physics. Those who have made some advance in the survey of the entire system ought to fix in their minds under the principal headings an elementary outline of the whole treatment of the subject. For a comprehensive view is often required, the details but seldom.
