Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 March 2017
A new reading of a passage in Philodemus' Index Academicorum reveals that Philo of Larisa died in Italy during an influenza wave spreading over the entire world, a hitherto unknown fact. The new reading also allows for a reappraisal of the intriguing question of who was Philo's (institutional) successor. Furthermore, this reading offers improvements which, by illuminating the syntax and context, corroborate the interpretation of a participle construction as referring to a sojourn of Philodemus in Alexandria (PHerc. 1021, cols. 33.42–34.7).
I am grateful to Tobias Reinhardt, Tiziano Dorandi, Holger Essler and Myrto Hatzimichali for valuable comments and suggestions. Furthermore I would like to thank Dirk Obbink for giving me the opportunity to discuss this paper in his Literary Papyrology class (Trinity term 2016, Oxford).
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 703798 – AcadHist. This article reflects only the author's view. I am currently working on a new comprehensive edition of Philodemus' Index Academicorum (PHerc. 1691/1021/164).