An effort has been made to date the fragments as accurately as possible, and where a precise year could not be assigned to a passage, an indication of the possible limits is usually given, either in the margin or in the notes. Diodorus, here as earlier in his work, followed the annalistic pattern, and since the Constantinian excerpts appear to reflect the original order with complete fidelity, it is generally possible to obtain at least approximate dates even for events not otherwise recorded or for which the other evidence is not decisive. To a lesser degree this principle of arrangement and dating applies also to the Hoeschel and Photius fragments, though some of the long narratives in each, being compilations rather than actual excerpts, may obscure the original order by bringing together related events from the accounts of several years.
A comparison of my marginal dates and the dates given in the Argumenta Librorum of Dindorf4 will show many changes. Some of the new dates may be regarded as securely established, others will no doubt have to be modified as further evidence is forthcoming. For the Roman chronology I have relied chiefly upon T. R. S. Broughton’s invaluable Magistrates of the Roman Republic (New York, 1951–1952), while for the Greek world the single most helpful work was
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B. Niese’s Geschichte der griechischen und makedonischen
Staaten (Gotha, 1893–1903), which, though now outdated in part, is still the only broad study that takes account of and attempts to place all recorded events of the period.
My footnotes, though necessarily more ample than in the earlier volumes of Diodorus in this series, have been kept as brief as possible. The primary purpose throughout has been to provide the reader, chiefly by the identification of names and the citation of parallel passages in other authors, with the means of setting each fragment against its historical background. Nor are the citations from other historians intended to be complete, and in general preference has been given to authors earlier than Diodorus, especially Polybius, who was one of his chief sources for Books XXII–XXXII.
Obviously, the notes could not attempt to provide a full commentary, though such a work would be desirable. The annotations of the Wesseling edition, which incorporate the more important notes of preceding editors, still constitute the only substantial commentary available. Dindorf2 reprints these, with his own notes to the Vatican fragments (V) and some slight additions, while for the De Insidiis there are only the brief notes of Feder and of Mueller. Book XXXVII, so far as it deals with the Marsic War, was edited with a commentary by Krebs (Weilburg, 1862).
A few other works of some importance may also be mentioned. Of translations the most useful is the German version of J. F. Wurm (Stuttgart, 1827–1840),
whose interpretations and occasional emendations of the text have been unduly neglected. H. van
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