DATE, TEACHERS, AND PHILOSOPHICAL RELATIONSHIPS

Democritus himself gives us some indication of his age and era. In his Lesser World System, Democritus says he was forty years younger than Anaxagoras, giving himself a birth date of about 460–57 BCE. This agrees with the Eightieth Olympiad birth date given by Apollodorus and is generally accepted.2 Democritus is almost universally regarded as a native of Abdera,3 and his father’s name is given as either Hegesistratus, Athenocritus, or Damasippus.4 From the biographies, we can infer that, as usual, his father was a man of wealth and influence, further said to have entertained Xerxes (DL 9.34–36). Traditionally, it was through his family friendship that Democritus received his early training; the biographers tell us that Xerxes left behind Magi and Chaldaeans who taught Democritus astronomy and theology. The story seems to have originated with Valerius Maximus for, although Diogenes Laertius in making the statement (9.34) refers his readers to Herodotus, he gives no specific citation.5 The passages of Herodotus generally thought germane are 7.109, which discusses Xerxes’ route toward Greece, including Abdera, and 8.120, which speaks of Xerxes’ possible return route to Persia, again through Abdera. Perhaps Diogenes Laertius assumes that it was during one of these marches that Xerxes left the Magi and Chaldaeans behind in the household. However, the dates are rather problematic, given that Xerxes’ war on Greece is dated to 480 BCE; given Democritus’ accepted birth date (460–57 BCE), the Magi and Chaldaeans would have had to linger in the household some twenty-five years for Democritus to have benefited by their presence.6 There is, in fact, little support for the story of Democritus’ eastern tutors, especially when, as we will see, they are used to support questionable stories of Democritus’ magic powers. Furthermore, the tradition of teachers from the east amounts to a general topos common in the lives of the philosophers, in which east meets west. In the life of Pythagoras, for example, Diogenes Laertius, discussing Pythagoras’ travel and education (8.3), states that after a sojourn in Egypt, Pythagoras visited the Magi and Chaldaeans. This reoccurring topos, of archaic philosophers who learn from eastern wise men, is also seen in the life of Thales, Plato, and Pyrrho, among others. It should be regarded not as biographically true, but rather as anecdotally popular, part of the larger east-west topos common in the lives of the philosophers, although more applicable for some philosophers than for others.7 We have little reliable information about Democritus’ training or teachers, although Diogenes Laertius gives us a wealth of information on these subjects, albeit in confused and confusing fashion