Marcello Gigante is Director of the Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi, University of Naples.Dirk Obbink is Professor of Classics, Barnard College.

In a word this book is elegant. At the most basic level its appearance is handsome. More importantly, Gigante's rendering of Philodemus is fascinating and engaging, and Dirk Obbink's translation is masterful. . . . This book will be of interest to philosophers, philologists, archeologists and art historians. Anyone interested in Epicureanism and the very real life of friendship fostered in Epicurean communities will find much to dwell on in this marvelous little book." —Bryn Mawr Classical Review