Philip of Opus - Plato's Laws and Epinomis

Plato's Laws and Epinomis

According to Diogenes Laërtius, Philip of Opus was a disciple of Plato, who was responsible for transcribing Plato's Laws into twelve books, and writing the thirteenth book (the Epinomis) himself:

Some say that Philip the Opuntian transcribed his work, Laws, which was written in wax . They also say that the Epinomis, is his.

In the Suda, Philip is listed anonymously under the heading of philosophos ("philosopher"), his name being lost from the beginning of the entry:

Philosopher who divided the Laws of Plato into 12 books; for he himself is said to have added the 13th. And he was a pupil of Socrates and of Plato himself, occupied with the study of the heavens. Living in the time of Philip of Macedon, he wrote the following: On the distance of the sun and moon; On gods; On time; On myths; On freedom; On anger; On reciprocation; On the Opuntian Lokrians; On pleasure; On passion; On friends and friendship; On writing; On Plato; On eclipse(s) of the moon; On the size of the sun and moon and earth; On lightning; On the planets; Arithmetic; On prolific numbers; Optics; Enoptics; Kykliaka; Means; etc.

Since the entry is located under the heading philosophos, the defect presumably existed in the source from which the Suda borrowed. It was not until the 18th century when Ludolf Küster, the editor of the Suda, identified this anonymous entry with the Philip of Opus mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius.