Archytas: Author and Authenticator of Pythagoreanism

Abstract

It is well known that Archytas of Tarentum was assumed in Antiquity to play an important role in Pythagorean philosophy – whether we are speaking of the historical Archytas of Tarentum (ca 435/10 – ca 360/50), for whom only four substantial authentic fragments survive1, or the author/s of a number of pseudepigraphical treatises ascribed to ‘Archytas the Pythagorean’ (as he is often called)2, which comprise no less than 47 pages in the most complete modern edition3. Until very recently, however, scholars have not thought much about what makes Archytas, whether we mean the historical Archytas of Tarentum or the figure we often call ‘Pseudo-Archytas’, so central to the Pythagorean tradition – what is it about Archytas specifically that captured the imaginations of ancient philosophers and historians of philosophy? Was it something having to do with his polymath learning, related to his innovative theory and practice of science4? Or