Martin the Epicurean (Paperback or Softback)

For most of his life Martin Ferguson Smith (born 1940) has been closely engaged with the teachings of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC). Epicurus adopted and adapted the atomic theory developed by Democritus, but regarded scientific knowledge as subservient to the moral end, which is pleasure, specifically absence of pain in the body and absence of trouble in the mind.

Martin has a particular interest in two of Epicurus' followers, each of whom regarded his master as the saviour of humanity. One is the Roman poet Lucretius (first century BC), author of On the Nature of Things, which Martin has translated and edited. The other is Diogenes of Oinoanda (second century AD), who displayed his exposition of Epicureanism in a gigantic Greek inscription, the longest one known from antiquity, in his upland home city in southwest Turkey. Diogenes addresses not only the people of Oinoanda, but also so-called foreigners who are actually fellow citizens in a world which is one country for humanity.

Since 1968 Martin has been involved in Oinoanda's exploration, first independently, later in collaboration, and has seen the number of known pieces of Diogenes' work more than tripled. The new texts are among the most remarkable classical finds to have been made anywhere in the last two centuries, and the inscription has the fascination of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.

Martin was educated at Shrewsbury School, alongside John Peel, and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a foundation scholar, took a "first" in Classics, and wrote a postgraduate dissertation on Lucretius. After service as professor of Classics in Bangor and Durham and adventures not only in Turkey, but also in communist Albania and Romania, he moved to the remote island of Foula in Shetland. There he has lived in contented isolation for thirty years, without a shop, television, or smart phone.

Alongside his classical work, he has written four "modern" books: Dearest Jean (2011); Madeleine Symons (2017); In and Out of Bloomsbury (2021); and The Artist Helen Coombe (2023). Of particular relevance to Martin the Epicurean is his Urbi et Orbi: The Epicurean Inscription and Prescription of Diogenes of Oinoanda (2026), Open Access and paperback.

Martin Ferguson Smith, OBE, is professor emeritus of Classics at Durham University. He has an international reputation for his editions and translations of the Epicurean writers Lucretius (first century BC) and Diogenes of Oinoanda (second century AD). Diogenes, whose ruined home city is in the mountains of southwest Turkey, set out his philosophy in the form of the longest known Greek inscription. It is addressed to the people of Oinoanda and to so-called foreigners who are actually fellow citizens in a world which is one country for humanity. To the discovery and interpretation of Diogenes' extraordinary work Martin has devoted nearly sixty years of his life, during which he has been much influenced by Epicurean philosophy.

Martin the Epicurean, as well as describing the author's long engagement with Diogenes and his spectacular fieldwork in Turkey, contains chapters on his unusual adventures in communist Albania and Romania and on his modern work, which includes his acclaimed books Dearest Jean: Rose Macaulay's Letters to a Cousin (2011), Madeleine Symons: Social and Penal Reformer (2017), In and Out of Bloomsbury: Essays on Twentieth-Century Writers and Artists (2021), and The Artist Helen Coombe 1864-1937: The Tragedy of Roger Fry's Wife (2023).

The book also describes the thirty years he has spent living on the remote island of Foula in Shetland without a shop, television, or smart phone, in fulfilment of a childhood ambition.