Abstract
Did Timaeus make use of the Seventh Epistle? A close examination of Nepos and Plutarch leads us to conclude that we have no decisive evidence to confirm it. On the other hand, there remains without any satisfactory explanation a fact in favor of its opposite supposition: the fact of the Ephorus' failure to use this document. For it is permissible to infer that Timaeus, too, ignored it, rejecting its authenticity and its reliability as an historical source. But this inference is valid only on the presupposition that the Seventh Epistle is a public document or an open letter. If it is an actual letter and not intended for the public, it is possible to suppose that Ephorus died without knowing of its existence, whereas Timaeus used it, being of a later generation. In fact it would have taken time for the Academy to get it back and then to publish it. The author attempts to prove its actuality as an epistle and the lack of necessity of taking it as having a public character.
