  Not all Late Byzantine philosophical authors were content to write compendia, paraphrases, and commentaries on the classical authors. One who decided to write essays on natural philosophy in order to investigate the relevant questions independently of Aristotle and Plato was Nikephoros Choumnos (c. 1250/55–1327), a leading ﬁgure at the court of Andronikos II in the 1290s and 1300s. Choumnos’ main concern was with elemental theory, cosmology, and psychology. Many of his essays seem to have been composed on the occasion of literary gatherings (theatra), some of which were presided over by the emperor.