 The epistemological concerns discussed above required a different view on the nature of composites and macroscopic, perceptible properties. Epicurus rejected Democritus’ eliminativist position that perceived properties only exist ‘by convention’ (Sedley 1988; O’Keefe 2005). Epicurus’ successor Polystratus further defended and elaborated a claim about the reality of properties, including relational properties. Moreover, with the recovery of new papyrological evidence, controversy has arisen about the extent to which Epicurus rejected Democritus’ attempt to account for all causal processes by the properties of the atoms and void alone. Although Epicurus’ ideas have long been known from three surviving letters preserved in the biography by Diogenes Laertius, no copy of his longer work On Nature had been available. However, following excavation of the Epicurean library at Herculaneum that was buried by a volcanic eruption, some parts of this work are being recovered. Many of the scrolls found are badly damaged, however, and interpretation of this newly recovered material is ongoing.