  Given the “retrospective” character of the Renaissance in general, it is not surprising that what were believed to be the oldest texts to have survived from antiquity would enjoy the audience they did. Such works would have a profound effect on how the more familiar and “standard” philosophical and scientific sources were interpreted. And the coupling of critical historiographical and etymological skills as developed by Renaissance humanists with the philosophical and scientific interests of thinkers like Patrizi would usher in a new age of systematic analysis of the intellectual legacy of the ancient world.