that are quoted as distinct works may have been only sections of greater ones, and many titles are only attested once. The fragments extant, moreover, do not always enable us to form a clear notion of the works to which they once belonged. The geographical works of Dicaearchus were, according to Strabo, criticised in many respects by Polybius, though Strabo himself was more forgiving of Dicaearchus' ignorance of western and northern Europe, since – unlike Polybius – Dicaearchus had never visited these places. Dicaearchus wrote on cultural history, music and literature: Life of Greece () – The Bios Hellados, in three books is Dicaearchus’ most famous work. It inspired the Bios Hellados of Jason (identified as Jason of Nysa by the Suda but perhaps a different historian with the same name) and Varro's De vita populi Romani and De gente populi Romani. Only a few fragments actually cite the title, but there are many fragments on cultural history that cite no title and might belong to this work. Dicaearchus apparently attempted to write a biography of the Greek nation from earliest times to the reign of Philip II. The most famous passages are those cited by Varro and Porphyry on early history, which suggest a dualistic view of progress. His anthropological theory combined elements from the Hesiodic tradition of decay with progressivist theories. From Hesiod, he adopted the concept of a "golden race", which led a life of bliss but ultimately degenerated because humans became greedy, which led to war. This is combined with progressivist ideas, such as the harsh life of early man and the gradual invention of the arts. In his reconstruction, Dicaearchus distinguished three stages: the golden race, in which man lived off the spontaneously grown fruits of the earth, the pastoral life, in which man started domesticating and hunting animals, and the agricultural life, in which agriculture was introduced. Dicaearchus apparently also explained the saying, "sharing stops choking", as a reference to how humans learned to distribute surplus fairly. Dicaearchus also discussed the origin of the polis, which he derived from the expansion of families through marriage and the kinship of brothers and sisters. According to Dicaearchus, various stages of this evolution were reflected in patrae, phratries and phylae, which were social organisations into which citizens were grouped in many poleis. Another remarkable feature of the Life of Greece is that the first book discussed Egypt