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Differently than what has formerly been suggested, P.Herc. 177 preserves the initial, not the final, title of a roll. Besides, the author of the work it transmits is not Philodemus, but Demetrius Laco. Finally, its subject is not geometrical, but astronomical. P.Herc. 177 probably belongs to the same treatise as P.Herc. 1013, which was devoted to the epicurean discussion concerning the Sun and of which these papyri might represent two different books.

PHerc. 1004, probably containing a book of Philodemus' On Rhetoric, is the lower half of a roll opened between 1805 and 1806 and preserved in 30 pieces. The measuring of the volution width of each piece has permitted a confirmation of the current order of fragments except for the pieces contained in 'cornici' 4 and 5. According to the mathematical calculations made by crossing periodically recurring elements with column beginnings or ends, it has been possible to quantify the extension of the lost portions comprised both between pieces and at the beginning of the roll and, by combining these data with the information contained in the Inventory of 1782, to ascertain the original lenght and total number of columns of the roll. As far as the preserved text is concerned, apart from partial editions by Sudhaus and others, about one third of it remains still inedited. A new comprehensive edition of this book is being prepared in the framework of the project ERC Starting Grant 241184-PHerc (European Commission, 7th Framework Programme, Specific 'Ideas' Programme).