John Stobaeus was a compiler and teacher from the ancient city of Stobi in Macedonia, active during the 5th century CE. His name, Stobaeus, simply identifies his origin. While the exact dates of his life are uncertain, with some suggestions he may have lived into the early 6th century, he is firmly placed in the late antique period. He is traditionally considered a pagan, and his work reflects the educational curriculum of pagan schools of his time, though his personal beliefs are not explicitly recorded.

His sole known work is a massive compilation known as the Anthology (also called Eclogae or Florilegium). This was designed as a textbook for teaching philosophy and ethics, systematically organized into sections covering topics from physics and logic to ethics, politics, and household management. The work survives, though not in its complete original form.

Stobaeus’s historical importance is not as an original thinker but as a preserver. His Anthology is an invaluable treasury of Greek literature, containing excerpts from over 500 authors, including poets, historians, orators, and philosophers from Homer to the Neoplatonists. For many ancient writers whose works are now lost, Stobaeus’s compilation provides crucial fragments that would otherwise be unknown. According to modern scholars, his selection offers a vital window into the authors and texts that were studied in late antique education, making his work a fundamental resource for the reconstruction of Greek literary and philosophical history.