The Dating of work “On Style” attributed to Demetrius of Phalereum

Scholars have disagreed on the dating of the work "On Style." Traditionally, it has been dated to the early Hellenistic period, but recent evidences made this date doubtful for some researchers, prompting them to seek both external and internal evidences to provide an approximate date for the work. Scholars' proposed various dates: some argue that the style of the work is not purely Attic, supporting a third-century B.C date. Others point out that it was not mentioned in the third-century list of works recorded by Diogenes Laertius, and that the text does not reference any of the critical issues prevalent at the time. The matter is further complicated by the popularity of the name "Demetrius" among the Greeks, so attributing the work to Demetrius of Phalerum became doubtful. Some researchers have even pointed to the mention of writers from the second century B.C within the text as evidence for a similar dating. "The third group of researchers attempted to bridge the gap between the two proposed dates for the work, dating it to the first century B.C.