Abstract Mathematical writers, above all, Euclid, tend to present their theorems as decontextualized, abstract propositions, which has become the standard modus of textual presentation in theoretical mathematics. Mathematical commentators, however, provide their readers with personal names and historical facts in order to elucidate problems, provide contexts of discovery, or construct doxographies, among other things. Modern readers have used such information for the construction of histories of science. When we look at these passages, however, we see that personal names and information about mathematicians of the past can serve quite a range of different objectives, such as the strategic self-positioning of the commentator vis-a-vis the past or present of mathematics, the education of the reader, mathematical or moral, the construction of the history of the field, etc. Not only does the commentator present a persona of himself to the reader, he can also turn colleagues and predecessors into personae. This paper attempts to elucidate the practice, by offering four examples of such plays of and with personae, in Pappus, Eutocius, al-Nayrīzī, and Proclus.

中文翻译：

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角色扮演。评论中的“数学人”

摘要 数学作家，尤其是欧几里得，倾向于将他们的定理表述为去上下文化的抽象命题，这已成为理论数学中文本表述的标准方式。然而，数学评论员会向他们的读者提供个人姓名和历史事实，以阐明问题、提供发现的背景或构建肖像画等。现代读者已将此类信息用于构建科学史。然而，当我们查看这些段落时，我们看到过去数学家的个人姓名和信息可以服务于许多不同的目标，例如评论员相对于过去或现在的战略自我定位。数学，读者的教育，数学或道德，领域历史的建构等。评论者不仅向读者展示了自己的人格，还可以将同事和前辈变成人格。本文试图通过在 Pappus、Eutocius、al-Nayrīzī 和 Proclus 中提供四个这样的角色扮演例子来阐明这种做法。