What had survived of Phaedrus’ five books in Pithou's manuscript was of unequal length and seemed to indicate that material has been lost. This was supported by the apology in the prologue to the first book for including talking trees, of which there are no examples in the text that survives although there was one in the Perotti appendix. In fact only 59 out of 94 in the Pithou manuscript were even animal fables. The author’s aim at the start was to follow Aesop in creating a work that “moves one to mirth and warns with wise advice”. As the work progressed, however, he widened his focus and now claimed to be “refining” Aesopic material and even adding to it. In later books we find tales of Roman events well after the time of Aesop such as “Tiberius and the slave” (II.5) and “Augustus and the accused wife” (III.9), as well as the poet’s personal reply to envious detractors (IV.21); there are also anecdotes in which Aesop figures from the later biographical tradition (II.3; III.3; IV.5; and items 9 and 20 in Perotti’s appendix). Finally he makes a distinction between matter and manner in the epilogue to the fifth book, commenting that