Stoicism made the transition from an intriguing foreign philosophy to a popular practice because it was taken up by several high profile figures. Scipio Africanus, the original esteemed Roman Stoic died in 129 BCE, but about 40 years later a new crop of celebrated Romans took up the Stoic practice. During the fall of the Roman Republic a group of famed orators, generals, and statesmen including Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 BCE), Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), Pompey the Great (106-48 BCE), and Cato the Younger (95-46 BCE) all professed themselves Stoics. This group of powerful statesmen and leaders practicing Stoicism disseminated it throughout Rome. Octavian (63 BC- 14 AD) who later became Caesar Augustus had a Stoic tutor and many years later the young emperor Nero also had a Stoic tutor. As Stoicism grew more esteemed and more popular it became the natural choice to hire a Stoic tutor for sons who were destined for politics. Stoicism was especially attractive to political leaders. The Historian Gilbert Murray states “Nearly all the successors of Alexander -- we may say all the principal kings in existence in the generations following Zeno -- professed themselves Stoics.” While not every ruler professed himself a Stoic, for example Julius Caesar was an Epicurean, many were not just students of Stoicism but Stoic disciples like the Greek King Antigonus and the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Stoicism was popularized by the Roman elite of the Late Republic, and it appealed to the elites especially because it provided teachings on how to deal with strife. During the civil war between Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar and the resulting power vacuum after Caesar's assassination, the chaos and violence caused a desire for an...
... middle of paper ...
....html
Russell, Bertand. A History of Western Philosophy. USA: Simon and Schuster Press, 1945.
“Scipio Africanus the Younger.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/117565/Scipio-Africanus-the-Younger.
Sellars, John. Stoicism.CA: University of California Press, 2006.
Smiley, Charles N. "Stoicism and it's Influence on Roman Life and Thought." The Classical
Journal 29 (1934) 645-657.
Solomon, Robert. A Short History of Philosophy. USA: Oxford University Press, 1996.
“Stoicism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. April 15th, 1996.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/.
“Seneca.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. November 21st, 2011.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/seneca/
Strange, Steven. Zupko, Jack. Stoicism: Traditions and Transformations. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2004.
Marcus Aurelius was born on April 20, 121 AD into a family of royalty. His uncle and adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, was the emperor of Rome. Aurelius, too, was trained from birth to be a great ruler like his father. At age eleven, he dedicated himself to religion, although he considered philosophy to be the "true, inward" religion, one which did not require ceremonies necessary in others. Throughout his childhood and early adulthood, Aurelius was taught by several talented teachers. When he was young, the great Epictetus tutored him, followed by a man named Q. Junius Rusticus, who would accompany Aurelius throughout much of his life.
Emperor Justinian I eventually banned stoicism when he closed all pagan philosophy schools in 529 AD. This was due to his belief that their pagan character was in conflict with Christian beliefs (Sedley). Although it dropped out of the public eye for thousands of years, Stoicism is slowly becoming more relevant in the modern day. The ‘Stoicism Today’ project, run by a team of cognitive behavioral therapists, launched International Stoic Week in 2012 (Robertson). These scholars hope to bring back Ancient Stoic principles, but also modernize the philosophy to ensure its revival.
More specifically, Stoicism is a moral guide for humans. Though nature is absolute and perfect through God, the human thought is the one and only feature of life that is controlled and changed by people. Humans have the ability to reason and to know that everything in life is determined. For every event that they encounter, humans are able to acknowledge the fact that it is a part of their life plan. Therefore, a person can control whether he/she accepts that the action is unchangeable. Many humans think that they have a choice for all that they do and all that happens to them. But in Stoic reality, natures plan has one path with no possible differences. Thus, good is not defined by what a person does; but, by a per...
Octavian’s rise to power was a long arduous one, which could have ultimately led to his death just like his great-uncle, Julius Caesar. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome was in chaos as different individuals including Octavian battled to gain control. Ultimately Octavian emerged the victor after a number of battles like the battle of Philippi and Actium. On January 11, 29 B.C.E. Octavian returned back to Rome. His return coincided with the closing of the Temple of Janus (Armstrong, 342). Octavian realized through intuition that relinquishing power would not extinguish the civil war and holding on to power as a dictator would eventually lead to his assassination; so he urgently had to find a solution to this dilemma. These predicaments did not happen in one fell swoop they occurred in different years, so did the remedies he devised them. The solutions he came up with was beyond cunning and allowed him to do both in a sense. First he had to legitimize his right to hold power: so he came up with a myth that presented him as the direct descendant of the founders of Rome and of the gods. As the adopted son of Julius Caesar, Octavian was clearly Caesar’s successor, but he did not want it to be too obvious. He wanted to separate himself from his great-uncle’s despotic ambitions but still be linked to him by ancestry. Cassius Dio stated in his book that one of Augustus’s aspirations was ...
Marcus Aurelius was a very influential individual in his time and continues to be impactful even today through his writing. Marcus Aurelius was a famous Roman emperor. He was the last of the good emperors as many have said. Marcus Aurelius always tried to put others’ needs before his own and lived a very virtuous life. Aurelius practiced Stoicism which was reflected in his text entitled Meditations. Aurelius wrote Meditations with no intent to allow anyone else to read it. He wrote this text to himself as a way to remind him of the virtues that he held most dear. After his death, though, Meditations was found and published and is now a very famous text in literature. I, personally, have three favorite passages from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a roman philosopher that lived from 4 B.C. to 65 A.D., offered some of the most influentially inspiring writings that argue the very purpose of life and the inward reflection of oneself. Seneca was a confidant of the Roman Emperor Nero and towards the end of his life procured many letters and writings of his beliefs to mentees. He is considered a major influence on the Christian theology because of the comparison between the morality expressed in his philosophy and verses in the Christian bible; specifically those concerning money and wealth as a path to evil and the treatment of man to one another. His philosophy expanded the traditional views of stoicism; a Hellenistic ideology that addresses the ways in which one
Many empires have risen, thrived, and fallen over the course of history on our planet. One of the most expansive and influential was the Roman Empire. The history of Rome is protracted and epic, with its ideas and culture infused into our lives today. Not surprisingly, Rome had a string of charismatic and great leaders. Julius Caesar and Constantine are two figures that played pivotal roles in shaping the course of one of the greatest civilizations in our world’s history.
The mindsets of people in society are often heavily influenced by the conflicts and circumstances that are common within the time-span in which these people lived. In times of war, people may be more patriotic; in times of pestilence, people may be more pious. Whether cynical or optimistic, the understandings of these mindsets allow for a better insight into how theses people lived their lives and the philosophies that guided them. In the case of the philosophers Plato and Epictetus, their philosophies sprang up amidst collapsing cities and exile. Plato and Epictetus’ philosophies differed due to their individual experiences in that Plato believed that all is not what it seemed, while Epictetus believed that what was presented should only matter if they are within an individual’s concern.
The average Roman citizen was a simple and practical farmer, who when needed, defended himself, household, and state (Matthews, Noble, & Platt, 2014). In some cultures, such as the Egyptians, they look at the Roman ethos as manly and self determined, rather than feminine with pleasure and passionate love between man and woman (Hall, 1991). Ethos, defined by Aristotle, is one of three modes of persuasion; the other two are logos and pathos (Philosophy Terms Website, n.d.). A speaker’s ethos shows their character as trustworthy and honest. There were three important aspects of the Roman ethos: values, family, and religion.
Epictetus, a revolutionary stoic of his time often makes some strong claims about the idea of stoicism. Stoicism is fundamentally promoting a lifestyle that yields a depleted happiness where everything is bounded by just desires being fulfilled and not enjoying the love and opportunities life brings to live it to the fullest and make life meaningful. Meaningful life is living with passion, happiness, love, and enjoying every moment you have because one only has one life. Being passionless is popular with stoics. The world is in large part affiliated with happiness regarding materialistic success, family love, meaning, why bring it down with selfish thought? I shall argue that I interpret the claims and lifestyle promoted by the stoic is
He continued to deviate from the perspective of a typical man through his poetry. His compositions were full of passion and emotion (Mastin). By writing with such a personal and emotional style, he revealed himself to be an anomaly among other Roman men. Typical Roman men “did not analyze their thoughts and feelings,” judging themselves based on the opinions of others rather than personal introspection (“Roman Society, Roman Life”). Catullus challenged this aspect of Roman life by basing his poetry off of ideas concerning his own emotions and “psychological insight[s]” (Mastin). He favored Epicurean philosophy over Roman values. Epicureanism promotes a lifestyle in which one is constantly in pursuit of a “pleasurable life” (“Catullus”). Catullus sought fulfillment through the expression of romantic love while most Romans found fulfillment in achieving military or political influence. Therefore, Catullus was “criticized in [his] time and [...] misunderstood in our own” because his lifestyle contrasted so dramatically against other men in his lifetime (“Catullus”).
..., that is to the highest part of himself, the governing element, the deity within him. Marcus writes, “Man violates his soul when he turns away from any human being or is borne against him with intent to injure him. Love the human race.” Marcus understood that a good stoic could not be annoyed by others, but found it hard to deal with.
The main feature of the Roman aristocratic ethos in the second century BC was the set of goals, values that the ancient Romans had and the way they achieved them. These were born out of the military and political careers of ambitious individuals and involved the gain of valued high office and much praised famous deeds. The Roman society revolved around turning the military, the politics, religio and gens to conform to the necessities of the aristocratic class. Through the works of the ancient writers/historians, Polybius, Plutarch, Livy, Apian and Cicero about the life of Scipio Aemilianus, this essay will set out to indicate the strengths and weaknesses of such value system.
The city-state of Ancient Rome had numerous grand and advanced structures, many of which remain in their near perfect former glory right to this day. A few of their most famous ...
The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was born Marcus Annius Verus on April 26, 121 A.D.. He was of a noble family originally Spanish, Aurelius grew up close to the center of power. His father was Annius Verus, his mother Domitia Lucilla. When he was a child the emperor Hadrian took interest in him because he embraced both rhetoric and philosophy; his manner was serious, his intellectual pursuits deep and devoted, so that the emperor punned on his name and called him “Verissimus”, ‘Most Truthful”. It is this quality of Aurelius character which made him a unique figure in Roman history, since he was the first emperor whose life was molded by devotion to philosophy. He received public honors from an early age and seemed to be Hadrian potential successo...