Posts by Cassius

I am taking the time today to reorganize this forum:

Epicurean Historical Figures - Biographies of Epicureans from Epicurus To The Present

so that it will be easier to find and update as information can be accumulated. The impetus for this was to get the "Memorial Calendar" better organized with links to where information can be found and added.

At this point all I have the time to do is set these up, so anyone who has any interest in helping improve a particular biography (and most of them are bare-bones) please post in the respective thread. That will update the bio just by adding new posts, but over time we can compile the information and keep the first post up to date with a better summary.

Gaius Cassius Longinus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Gaius Cassius Longinus (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaːi.ʊs ˈkassi.ʊs ˈlɔŋɡɪnʊs]; c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC.[4][5][6] He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspiracy. He commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's former supporters, and committed suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony.

Cassius was elected as Tribune of the plebs in 49 BC. He opposed Caesar, and eventually he commanded a fleet against him during Caesar's Civil War: after Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender. After Caesar's death, Cassius fled to the East, where he amassed an army of twelve legions. He was supported and made Governor by the Senate. Later he and Brutus marched west against the allies of the Second Triumvirate.

He followed the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, although scholars debate whether or not these beliefs affected his political life. Cassius is a main character in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar that depicts the assassination of Caesar and its aftermath. He is also shown in the lowest circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno as punishment for betraying and killing Caesar.[7][8]

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Denarius (42 BC) issued by Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther, depicting the crowned head of Liberty and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and lituus. From the military mint in SmyrnaGaius Cassius Longinus came from a very old Roman family, gens Cassia, which had been prominent in Rome since the 6th century BC. Little is known of his early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of despots while still at school, by quarreling with the son of the dictator Sulla.[9] He studied philosophy at Rhodes under Archelaus of Rhodes and became fluent in Greek.[10] He was married to Junia Tertia, who was the daughter of Servilia and thus a half-sister of his co-conspirator Brutus. They had one son, who was born in about 60 BC.[11]

Carrhae and Syria[edit]

In 54 BC, Cassius joined Marcus Licinius Crassus in his eastern campaign against the Parthian Empire. In 53 BC, Crassus suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Carrhae in Northern-Mesopotamia losing two-thirds of his army. Cassius led the remaining troops' retreat back into Syria, and organised an effective defence force for the province. Based on Plutarch's account, the defeat at Carrhae could have been avoided had Crassus acted as Cassius had advised. According to Dio, the Roman soldiers, as well as Crassus himself, were willing to give the overall command to Cassius after the initial disaster in the battle, which Cassius "very properly" refused. The Parthians also considered Cassius as equal to Crassus in authority, and superior to him in skill.[12]

In 51 BC, Cassius was able to ambush and defeat an invading Parthian army under the command of prince Pacorus and general Osaces. He first refused to do battle with the Parthians, keeping his army behind the walls of Antioch (Syria's most important city) where he was besieged. When the Parthians gave up the siege and started to ravage the countryside, he followed them with his army harrying them as they went. The decisive encounter came on October 7 as the Parthians turned away from Antigonea. As they set about their return journey they were confronted by a detachment of Cassius' army, which faked a retreat and lured the Parthians into an ambush. The Parthians were suddenly surrounded by Cassius' main forces and defeated. Their general Osaces died from his wounds, and the rest of the Parthian army retreated back across the Euphrates.[13]

Civil war[edit]

Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC, when civil war was about to break out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Cassius was elected tribune of the Plebs for 49 BC, and threw in his lot with the Optimates, although his brother Lucius Cassius supported Caesar. Cassius left Italy shortly after Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He met Pompey in Greece, and was appointed to command part of his fleet.

In 48 BC, Cassius sailed his ships to Sicily, where he attacked and burned a large part of Caesar's navy.[14] He then proceeded to harass ships off the Italian coast. News of Pompey's defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus caused Cassius to head for the Hellespont, with hopes of allying with the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II. Cassius was overtaken by Caesar en route, and was forced to surrender unconditionally.[15]

Caesar made Cassius a legate, employing him in the Alexandrian War against the very same Pharnaces whom Cassius had hoped to join after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus. However, Cassius refused to join in the fight against Cato and Scipio in Africa, choosing instead to retire to Rome.

Cassius spent the next two years in office, and apparently tightened his friendship with Cicero.[16] In 44 BC, he became praetor peregrinus with the promise of the Syrian province for the ensuing year. The appointment of his junior and brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus, as praetor urbanus deeply offended him.[17]

Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot against Caesar, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of tyrannicide, Brutus became their leader.[18] On the Ides of March, 44 BC, Cassius urged on his fellow liberators and struck Caesar in the chest. Though they succeeded in assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived, as Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against them. In letters written during 44 BC, Cicero frequently complains that Rome was still subjected to tyranny, because the "Liberators" had failed to kill Antony.[19] According to some accounts, Cassius had wanted to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but Brutus dissuaded him.[20]

Philodemus - Wikipedia

Philodemus of Gadara (Greek: Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, Philodēmos, "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher[1] and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for his poetry preserved in the Greek Anthology, but since the 18th century, many writings of his have been discovered among the charred papyrus rolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The task of excavating and deciphering these rolls is difficult, and work continues to this day. The works of Philodemus so far discovered include writings on ethics, theology, rhetoric, music, poetry, and the history of various philosophical schools. Ethel Ross Barker suggested in 1908 that he was owner of the Villa of the Papyri Library.[2]

Life

Philodemus was born c. 110 BC, in Gadara, Coele-Syria (in present-day Jordan).[3] He studied under the Epicurean Phoenician philosopher, Zeno of Sidon, the head (scholarch) of the Epicurean school, in Athens, before settling in Rome about 80 BC. He was a follower of Zeno, but an innovative thinker in the area of aesthetics, in which conservative Epicureans had little to contribute. He was a friend of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, and was implicated in Piso's profligacy by Cicero,[4] who, however, praises Philodemus warmly for his philosophic views and for the elegans lascivia of his poems.[5] Philodemus was an influence on Horace's Ars Poetica. The Greek anthology contains thirty-four of his epigrams - most of them, love poems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Ca…s_(consul_58_BC)

For other people with the same name, see Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus

Statue of Piso at the Museo archeologico nazionale di Parma [it]

Born101 BC
Died43 BC
NationalityRoman
Occupation(s)Politician and philosopher
OfficeConsul (58 BC)
ChildrenLucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus
RelativesLucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (grandfather)
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (101 BC[1] – c. 43 BC) was a Roman senator and the father-in-law of Julius Caesar[2] through his daughter Calpurnia. He was reportedly a follower of a school of Epicureanism that had been modified to befit politicians, as Epicureanism itself favoured withdrawal from politics.[3] Piso was consul in the year 58 BC with Aulus Gabinius as his colleague.[4]

Biography[edit]

Caesar mentions his father-in-law in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Piso's grandfather, also named Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, was killed with Lucius Cassius Longinus in 107 BC by the same Tigurini that Caesar conquered the year of Piso's consulship.[5] As Caesar's father-in-law, when Cicero was faced with exile later that year for having violated the Leges Clodiae by executing members of the Catiline conspiracy without a formal trial, Piso declined to protect Cicero from the threat and consequences of exile, earning the enmity of that orator.[6] In response, Cicero attacked Piso both during and after his subsequent administration of the province of Macedonia, which he administered from 57 BC to the beginning of 55 BC, when he was recalled[2] and replaced by Quintus Ancharius. Piso's recall was perhaps in consequence of the violent attack made upon him by Cicero in the Senate in his speech De provinciis consularibus.[2]

On his return, Piso addressed the Senate in his defence; Cicero replied with the coarse and exaggerated invective, a writing and/or oratory style or genre in classical times, known as In Pisonem.[2][7] Piso issued a pamphlet by way of rejoinder, and there the matter ended.[2] Cicero may have been afraid to bring the father-in-law of Julius Caesar to trial.[2] At any rate, Piso's repute was solid enough that he was elected, though reluctant, to the office of censor in 50 BC.[6]

At the outbreak of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, Piso offered his services as mediator.[2][8] However, when Caesar marched upon Rome, Piso left the city by way of protest of Caesar.[2] After the murder of Caesar, Piso insisted on the provisions of Caesar's will being strictly carried out,[2] and the assassinated Dictator was given a public funeral.[9] In the growing tension between Mark Antony and Octavianus, Piso played a role neutral to both parties, yet seeking some form of resolution between the two sides.[10] At the Senate session held that 1 August he offered a proposal to bring harmony between the two, but not one man supported him.[11]

As armed strife between the soldiers of the two sides increased, Piso continued to work for peace. When the Senate opened the year 43 BC with debating over Cicero's motion to declare Antony an enemy of the state, Piso twice intervened over the legality of such an act, arguing for compromise.[12] Still hoping for peace, Piso joined two consular Senators -- Lucius Marcius Philippus and Servius Sulpicius Rufus—in an embassy to Antony at his camp in Mutina later that month. Piso and Philippus returned the following month—Sulpicius had died on the journey—to present terms from Antony that enraged Cicero. Antony's terms were rejected and the Senate declared a state of war. However, events in the further East alarmed the party at Rome, and a second embassy was sent to Antony in March, which included Piso.[13] He is not heard of after this, and Syme concludes from this silence he died not long after.[

(Photo from VisitNaples.eu)

Siro of Naples - Siro (also Syro, Siron, or Syron; fl. c. 50 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher who lived in Naples. He was a teacher of Virgil, and taught at his school in Naples. There are two poems attributed to Virgil in the Appendix Vergiliana, which mention Siro, and where the author speaks of seeking peace in the company of Siro: I am setting sail for the havens of the blest to seek the wise sayings of great Siro, and will redeem my life from all care. Cicero also mentions Siro several times and speaks of Siro along with Philodemus as being "excellent citizens and most learned men." The 5th-century commentator Servius claimed that Siro was commemorated in Virgil's sixth Eclogue as the character Silenus.

Wikipedia

Siro (also Syro, Siron, or Syron; fl. c. 50 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher who lived in Naples.

He was a teacher of Virgil,^[1] and taught at his school in Naples. There are two poems attributed to Virgil in the Appendix Vergiliana,^[2] which mention Siro, and where the author speaks of seeking peace in the company of Siro:

Quote

I am setting sail for the havens of the blest to seek the wise sayings of great Siro, and will redeem my life from all care.^[3]

Cicero also mentions Siro several times and speaks of Siro along with Philodemus as being "excellent citizens and most learned men."^[4] The 5th-century commentator Servius claimed that Siro was commemorated in Virgil's sixth Eclogue as the character Silenus.^[5]

Titus Pomponius Atticus - Wikipedia

Early life[edit]

Born Titus Pomponius in Rome c. November 110 BC,[2] Atticus' father was Titus Pomponius, a wealthy businessman, and Caecilia.[3] His family were equestrians and likely had been members of the prestigious equestrians with public horse (Latin: eques equo publico) for many generations.[4] He had a sister named Pomponia.

Atticus' father supported his education. Among his school friends were three consuls: Cicero (consul in 63 BC), Lucius Manlius Torquatus (consul in 65), and Gaius Marius the Younger (consul in 82).[5] Cicero was educated by tutors chosen by the famous orator Lucius Licinius Crassus; Atticus may have been part of this grouping as well.[6] He is said to have been an excellent student; his education, evidenced by his school friends' political careers, would have prepared him well for Roman public life.[7]

Atticus left Rome, probably to escape civil strife, in 86 BC. According to his biographer Nepos, Atticus was a distant relation of the plebeian tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus – it is more likely that they were friends – which put him in danger when Sulla took the city.[8] Atticus went to Athens, transferring most of his wealth, and staying away from Rome until around 65 BC. The city was not doing well the aftermath of its capture by Sulla during the First Mithridatic War.[9] His love of Athens inspired his self-appointed nickname "Atticus", or "Man of Attica", which is mentioned in the fifth book of Cicero's De Finibus.[10] During his visit to Athens, Julius Caesar was Atticus's guest.[citation needed]

Career[edit]

Cicero with his friend Atticus and brother Quintus, at his villa at Arpinum. (Richard Wilson, c. 1771)Atticus inherited family money, which he successfully invested in real estate, enhancing his wealth. Using his income to support his love of letters, he had trained Roman slaves as scribes and taught them to make papyrus scrolls, allowing Atticus to publish, amongst other things, the works of his friend Cicero. His editions of Greek authors such as Plato, Demosthenes, and Aeschines were prized for their accuracy in the ancient world.[11] None of Atticus's own writings have survived, but he is known to have written one book (in Ancient Greek) on Cicero's consulship, the Liber Annalis (a work on Roman chronology), and a small amount of Roman poetry.[12]

In 65 BC, Atticus returned from Athens to Rome. In keeping with his Epicurean sympathies, he kept out of politics to the greatest extent possible, except to lend Cicero a helping hand in times of peril — for instance, when Cicero was forced to flee the country in 49 BC, Atticus made him a present of 250,000 sesterces. All in all, his political activity was minimal, though we know that, like Cicero, he belonged to the optimates (the aristocratic party), and held generally conservative views. He was also a friend and partner of Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate.[13]

Upon the death of his wealthiest maternal uncle Quintus Caecilius, Atticus became his adopted son and heir, assuming the name Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus. Lucius Licinius Lucullus, despite being his personal friend, resented Atticus's receiving an inheritance he felt he was entitled to for his association with the campaign against Mithridates and as Governor of Syria.[14]

Atticus was friendly with the Liberators after the assassination of Julius Caesar but was not harmed following their defeat. According to Cornelius Nepos, he took care of Servilia after the death of her son Brutus at the Battle of Philippi.[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Ma…_(praetor_49_BC)

Lucius Manlius Torquatus (died 46 BC) was a Roman politician and military commander. He was active during the Crisis of the Roman Republic and Caesar's Civil War. He commanded troops at the battles of Oricum, Dyrrhachium and Thapsus. The last of these ended the war, in a defeat for the faction Torquatus supported; he escaped the field, but was captured and killed shortly after. He is portrayed by Cicero in De Finibus as a spokesman advocating Epicurean ethics.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Torquatus was the son of Lucius Manlius Torquatus, and belonged to the patrician Manlia gens, one of the oldest Roman houses. In 69 BC he was elected a member of the Quindecimviri sacris faciundis, a senior religious collegium.[1] In 66 BC he was the first to accuse newly elected consuls Publius Cornelius Sulla and Publius Autronius Paetus, the consul designates for the following year, of bribery in connection with the elections, thereby securing the election of his father in 65.[2]

Torquatus was closely aligned with Cicero, both strong supporters of the self described boni (good men). The boni were the traditionalist senatorial majority of the Roman Republic, politicians who believed that the role of the Senate was being usurped by the legislative people's assemblies for the benefit of a few power hungry individuals. The boni were against anyone who attempted to use these legislative assemblies to reform the state. As a fellow senator Torquatus supported Cicero during his praetorship in 66 BC and his tumultuous consulship in 63. After Cicero had beaten him to the consulship, the distinguished ex-general and military governor Lucius Sergius Catilina led a conspiracy centered on assassinating Cicero and overthrowing the Republic with the help of foreign armed forces. Three years earlier, Torquatus' father and Cicero had publicly supported Catilina when he was unsuccessfully prosecuted for corruption and abuse of office. Despite this, Torquatus vigorously supported the Senate's efforts, which resulted in them unmasking the conspirators, capturing and executing several. The following year Catilina, with what was left of his army, was cornered by three legions and killed.[3]

By this time, Torquatus and Cicero were on opposite sides. Torquatus accused Publius Cornelius Sulla of being a part of Catilina's conspiracies.[4] Sulla had been an enemy for the four years since Torquatus had accused him of bribery, resulting in his being tried, convicted and, under the Lex Acilia Calpurnia, deprived of the consulship, being replaced by Torquatus' father, and expelled from the Senate.[5][6] Torquatus prosecuted Sulla for plotting the revenge killing of his father, while Cicero defended the accused. Torquatus accused Sulla of raising a force of armed men in 66 to secure the consulship for Catilina and murder the ruling consuls Lucius Manlius Torquatus, Torquatus' father, and Lucius Aurelius Cotta.[7] He also accused Cicero of manufacturing evidence.[8] This was the occasion for Cicero delivering his Pro Sulla speech. Sulla was acquitted, almost certainly due to Cicero's oratory skills. Sulla's cousins, Publius and Servius, were not so fortunate, as Cicero refused to consider defending them.[9]

Lucian - Wikipedia

Lucian of Samosata[a] (c. 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstition, religious practices, and belief in the paranormal. Although his native language was probably Syriac, all of his extant works are written entirely in ancient Greek (mostly in the Attic Greek dialect popular during the Second Sophistic period).

Everything that is known about Lucian's life comes from his own writings,[1] which are often difficult to interpret because of his extensive use of sarcasm. According to his oration The Dream, he was the son of a lower middle class family from the city of Samosata along the banks of the Euphrates in the remote Roman province of Syria. As a young man, he was apprenticed to his uncle to become a sculptor, but, after a failed attempt at sculpting, he ran away to pursue an education in Ionia. He may have become a travelling lecturer and visited universities throughout the Roman Empire. After acquiring fame and wealth through his teaching, Lucian finally settled down in Athens for a decade, during which he wrote most of his extant works. In his fifties, he may have been appointed as a highly paid government official in Egypt, after which point he disappears from the historical record.

Lucian's works were wildly popular in antiquity, and more than eighty writings attributed to him have survived to the present day, a considerably higher quantity than for most other classical writers. His most famous work is A True Story, a tongue-in-cheek satire against authors who tell incredible tales, which is regarded by some as the earliest known work of science fiction. Lucian invented the genre of comic dialogue, a parody of the traditional Socratic dialogue. His dialogue Lover of Lies makes fun of people who believe in the supernatural and contains the oldest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Lucian wrote numerous satires making fun of traditional stories about the gods including The Dialogues of the Gods, Icaromenippus, Zeus Rants, Zeus Catechized, and The Parliament of the Gods. His Dialogues of the Dead focuses on the Cynic philosophers Diogenes and Menippus. Philosophies for Sale and The Carousal, or The Lapiths make fun of various philosophical schools, and The Fisherman or the Dead Come to Life is a defense of this mockery.

Lucian often ridiculed public figures, such as the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus Proteus in his letter The Passing of Peregrinus and the fraudulent oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus in his treatise Alexander the False Prophet. Lucian's treatise On the Syrian Goddess satirizes cultural distinctions between Greeks and Syrians and is the main source of information about the cult of Atargatis.

Lucian had an enormous, wide-ranging impact on Western literature. Works inspired by his writings include Thomas More's Utopia, the works of François Rabelais, William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Life[edit]

Biographical sources[edit]

Lucian is not mentioned in any contemporary texts or inscriptions written by others[2] and he is not included in Philostratus's Lives of the Sophists.[2] As a result of this, everything that is known about Lucian comes exclusively from his own writings.[3][4][2] A variety of characters with names very similar to Lucian, including "Lukinos", "Lukianos", "Lucius", and "The Syrian" appear throughout Lucian's writings.[2] These have been frequently interpreted by scholars and biographers as "masks", "alter-egos", or "mouthpieces" of the author.[2] Daniel S. Richter criticizes the frequent tendency to interpret such "Lucian-like figures" as self-inserts by the author[2] and argues that they are, in fact, merely fictional characters Lucian uses to "think with" when satirizing conventional distinctions between Greeks and Syrians.[2] He suggests that they are primarily a literary trope used by Lucian to deflect accusations that he as the Syrian author "has somehow outraged the purity of Greek idiom or genre" through his invention of the comic dialogue.[5] British classicist Donald Russell states, "A good deal of what Lucian says about himself is no more to be trusted than the voyage to the moon that he recounts so persuasively in the first person in True Stories"[6] and warns that "it is foolish to treat [the information he gives about himself in his writings] as autobiography."[6]

Background and upbringing[edit]

Map of Anatolia showing locations associated with Lucian

Lucian was born in the town of Samosata on the banks of the Euphrates on the far eastern outskirts of the Roman Empire.[7][4][8][9] Samosata had been the capital of the kingdom of Commagene until 72 AD when it was annexed by Vespasian and became part of the Roman province of Syria.[10][9] The population of the town was mostly Syrian[7] and Lucian's native tongue was probably Syriac, a form of Middle Aramaic.[7][11][12][9]

During the time when Lucian lived, traditional Greco-Roman religion was in decline and its role in society had become largely ceremonial.[13] As a substitute for traditional religion, many people in the Hellenistic world joined mystery cults, such as the Mysteries of Isis, Mithraism, the cult of Cybele, and the Eleusinian Mysteries.[14] Superstition had always been common throughout ancient society,[14] but it was especially prevalent during the second century.[14][15] Most educated people of Lucian's time adhered to one of the various Hellenistic philosophies,[14] of which the major ones were Stoicism, Platonism, Peripateticism, Pyrrhonism, and Epicureanism.[14] Every major town had its own 'university'[14] and these 'universities' often employed professional travelling lecturers,[14] who were frequently paid high sums of money to lecture about various philosophical teachings.[16] The most prestigious center of learning was the city of Athens in Greece, which had a long intellectual history.[16]

According to Lucian's oration The Dream, which classical scholar Lionel Casson states he probably delivered as an address upon returning to Samosata at the age of thirty-five or forty after establishing his reputation as a great orator,[3] Lucian's parents were lower middle class and his uncles owned a local statue-making shop.[7] Lucian's parents could not afford to give him a higher education,[3] so, after he completed his elementary schooling, Lucian's uncle took him on as an apprentice and began teaching him how to sculpt.[3] Lucian, however, soon proved to be poor at sculpting and ruined the statue he had been working on.[3] His uncle beat him, causing him to run off.[3] Lucian fell asleep and experienced a dream in which he was being fought over by the personifications of Statuary and Culture.[3][17] He decided to listen to Culture and thus sought out an education.[3][18]

Although The Dream has long been treated by scholars as a truthful autobiography of Lucian,[3][19] its historical accuracy is questionable at best.[20][19][6] Classicist Simon Swain calls it "a fine but rather apocryphal version of Lucian's education"[20] and Karin Schlapbach calls it "ironical".[17] Richter argues that it is not autobiographical at all, but rather a prolalia (προλᾰλιά), or playful literary work, and a "complicated meditation on a young man's acquisition of paideia" [i.e. education].[19] Russell dismisses The Dream as entirely fictional, noting, "We recall that Socrates too started as sculptor, and Ovid's vision of Elegy and Tragedy (Amores 3.1) is all too similar to Lucian's."[6]

Wikipedia: Diogenes of Oenoanda (Greek: Διογένης ὁ Οἰνοανδεύς) was an Epicurean Greek from the 2nd century AD who carved a summary of the philosophy of Epicurus onto a portico wall in the ancient Greek city of Oenoanda in Lycia (modern day southwest Turkey). The surviving fragments of the wall, originally extended about 80 meters, form an important source of Epicurean philosophy. The inscription, written in Greek, sets out Epicurus' teachings on physics, epistemology, and ethics. It was originally about 25,000 words long and filled 260 square meters of wall space. Less than a third of it has been recovered.

Life

Nothing is known about the life of Diogenes apart from the limited information he reveals to us. The inscription itself, which had been dated to the late 2nd century,[1] has now been assigned on epigraphic grounds to the Hadrianic period, 117–138 AD.[2] Diogenes was wealthy enough to acquire a large tract of land in the city of Oenoanda to construct (or possibly buy) a piazza to display his inscription. As a man who had found peace by practicing the doctrines of Epicurus, he tells us that in his old age he was motivated "to help also those who come after us" and "to place therefore the remedies of salvation by means of this porch."[3]

Antiochus IV Epiphanes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes

And from the Epicurus.net website:

Epicureanism and the Judeans

In the Talmudic Mishnah, one of the authoritative documents of Rabbinical Judaism, there is a remarkable statement in the tractate Sanhedrin that defines the Jewish religion in relation to Epicureanism:

Quote

“All Israel has a share in the world to come, as Isaiah said: And all of your people who are righteous will merit eternity and inherit the land. And these are the people who do not merit the world to come: The ones who say that there is no resurrection of the dead, and those who deny the Torah is from the heavens, and Epicureans (‘Apikorsim’).”

Modern Jews use “apikoros” as a generic term for an unbeliever, but the authors of the Talmud were clearly singling out followers of Epicurus. In effect, this statement is saying that all of Israel will enjoy eternal life except those who get corrupted by Epicurus or certain characteristic Epicurean beliefs (namely, Epicurean denials of an after-life and of divine providence). This peculiar hostility towards Epicureanism is all the more remarkable for the fact that this particular statement was later taken to be the basis for speculation about the meaning of Jewishness among Rabbis of the Middle Ages, the most famous of whom, Moses Maimonides, explicitly continued the Jewish tradition of denouncing Epicureanism late in the 12^th century A.D.

Antiochus IV

The origins of this anti-Epicurean element of Jewish thought can be traced to the 2^nd century B.C., when the Seleucid monarch Antiochus IV Epiphanes embarked on a military campaign against Egypt in an attempt to conquer his Ptolemaic rival. Judea had the misfortune to be located between the Seleucid heartland of Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Judeans were divided into pro-Seleucid and pro-Ptolemaic factions. At this time, the hereditary Zadokite priesthood had been deeply influenced by Greek culture, adopting doctrines that tended to discount the conservative oral tradition and deny some of the more superstitious beliefs then current, notably the belief in bodily resurrection. At the time of Antiochus's campaign, the Zadokite high priest was a pro-Ptolemaic partisan.

Antiochus, anxious to secure Judea in connection with his Egyptian expedition and to create a more culturally-unified empire, had the Zadokite high priest removed and founded a Greek-style Gymnasium in Jerusalem. Antiochus was sympathetic to Epicureanism (albeit not acting in accord with Epicurus's injunctions to avoid politics), so his attempt at a forced hellenization of Judea was closely linked to Epicureanism in the minds of the Judean patriots. Another factor was that Epicureans were prominent in the hellenized cities of Galilee, creating a rivalry between Epicureanism and the traditional religion among the northern Judeans. Antiochus's provocations brought about a strong nationalistic reaction, which exploded into violence when a rumor of Antiochus's death reached Judea. While the rumor was false, nonetheless the Hasmonean leader Judas Maccabeus was ultimately successful in his revolt against the Seleucids.

After the Hasmoneans consolidated their power, a rather delicate situation developed with respect to the priesthood. The hereditary successors to the priesthood had had their legitimacy fatally undermined by their hellenizing tendencies and their close association with the foreign Ptolemaic monarchy. The party of the “separatists” (the Pharisees), prevented the Zadokite legitimists (the Sadducees) from reassuming control of the temple in Jerusalem, while some of the Sadducees set up a rival temple in the Egyptian city of Leontopolis.

To further complicate matters, Judea later became a client state of Rome, and the Romans installed their own Jewish rulers and Sadducee priests. Not only were they opposed by the Pharisees, other anti-foreign religious factions arose during the late Hasmonean period (early 1^rst century B.C.) to challenge the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Samaritans (a regional offshoot of Judaism whose followers had established their own center of worship on Mount Gezzerim), their adherents questioning the necessity for temple ritual and priestly authority altogether. One of these dissident groups called themselves the “keepers” (Nazarim) of divine wisdom. These Nazarim, or Nazarenes, taught that righteousness towards others along with frequent rituals of baptism and anointment and a ritual eucharist for the dead was sufficient to place oneself in accord with God without the traditional temple ceremonies. After the Roman conquest of Judea, the Nazarene cults became one of the focal points of resistance to Roman and Herodian rule, as both the Pharisees and Sadducees were co-opted by the Herodian monarchy that had been installed by the Romans.

Spoils from the Jerusalem Temple

The historical significance of these intricacies of ancient Judean politics is that the Pharisees are the direct ancestors of modern Rabbinical Judaism, while the Nazarene movement spawned two religions that have survived to modern times, the Mandaean and the Christian. The founding of these two Nazarene religions was attributed to John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively.

The Talmud is derived from the Pharisaic oral tradition, so the Talmud passage quoted above can be explained as a Pharisaic attack on the Sadducees by comparing some of the distinctive Sadducee beliefs to those of the hated Seleucid defiler of the Temple. It seems that the Sadducees could never quite live down the charge of having sold out to the Seleucids and the Romans, as they disappeared shortly after the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D. and the genealogical records for proving their Zadokite ancestry (the last remaining basis for Sadducee legitimacy) along with it. Today, the memory of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus survives in the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, and the legacy of the factional conflicts of the Hasmonean period lives on in the separate religions of the Jews, Mandaeans, and Christians and in the Talmudic denunciation of Epicureanism.

Leontium (wife of Metrodorus): wrote against Theophrastus https://en.wikisource.org/wiki…Female_Biography/Leontium

Philodenes of Laodicea - Wikipedia - DeWitt Reference

Philonides of Laodicea

Philonides (Greek: Φιλωνίδης, c. 200 – c. 130 BCE) of Laodicea in Syria, was an Epicurean philosopher and mathematician who lived in the Seleucid court during the reigns of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Demetrius I Soter.

He is known principally from a Life of Philonides, which was discovered among the charred papyrus scrolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum.^[1] Philonides was born into a family with good connections with the Seleucid court.^[2] He is said to have been taught by Eudemus and Dionysodorus the mathematician.^[3] Philonides attempted to convert Antiochus IV Epiphanes to Epicureanism, and later instructed his nephew, Demetrius I Soter, in philosophy.^[2] Philonides was highly honoured in the court, and he is also known from various stone inscriptions.^[4]

He was renowned as a mathematician, and is mentioned by Apollonius of Perga in the preface to the second book of his Conics.^[3][5]

Philonides was a zealous collector of the works of Epicurus and his colleagues, and is said to have published over 100 treatises, probably compilations of the works he collected.^[6]

NewEpicurean Blog post from 4/5/14

Unsung Heroes of Epicureanism: Philonides of Laodicea

One of the more important proponents of Epicureanism in the ancient world, whose efforts are known but little remembered today, was Philonides of Laodicea. Philonides was an Epicurean philosopher based in Antioch some 150 years before Christ. Here is his entry in Wikipedia:

Philonides (c. 200 – c. 130 BCE) of Laodicea in Syria, was an Epicurean philosopher and mathematician who lived in the Seleucid court during the reigns of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Demetrius I Soter. He is known principally from a Life of Philonides which was discovered among the charred papyrus scrolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum.^[1] Philonides was born into a family with good connections with the Seleucid court.^[2] He is said to have been taught by one Eudemus, and Dionysodorus the mathematician.^[3] Philonides attempted to convert Antiochus IV Epiphanes to Epicureanism, and later instructed his nephew Demetrius I Soter in philosophy.^[2] Philonides was highly honoured in the court, and he is also known from various stone inscriptions.^[4] He was renowned as a mathematician, and is mentioned by Apollonius of Perga in the preface to the second book of his Conics.^[3][5] Philonides was a zealous collector of the works of Epicurus and his colleagues, and is said to have published over 100 treatises, probably compilations of the works he collected

And here is a more expanded description from Chapter 15 of Norman DeWitt’s Epicurus and His Philosophy:

“The Epicurean school in Antioch is remarkable not only for its strategic importance but also for the fact that its existence is known only from a papyrus. By way of introduction to the story, however, certain warnings are in order, as happens so often in the history of Epicureanism. In spite of the fact that Epicurus seems to have recommended especially the method of extension from disciple to disciple for the propagation of his doctrine, it is quite usual to find his adherents among the teachers of grammar, rhetoric, and even mathematics. The prejudice of the founder against these branches has been greatly exaggerated, especially among modern scholars. Epicurus himself had been a privileged person, enjoying the endowments of generous friends, especially Idomeneus. The sordid necessity of earning a living was more often the lot of his later devotees. They taught their philosophy along with accepted subjects of study. If this judgment is rendered more credible by examples, the names of Epicureans who essayed to teach grammar or rhetoric in Rome may be found in Suetonius,27 while it is clear that men like Arnobius, Lactantius, and St. Augustine acquired their knowledge of the creed along with rhetoric.

It is in the light of such knowledge that we should read of the distinguished philosopher Philonides, who set up his headquarters in Antioch and surrounded himself with “a throng of scholars.” He made a convert of Antiochus Epiphanes (d. 164 B.c.) and enjoyed not only his patronage but also that of his successor, Demetrius Soter. It was manifestly the ambition of Philonides to make Antioch a capital of Epicureanism. He utilized his privileged position to assemble all the writings of Epicurus for the royal library. Like other leaders of the sect, he was busy with his pen, published 125 books, and rearranged the letters of Epicurus and his three colleagues according to names and subject matter.

That Philonides was also a man of force and persuasion is demonstrated not only by his influence over two monarchs but also by his services as a diplomat. His ability as an administrator was recognized by his appointment in charge of Laodicea on the Sea.

The unique interest that attaches to this school in Antioch is enhanced by other reasons, particularly two: it is probable that it served as a base of operations for the forcible introduction of Epicureanism into Judaea, and it was in this city that, according to Luke, the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Attention should be drawn to the fact that the word Christian is a Latin and not a Greek formation. Since adherents of the older sect were already known by the name of their founder, it was natural for Roman residents, whether merchants or officials, to designate the adherents of the new sect in a similar way. To these neutral observers, when they heard of Epicureans ridiculing Christian prophecies and the Christians fighting back, the contenders would have been no more than two warring factions. It was manifestly the resident Romans who coined the word Christian.

As for Antiochus himself, his very name was loathsome to the Jews, because his adopted surname Epiphanes means “the god manifest.” He also waged vindictive warfare against them and attempted to force Greek culture upon them and, since Epicureanism was the court philosophy, there can be little doubt that this was part of his program. It is on record that a gymnasium was built in Jerusalem,29 abhorrent to the orthodox Jew not only as an alien institution but specifically because of nudity in sports and the threat of sodomite practices associated with it. It signified also the virtual licensing of public teachers free of priestly control. That some progress was made in this direction is evidenced by the word Ecclesiastes, which means public teacher. Moreover, the book that goes under this name is abundantly sprinkled with atoms of Epicureanism; it was squeezed into the canon only by drastic and incongruous editing.

It derives its startling literary quality from the combination of luminous Hebraic imagery with the stark materialism of Epicurus. Consider, for example, the following, 9:4-5: “A living dog is better than a dead lion, for the living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything.” Here we see transposed into the Hebraic idiom of thought the doctrine of the Garden that the most precious of all things is life itself and “that death is nothing to us”; it is anesthesia. The opinion has been expressed that the author was a Jewish physician of the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.

The hatred of the orthodox Jew for the heretical teaching is on record to this day in the rabbinical term apikoros, “unbeliever.” Jewish students were exhorted “to study the Law and know how to make answer to an unbeliever [lit. “Epicurean”].”

It may be added that, even apart from attempts at cultural regimentation, an opening had been afforded for the infiltration of Epicurean doctrines among the Jews by the division between Pharisees and Sadducees. The beliefs of the latter, as recorded by Josephus,32 including the denial of divine providence and the assertion of free will, exhibit an unmistakable coincidence with the teachings of Epicurus. This coincidence is the more noticeable because the reluctance of the Sadducees to hold public office is likewise mentioned. That Epicurus was in the mind of Josephus when penning his account of this sect, even if not mentioned by name, becomes the more probable when it is recalled that his defense of the prophet Daniel concludes with a spirited and extended diatribe against Epicurus and his views on the government of the universe. On this occasion the arch-heretic is specifically named.”

Colotes and Idomeneus of Lampsacus - "Also Colotes and Idomeneus, both of Lampsacus. They too were distinguished." [Diogenes Laertius 25]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colotes of Lampsacus (Greek: Κολώτης Λαμψακηνός, Kolōtēs Lampsakēnos; c. 320 – after 268 BC)^[1] was a pupil of Epicurus. He wrote a work to prove "That it is impossible even to live according to the doctrines of the other philosophers" (ὅτι κατὰ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων φιλοσόφων δόγματα οὐδὲ ζῆν ἐστιν) and dedicated it to Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Although this work is lost, its arguments are preserved in two works written by Plutarch in refutation of it: "That it is impossible even to live pleasantly according to Epicurus", and Against Colotes.^[2] According to Plutarch, Colotes attacked Socrates and other great philosophers in this work. Some fragments of two other works of Colotes have been discovered at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum: Against Plato's Lysis,^[3] and Against Plato's Euthydemus.^[4] According to Plutarch, Colotes, upon hearing Epicurus discourse on the nature of things, fell on his knees before him, and besought Epicurus to give him instruction. Plutarch claims that Colotes was a great favorite with Epicurus, who used, by way of endearment, to call him Koλωτάρας and Koλωτάριoς. Cicero also recounts that Colotes held that it is unworthy of the truthfulness of a philosopher to use fables in his teaching, a notion which Cicero opposes.^[5]

1. ^ Dorandi 1999, p. 51.
2. ^ Plutarch, Essays and Miscellanies: "That it is impossible even to live pleasantly according to Epicurus"; "Against Colotes".
3. ^ PHerc. 208
4. ^ PHerc. 1032
5. ^ Cicero, On The Commonwealth, vi. 7.

Colotes van Lampsacus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colotes van Lampsacus ( Oudgrieks : Κολώτης / Kolōtēs) was a student of Epicurus .

In several works he defended his master's teachings, sometimes fiercely attacking older philosophers - such as Socrates . ^[1] He was most likely a teacher of Menedemus of Lampsacus , which seems to be confirmed by two discussions between him and Menedemus about poetry preserved on papyri from the Villa dei papiri in Herculaneum . ^[2]

Zeno of Sidon - Scholarch (7th): (c. 166 – 75 BCE) Scholarch from 125 to 75 BCE

Zeno of Sidon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zeno of Sidon (Greek: Ζήνων ὁ Σιδώνιος; c. 150 – c. 75 BC^[1]) was a Greek Epicurean philosopher^[2] from the Seleucid city of Sidon. His writings have not survived, but there are some epitomes of his lectures preserved among the writings of his pupil Philodemus.

Life[edit]

Zeno was born in the city of Sidon. He was a contemporary of Cicero, who heard him when at Athens.^[3][4]

He was sometimes termed the "leading Epicurean." (Latin: Coryphaeus Epicureorum)^[3] Cicero states that Zeno was contemptuous of other philosophers, and even called Socrates "the Attic Buffoon (scurram Atticum)."^[5] He was a disciple of Apollodorus,^[6] and Cicero and Diogenes Laërtius both describe him as an accurate and polished thinker.^[7][3][8]

Philosophy[edit]

Zeno held that happiness is not merely dependent upon present enjoyment and prosperity, but also on a reasonable expectation of their continuance and appreciation.^[7][4]

Zeno's writings have not survived, but among the charred papyrus remains at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, there is an Epitome of Conduct and Character from the Lectures of Zeno written by his pupil Philodemus. It contains the essays On Frank Criticism^[9] and On Anger.^[10]

Zeno also studied the philosophy of mathematics based on the derivation of all knowledge from experience. He criticized Euclid, seeking to show that deductions from the fundamental principles (Koinē Greek: ἀρχαί) of geometry cannot, on their own, be proved:

Quote

[Some] admit the principles but deny that the propositions coming after the principles can be demonstrated unless they grant something that is not contained in the principles. This method of controversy was followed by Zeno of Sidon, who belonged to the school of Epicurus, and against whom Posidonius has written a whole book.^[11]

Dionysius of Lamptrai - Scholarch (3rd): (c. 280 – 205 BCE) from 219/8 to 205 BCE Wikipedia

Dionysius of Lamptrai (Ancient Greek: Διονύσιος; fl. 3rd century BC) was an Epicurean philosopher, who succeeded Polystratus as the head (scholarch) of the Epicurean school at Athens c. 219 BC. He died c. 205 BC and was succeeded by Basilides.^[1][2]

References

[edit]

1. ^ Laërtius, Diogenes (1925). "Epicurus" . Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 2:10. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library. § 25.
2. ^ Dorandi, Tiziano (1999). "Chapter 2: Chronology". In Algra, Keimpe; et al. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 9780521250283.

Polystratus - Scholarch (2nd): (c. 300 – 219/8 BCE) from 250 to 219/8 BCE. Polystratus (Greek: Πολύστρατος; fl. 3rd century BC) ; died 219/18 BCE) was an Epicurean philosopher, and head (scholarch) of the Epicurean school in Athens. He succeeded Hermarchus as head of the sect c. 250 BC, and was himself succeeded by Dionysius of Lamptrai when he died 219 or 218 BC. Valerius Maximus relates that Polystratus and Hippoclides were born on the same day, followed the sect of the same master Epicurus, shared their patrimony in common, and supported the school together, and at last died at the same moment in extreme old age. Fragments of two of his works survive among the scrolls found at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The first is On Irrational Contempt, which is a polemic directed "against those who irrationally despise popular beliefs." His opponents in the work may be the Cynics or the Skeptics. The second preserved work is entitled On Philosophy, of which only broken fragments can be deciphered. Wikipedia

"There was also Polyaenus, son of Athenodorus, of Lampsacus, a modest and friendly man, as Philodemus and his followers say.' [ Diogenes Laertius 24] Polyaenus was the son of Athenodorus. His friendship with Epicurus started after the latter's escape from Mytilene in 307 or 306 BC when he opened a philosophical school at Lampsacus associating himself with other citizens of the town, like Pythocles, Colotes, and Idomeneus. With these fellow citizens he moved to Athens, where they founded a school of philosophy with Epicurus as head, or hegemon, while Polyaenus, Hermarchus and Metrodorus were kathegemones. A man of mild and friendly manners, as Philodemus refers, he adopted fully the philosophical system of his friend, and, although he had previously acquired great reputation as a mathematician, he now maintained with Epicurus the worthlessness of geometry.[1][2] But the statement may be at least doubted, since it is certain Polyaenus wrote a mathematical work called Puzzles (Greek: Aπoριαι) in which the validity of geometry is maintained. It was against this treatise that another Epicurean, Demetrius Lacon, wrote Unsolved questions of Polyaenus (Greek: Πρὸς τὰς Πoλυαίνoυ ἀπoρίας) in the 2nd century BCE. Like Epicurus, a considerable number of spurious works seem to have been assigned to him; one of these was Against the Orators, whose authenticity was attacked both by Zeno of Sidon and his pupil Philodemus. The works attributed to Polyaenus include: On Definitions, On Philosophy, Against Aristo, Puzzles (Aporiai), On the Moon, Against the Orators, His collected Letters. Wikipedia.

Hermarchus - Scholarch (1st): (c. 325 – 250 BCE) Scholarch from 270 to 250 BCE. "Also Hermarchus, Epicurus’ successor, son of Agemortus, of Mytilene, the son of a poor father, and at first a student of rhetoric. His best books are said to be these twenty-two essays in the form of letters On Empedocles. On Science. Against Plato. Against Aristotle. He was a good man and died of paralysis." [ Diogenes Laertius 25]

"Epicurus had many disciples, but among the most distinguished was first Metrodorus, son of Athenaeus (or Timocrates) and Sande, of Lampsacus. From the time when he first came to know Epicurus he never left him, except when he went to his native city for six months, and then he came back. [23] He was a good man in all respects, as Epicurus too bears witness in prologues to his writings and in the third book of his Timocrates. Such was his character: his sister Batis he married to Idomeneus, and had for his own mistress Leontion the Athenian hetaera. He was imperturbable in the face of trouble and of death, as Epicurus says in the first book of his Metrodorus. They say that he died at the age of fifty-two, seven years before Epicurus, and of this Epicurus gives evidence, since in the will already quoted he makes provision for the care of his children, implying that he had already died. [He had also as a disciple Timocrates, Metrodorus’ brother, who has been mentioned already, an aimless person.] [24] Metrodorus’ writings were as follows: Three books Against the Physicians. About Sensations. To Timocrates. Concerning Magnanimity. About Epicurus’ Ill Health. Against the Logicians. Nine books Against the Sophists. Concerning the Path To Wisdom. Concerning Change. Concerning Wealth. Against Democritus. Concerning Nobility of Birth." [Diogenes Laertius 22-24]