Roman Stoicism / being lectures on the history of the Stoic philosophy with special reference to its development within the Roman Empire

by Edward Vernon Arnold

429. Amongst men of high rank definitely pledged to Stoicism in the generation preceding Cicero are further L. Aelius Stilo (circ. 145-75 B.C.)[34], who devoted himself to Roman grammar and antiquities, and was the teacher of both Cicero and Varro; Q. Lucilius Balbus, whose knowledge of this philosophy rivalled that of his Greek teachers[35], and who is the exponent of the Stoic view in Cicero’s de Natura Deorum, the scene of which takes us back to about 76 B.C.; Sextus Pompeius, uncle of Pompey the Great, and distinguished both as a philosopher and as a jurist[36]; and more particularly P. Rutilius Rufus, to whom we have already referred[37]. A pupil and devoted admirer of Panaetius[38], a trained philosopher[39], and a sound lawyer[40], he brought his career at Rome to an abrupt end by his firm resistance to the publicani, as already recounted[41]. With true cosmopolitanism he retired to Smyrna, and accepted the citizenship of that town. His stern principles did not prevent him from saving his life in the massacre ordered by Mithradates, by assuming Greek dress[42]; the massacre itself was the ripe fruit of the abuses which he had endeavoured to repress. He is one of the characters in Cicero’s de Republica.

Cato.

430. Of the Stoics of Cicero’s time the most eminent was M. Porcius Cato (95-48 B.C.). In him Stoicism received a special colouring by association with the traditions of ancient Roman manners. In his early years he became a pupil of Antipater of Tyre[43], and so far adopted the Cynic ideal as to train himself for public life by freely submitting to hunger, cold, and hardship[44]. After a period of service in the army he made a journey to Asia to secure the companionship of Athenodorus the elder[45]. He became a practised speaker; and though he adhered firmly to the Stoic tradition of plain language and short sentences[46], yet could become eloquent on the great themes of his philosophy[47], and could win the approval of the people even for its paradoxes[48]. He was resolutely opposed to bribery and extortion. As quaestor in B.C. 66 he introduced reform into the public finances, and put an end to embezzlements by officials. His popularity became very great, and he was elected tribune of the plebs towards the end of the year 63 B.C., when his voice decided the senators to decree the death of the associates of Catiline. With his subsequent policy Cicero finds fault, because Cato refused to connive at the extortions of the publicani: and from Cicero’s criticisms has arisen the accepted view that Cato was an unpractical statesman. On the other hand it may well be held that if the Roman aristocracy had included more men like Cato, the republic might have been saved: and towards the end of his life Cicero bitterly lamented that he had not sufficiently valued the sincere friendship which Cato offered him[49]. In the year 54 B.C. the candidates for the office of tribune paid him a singular compliment; each deposited with him a large sum of money, which he was to forfeit if in Cato’s opinion he was guilty of bribery[50]. His whole political life was guided by the strictest moral principle[51]; even in so unimportant a matter as Cicero’s request for a triumph he would do nothing to oblige a friend[52]. In private life he attempted to put into practice the principle of the community of women taught in Zeno’s Republic. He had married Marcia, daughter of Philippus, and had three children by her: in 56 B.C. he gave her up to his friend C. Hortensius, whose family was in danger of becoming extinct: finally on the threatening of the civil war in B.C. 50 he took her back to his own home. At a time when the marriage bond was lightly treated by many of his contemporaries he at least rose above petty motives. In the civil war he took sides strongly against Caesar, his old political opponent. His self-sought death after Pharsalia won him a distinction which he had earned better by his life: and the unmeasured praise bestowed upon him a century later is perhaps due more to political bias than to philosophical respect[53]. The few words with which Virgil honours his memory are more effective, when he pictures Cato as chosen to be a judge in the world of the blest[54]. Cato represents the Stoic view as to the summum bonum in Cicero’s de Finibus.

Varro, Brutus and Porcia.

431. Contemporary with Cicero and Cato was M. Terentius Varro (B.C. 116-28). In his public career and political principles he was not unlike Cato; in his literary activity he more resembled Cicero. Both Varro and Cicero were deeply influenced by Stoic teaching, but as they were by no means professed adherents of this philosophy[55], they may be here passed by. In the next generation M. Junius Brutus (85-42 B.C.) concerns us more: for by his marriage with Porcia, Cato’s daughter and an ardent Stoic, he came into a family connexion with the sect, with which his personal views, as we have seen, were not entirely in agreement[56]. Still Brutus was not altogether unfitted to play the part of Cato’s successor; he was no mean orator[57], and wrote more than one philosophical treatise[58]; whilst Cicero dedicated several of his philosophical works to him[59]. But the practical Stoicism of Porcia, who stabbed herself in the thigh to show that she was fit to be trusted with a political secret, shines out more brightly than the speculations of her husband. In her honour Martial has written one of the few epigrams in which he allows himself to be caught in a mood of admiration: yet his story of Porcia’s death must be rejected as unhistorical[60].

Horace.

432. After the death of Brutus Stoicism ceases for a while to play a prominent part in Roman history; but its indirect influence is very marked in the two great poets of the Augustan epoch, Horace and Virgil. Of these Horace is in the main an Epicurean, and as such is quite entitled to use the Stoic paradoxes as matter for ridicule, and even to anticipate dangerous consequences from their practical application[61]. But in fact his works show a constantly increasing appreciation of the ethics of Stoicism. He recognises the high ideals and civic activity of its professors[62], and he draws a noble picture of the Stoic sage, confident in his convictions, and bidding defiance to the crowd and the tyrant alike[63]. Of that practical wisdom and genial criticism which has made Horace the favourite poet of so many men eminent in public life, no small part consists of Stoic principles deftly freed from the paradoxical form in which they were conveyed to professed adherents.

Virgil.

433. With this picture of Stoicism seen from without we must contrast that given us by Virgil, who inherited the Stoic tradition from Aratus[64], his model for the Georgics. Virgil’s mind is penetrated by Stoic feeling, and his works are an interpretation of the universe in the Stoic sense; but like so many of his contemporaries he holds aloof from formal adherence to the sect, and carefully avoids its technical language. Quite possibly too he incorporated in his system elements drawn from other philosophies. In physics he accepts the principle that the fiery aether is the source of all life[65]; it is identical with the divine spirit[66] and the all-informing mind[67]. From this standpoint he is led on to the doctrine of purgatory[68], and from that he looks forward to the time of the conflagration, when all creation will be reconciled by returning to its primitive unity in the primal fire-spirit[69]. Still Virgil’s picture must be regarded rather as an adaptation than as an exposition of Stoicism; it lacks the sharp outlines and the didactic tone of the poetry of Cleanthes or Lucretius, and other interpretations are by no means excluded.

Virgil’s theology.