A Beginner's History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Ancient and Mediæval Philosophy

by Herbert Ernest Cushman

Modern Period, 450 years.

We ought to appreciate at the beginning the enormous time length of this period. It seems long since modern thought began, but it was only about 450 years ago. The Hellenic-Roman Period was 800 years long, or nearly twice as long as modern times. It is, furthermore, two and a half times as long as the period which we have just been discussing,—the pure Greek period. Now the Hellenic-Roman Period and the Middle Ages together form the epoch of human history that is relatively uncreative. This is an extent of 1800 years, a long interval when compared with the 750 years of creative history, which represents the combined length of the pure Greek Period and modern times. In European history the periods of productive thought have been less than half as long as those of the unproductive. Yet we must not be misled by such statistics. History is an organic growth. Its seedtime and growth are long; its harvest is short.

The Fall of the Greek Nation and the Persistence of its Civilization. The 800 years after the death of Aristotle are named the Hellenic-Roman Period, because Greek civilization burst its own national boundariesand became a part of Roman civilization. The Greek nation died; its culture remained. It is no longer pure Greek, but Greek in the environment of the Roman world—it becomes Hellenism. With the death of Alexander in 323 B. C. the motherland of Greece became a prey to revolutions for 200 years. It was often the battleground of foreigners and the object of their contentions. Its government and population sank into hopeless decay. It was incorporated into the Roman empire in 146 B. C. and shared in the depressing times of the Civil Wars of the first century B. C. By becoming a part of Rome Greece lost its uniqueness but the world gained its culture as a common heritage. Its autonomy was forever gone, but its people became the teachers of mankind. In political power Greece reached its height with Alexander, in creative thought with Aristotle; then by its own momentum its civilization persisted as a missionary force to the whole world.

THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER
(Showing the spread of Hellenism eastward, beginning 334 B. C. with Alexander’s Campaign)

The overflow of Greek civilization was first eastward, to the nations of Asia. Alexander, with his military and administrative genius, had only made a preliminary conquest of these Oriental peoples. The conquest became permanent through Greek art, learning, and institutions. In the century after Alexander the habits and customs of the East had been Hellenized. Greek schools, theatres, and baths were to be found in almost every city of the East. In the East and Egypt an inexhaustible field was opened for the founding of new centres of culture. In the kingdoms partitioned off from the old Alexandrian domain, the kings were Greek, spoke Greek, adored Greek gods, and preserved Greek fashions. Amid Asiatics they sought to maintain Greek courts, have Greek administrative officers, and be surrounded with Greek scholars. Greek colonists, soldiers, and merchants were attracted to these kingdoms in such numbers that the natives adopted the costumes, religions, manners, and even the language of the Greeks. The Orient ceased to be Asiatic and became Hellenic. The Romans found there in the first century B. C. peoples like the Greeks who spoke Greek.

Greek civilization began to overflow upon the western world when, in the second century, Greece with all the other countries upon the Mediterranean was absorbed by Rome. The conquest of Greece by Rome in 146 B. C. gave currency to Greek art, letters, and morals in Roman life. That Greek civilization was not lost in this great amalgamation shows how deep and fundamental it was. The secondary nations disappeared and none remained to compete with the Greek and Latin. The result was the superimposition of Greekculture upon Roman society. At the time of the conquest of Greece, Greek scholars went to Rome in great numbers and opened schools of eloquence and literature. Later the Roman youths went to Athens to study. Art and science were gradually introduced into Rome. The old Roman house got a Greek addition. Statues and paintings were transported from Greece to Rome. Greek artists were commissioned. By 100 B. C. the great Romans were living in Greek or Oriental style. The coarsest Greeks, too, came into Italy and mingled with the Roman proletariat. Thus, with the complete Latinizing of the peninsula of Italy in the second century, an increasing Hellenism went hand in hand.

But the two civilizations never completely united. Roman adoption of Greek culture was never more than a veneer. Greek art and learning were rarely studied by the Roman except as a parade and luxury. As time went on the Roman resorted less to the classic and more to the frivolous modern products of the Greeks. For it must be remembered that when Greece was conquered by Rome, the Romans were still only peasants, soldiers, and merchants, without science, art, or philosophy. Before 150 B. C. the Roman children were taught nothing higher than reading, writing, etc. But the Roman found a culture in Greece that he liked and imitated. He kept his costume, language, and political laws, but he adopted Greek letters, art, morals, and incorporated many elements of the Greek religion into his own.

Two results came from this superimposition of Greek culture upon Roman society. On the one hand the Greek sought to create a philosophy which would make him a citizen of the world, since it was no longer anhonor to be a citizen of a Greek city. On the other hand, to the Roman there came a mixed good. There was a gain to Roman literature and perhaps to jurisprudence, but a fatal loss to Roman faith and morals. On the whole Roman vulgarity was only concealed by Greek culture, except in such spirits as Scipio, Paulus, and the Gracchi, in whom culture was genuine. The Roman felt the need of rich intellectual life, and he sought it in the rich treasures and the filth of later Greek culture. The Greek culture that he found was no longer pure Greek, but Hellenism, sometimes tinged with Orientalism. It acted as a poison on the Roman and often was bitterly opposed.

The Two Parts of the Hellenic-Roman Period. We must not forget that, excepting the first 175 years of this period, Rome is the background upon which all philosophical movements of the time are to be traced. Upon this background two general movements are prominent, which divide the period into two parts: (1) the Ethical Period, and (2) the Religious Period.