Historical Background
To understand the philosophies of the Ancient Roman period, we must consider the historical context from which they grew. With the Roman Empire's expansion came big changes to the everyday life of its citizens; new political systems were being developed, and diverse cultures intermingled more, to cite a few key shifts. Many felt as though the changes occurred too fast for adaptation, as if too much was out of their control. People yearned for control, and thus a new focus developed centered on more individual and practical concerns. Therefore, philosophical examination during this period was more individualistic, as a person’s life is more under control than the sweeping forces of change in history. In sum, Roman philosophy generally shared a study on the art of living. They wanted to answer the following inquiry: how does one live best? And they all proposed answers, albeit with important differences, on how the individual is to achieve this. Among the different methods proposed, Stoicism would prove to be the most popular historically, as it is still a widely studied philosophy, but they all left a legacy.
Stoicism
Of all the Roman philosophies, Stoicism was probably the most adapted to its historical context and needs and the most popular historically. The founder of Stoicism was Zeno of Citium (336-264 BCE), who was known to provide popular lectures from a “stoa,” or “porch”—hence the name “stoicism.” Those subsequently categorized as “stoic philosophers” explored various topics and there were significant differences among them, but they all shared the pursuit of a vision of how each individual is to live best.
The Stoics also generally shared the view that the universe was orderly and that we each had a particular role in this universal community. Essentially for the Stoics, everything happens for a reason because there is a divine purpose to events. For this reason, the Stoics generally emphasized the importance of one’s civic duty: we are each a part of the celestial plan, and thus we should focus on how we each individually live out our personal roles best. This at times more submissive mentality was very appealing for an empire growing so quickly and so large that without this deep sense of civic duty, it would be hard to control such a sprawling population. The three leading Stoic philosophers were Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius—three very different individuals with very different life experiences but who all focused on how to achieve inner peace.
Epictetus was a slave who was severely tortured—it is recorded that he learned to endure pain, including having his leg purposefully broken, with complete composure. He was eventually freed, and took those lessons in ataraxia, or “peace of mind,” to share with others, becoming a popular teacher for his time.
Seneca was also an individual who endured intense torture and turmoil, both physical and emotional, during his life, but from a position of higher social stature. Seneca published quite a lot during his lifetime, and all his varied works were quite popular. They all concluded that what makes our life good are the attitudes and beliefs we take toward our lives. Tragically, however, his ‘destiny’ to become a senior advisor to the Roman Emperor Nero would prove disastrous when the increasingly violent Emperor forced him to commit suicide upon believing Seneca had plotted to assassinate him. It is believed that it was also quite gruesome—he was forced to slit his wrists, though when that did not work fast enough, he added poison and a hot bath to speed up the process.
The philosopher whose popularity has really stood the test of time is Marcus Aurelius. While Seneca wrote to share with others, Marcus Aurelius wrote for himself, but what was his personal diary, titled Meditations, is still widely popular. This was written during his military campaigns as one of the greatest Roman Emperors and he is considered the last great Ancient Stoic philosopher. As with the other Stoics, he shared the vision that everything that happens is part of a divine plan, which allows one to feel strength and courage in the face of challenges and misfortunes. Thus, death is not to be feared, and we must work to avoid negative emotions such as anger that do not enable one to achieve inner peace, as there is much that is not within our control, but we do have control over how we respond to that reality.
Epicureanism
Chronologically, Epicureanism was developing simultaneously as Stoicism, but with some key differences. The founder of Epicureanism was Epicurus (341-270 BCE). While the Stoics developed a more defensive philosophy, Epicureanism was broader in its aims, as the Epicureans more than the Stoics lived out their philosophy more directly. Epicurus founded “the Garden,” a place that was open even to women and slaves, where a close-knit community lived out the practices of the philosophy. His view on how to live best was to “pursue pleasure and avoid pain”—but this is often grossly misunderstood to refer to excessive hedonism. Epicurus modeled a very kind and moderate life that focused on avoiding that which troubles the mind and body; he promoted a kind of medicine for the soul where we should pursue what makes us feel happy inside, but in a soberly rational way—the less we need, the happier we will find ourselves. While the Stoics sought peace through the belief in a divinely ordered universe, conversely the Epicureans thought there was no order; things happened by chance. The Gods, Epicurus argued, are already living the ideal life we mortals are pursuing and so they do not really care about what happens to us—thus, albeit, in a very different way, they like the Stoics are also providing a philosophy on why death should not be feared as that is a key way to achieve inner peace because there is probably nothing feared more than death.
Neoplatonism
While the Epicureans focused little on the role of religion, the Neoplatonists developed a very spiritual philosophy. The founder of Neoplatonism was Plotinus (204/5-270 CE), and as its name references, it was a kind of rebirth of Platonism, but with a more spiritual focus. Plotinus argued that there is a hierarchy of reality that culminates in “the One,” not so unlike the way there is a super Form of all Forms in Plato’s philosophy. The next emanation in the hierarchy is the mind or intellect, followed by the world soul (of which we each have a soul that is a part of this), and finally matter, the lowest part of reality. Thus, the mind is superior to matter, and we commit bad acts when we lose sight of this. Reality, therefore, stems from the mind—the philosophy of Idealism traces back to Neoplatonism.
Neoplatonism was appealing to the early Christian Philosopher, Saint Augustine, in the endeavor to climb the hierarchy to unite with “the One” but there are some key differences from Christian views generally.
Skepticism
The next philosophies to be discussed that were developed during the Ancient Roman period, Skepticism and Cynicism, had the least impact but are still important to consider—after all, the terms “skeptic” and “cynic” are still widely used. The most well-known skeptic philosopher is Pyrrho of Ellis (360-272 BCE). What we know about Pyrrho comes from later writers, as there is nothing on record that he wrote, which makes our understanding a bit fragmented but as the name suggests, his basic conclusion was that we cannot really know anything—a position that a very slight few would hold. This, he argued, was the way to achieve peace in one’s life: complete resignation from the belief that anything can really be fully understood. Thus, we must enjoy the moment essentially. While such extreme skepticism did not take root, his contribution of reminding us to, at the very least, have a healthy dose of skepticism from time to time is an important contribution to the history of philosophy.
Cynicism
As we have seen, despite the significant differences between all these Ancient Roman philosophies, they do share an emphasis on the self and how to best live one’s own life. The etymological origins of the term “cynic” say quite a bit about their philosophy, which is “dog-like”; one should live very simplistically and for the moment. Like the other Roman Philosophies, it was meant to be a way of life for the individual. But this one took on very disparaging connotations as they lived in what would be considered very vulgar conditions, such as doing any personal business in public without a care, including urinating and masturbating—it is related that one of the most important Cynics, Diogenes of Sinope, when approached by an impressed Alexander the Great who offered him riches to change his lifestyle told him to ‘stop blocking the sun.’ The cynics’ answer on to how to live, understandably, did not take root after this brief stint, but they did make interesting contributions to the inquiry on to how to live.
Significance in History
While all these philosophies born in the period of Ancient Rome were very different and are certainly not free of important objections, they did continue important discussions to what is the long conversation that is the history of philosophy. While Stoicism has proven to be the most popular, some charge that it is too cold. Epicureanism is misunderstood to be too hedonistic. While offering different perspectives, together they elaborated on the philosophical discussions of freedom and determinism, as well as how to live a good life and idealism. Parts of Stoic and Neoplatonist views would penetrate the Christian worldview that would develop next in the history of philosophy. Regardless of where one stands today on these philosophical and religious topics, the terms “stoic,” “epicurean,” “skeptic,” and “cynic” are still very pervasive in our vocabulary, which is a testament to the impact of these philosophies