📖 Lives of the Stoics

Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

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Zeno of Kition

• 334BC to 262 BC

• Phoenician merchant selling Tyrian purple dye

• Lost everything in a ship wreck → sent to Athens

• Bookshop, bookseller reading Xenophon's Memorabilia, "The Choice of Heracles," Heracles chose Virtue over Vice. Virtue says "accustom your body to be the servant of your mind, and train it with toil and sweat."

• Zeno finds Crates of Thebes in the bookstore
• First task: carry lentil soup across town, have soup spilled over him

• Daimon: inner guiding purpose connected to the universal nature. Zeno: happiness is when individual and universal nature are in harmony

• Simple diet of bread and honey

• "Choose rational life"

• Stoa Poikilē: "painted porch." — inviting, accessible

• "Goal of life is to live in harmony with nature, which means living according to virtue, because nature leads us to virtue"

• 4 virtues: courage, temperance, justice, wisdom

• "We were given two ears and one mouth for a reason"

• Death: tripped and fell while leaving porch, saw as a sign his number being up, held breath until death
 

Cleanthes of Assos, the apostle

• 330BC to 230BC

• Grew up poor, was a boxer before going to Athens

• Carried water from wells to gardens in Athens
• Studied from Zeno during the day and worked at night
• Labor and philosophy are the two sides of the same coin
• philoponia—a love of work. Literally, a marrow-deep dedication to honest labor.

• Studied from Zeno for 19 years until Zeno's death

• Ridiculed as a slower learner or donkey — wasn't bothered

• Frugal and continued to carry water to remain financially independent, saved enough money to maintain a second cleanthes

• Dealt with critics as an opportunity to practice what he preached

• Self talk as a core practice: strict, but never abusive

• Use of good humor

• Love the challenge of poems: metaphorically like stoicism, obstacles and limitations, if handled properly, creates opportunities for beauty and excellence

• From Electra: "Silence, silence, light be thy step."

• "Fate guides the man who’s willing, drags the unwilling."

• Poetry as discipline: like breath through a trumpet, constraints focus effort into clarity and power.

• What is the good? "That which is regular, just, holy, pious, self‑governing, useful, fair, fitting, grave, independent, always beneficial; that feels no fear or grief; profitable, painless; helpful, pleasant, safe, friendly; held in esteem, agreeing with itself: honourable, humble, careful, meek, zealous, perennial, blameless, ever‑during."

• Epitaph by Diogenes: "I praise Cleanthes, but praise Hades more, who could not bear to see him grown so old … Who’d drawn such a load of water while alive."
 

Aristos of Chios, the challenger

• 306BC - 240BC

• Disputing the role of precepts or rules to guide everyday life

• "Virtue was the sole good. Everything else was not worth caring about."

• Zeno's argument was to call these things—being healthy, being handsome, possessing an illustrious last name—"preferred indifferents." It's not morally better to be rich than poor, tall than short, but probably nicer to be the former than the latter.

• Aristo: rely on training and intuition
• Javelin thrower analogy: they just know how to throw, without following theories

• Contrarian approach with forceful style

• Published Against Cleanthes

• Stamped out by other stoics, but made a strong impression on Marcus Aurelius
 

Chrysippus of Soli, the fighter

• Competitive runner in olympics

• "Runners in a race ought to compete and strive to win as hard as they can, but by no means should they trip their competitors or give them a shove. So too in life; it is not wrong to seek after the things useful in life; but to do so while depriving someone else is not just."
• "no-shoving model"

• Fortune confiscated by tyrannical regime, moved to Athens

• Role to defend challenges against stoicism
• "If there had been no Chrysippus, there would be no Stoa."

• Studied in rival schools to find weak points and improve stoicism

• Chrysippus: philosophy, like life, was a battle. But should be fought fairly.

• Popularized Stoicism on larger stages

• Insisted in both his teaching and his prose on the precision of logical argument and formal proof.

• sympatheia — meditate on the interconnectedness of all persons and our shared citizenship in the cosmos
 

Zeno of Tarsus, the maintainer

• 4th leader of stoicism

• stoicism well established, second Zeno just needs to carry on

• Rome on the rise, Greek on the decline
 

Diogenes of Babylon, the diplomat

• 5th leader of stoicism

• 155BC: Diogenes along with heads of other Greek philosophical schools sent to rome to give lectures. Rome was anti philosophy

• Studied under Chrysippus

• Unlike Diogenes the cynic, pragmatic

• Early stoicism political thought: only the sage is truly fit for political leadership. → doesn't not scale
• Diogenes: more practical politics
• Argued for Caveat emptor: seller doesn't have to disclose everything, buyers have the responsibilities for checking quality. Provided that seller is not guilty of misrepresentation

Antipater of Tarsus, the ethicist

• 6th leader of the Stoa

• Invited people to dinners to discuss philosophy

• First stoic to make arguments for marriage and family life
• On importance of choosing right partner and raising good children.
• Using Socrates example: disagreeable and bad tempered wife
• Argued that families are the keystones of successful cities and world

• Archery analogy:
• Ethical behavior requires practice
• Despite our training and aim, many factors outside of our control will influence the arrow

• Debated against Diogenes' caveat emptor

• Antipator: our affinity for the common good was our primary obligation; we should not commit injustice against others; we should others' interest not alien from our own
 

Panaetius of Rhodes, the connector

• 155 BC, appointed to the position of sacrificial priest at Poseidon Hippios in Lindos.

• Studied under Diogenes in Athens

• Served with Scipio Aemilianus, formed a Scipionic circle with Scipio and Gaius Laelius to discuss and debate stoic philosophy
• Scipio: adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus, the general who defeated Hannibal in second Punic war
• Scipio became the most powerful person in the Greek world
• Greek kings answer to Rome as vassals
• Panaetius influenced Scipio to serve the interest of greece

• Accompanied Scipio on an embassy to the East: Egypt, cypress, Syria, various places in Asia minor

• Wrote book upon return
• Concerning Appropriate Actions
• More direct and accessible

• Antipater: populist, his student Blossius led revolt; Anaetius: conservative, ruling class should maintain order

• Ethical living includes fulfilling duties from social station (family or profession)
• Good lawyer can defend a guilty client provided they are not too wicked

• Pankratist (a form of boxing) metaphor: always be alert and ready, guard against constant daily troubles and sudden dangers

• First stoic to believe that virtue alone is insufficient — strength, health, material resources are also needed
• Balance and integration of competing obligations are needed for a good life

• Returned to Athens after scipio died, became stoa leader after Antipater died
• The last undisputed stoa leader
 

Publius Rutilius Rufus, of Rome, the honest poltician

• learned from Panaetius in a Scopionic circle

• Served on Scopio's staff in the brutal Numantine war

• 115BC defeated for consul by Scaurus, who bribed his way to office

• Conflict with Marius
• Marius: brilliant military leader, record 7 consulships, feared by Roman elites
• Rutilius believed that Marius bribed his way to electoral victories

• Gained acclaims for training well-disciplined troops

• Reformed bankruptcy law and protected Greeks from tax gouging
• Stoic oikeiosis, in service of the public good

• Marius launched false accusation. Rutilius declined to defend, property seized and exiled, but was offered opportunity to choose place of exile
• Chose Smyrna: the city he allegedly defraued
• Smyrna grateful for his reform, welcomed him
• When a state is beyond redemption, a wise man will stay away

• Sulla defeated Marius, became dictator, invited Rutilius back to Rome — declined
 

Posidonius of Apamea, the genius

• Homeland lacking leadership and buffeted by outside forces, peril of excess → uncertainty → only thing we can manage is ourselves
• Left for Athens at 18

• Roman elites are having children educated by philosophers

• Posidonius: a polymath from science to politics to military

• Stoic teaching: you should learn wisdom from everything

• Rose in leadership ranks in Rhodes

• 86BC: embassy to Rome
• Met dying Marius
• Later writings filled with observations of cost of ambition and insatiable appetite
• "Marius commanded armies, but ambition commanded Marius"
• Luxury, as much as power, rots.

• Around 66BC, Pompey attended Posidonius' lectures

• posidonius writings: part of us is rational: seeks virtue; part of us is irrational, seeks power and pleasure
• good habits and lifestyle checks against the irrational part
 

Diotimus

• cautionary tale
• Remembered only for slander against Epicurus
• "the good we do in life is easily forgotten, but the evil we do lives on and on." — Shakespeare

• Similar to Brutus — once stoic but a single deed obscured everything else
 

Cicero of Aprinum

• didn't live by Stoicism standards, but studied under Posidonius, wrote about Stoicism

• Cicer is chickpea in latin

• 1st century BC Rome: populist uprising

• Ambition vs sincerity: actions often mixed motives — sincere service and résumé building in tension

• Cursus honorum: eligible for quaestor at 30, path into the Senate via lawmaking and petitions

• Early administration: by 75 BC served in Sicily as tax collector and manager

• Driving forces: philodoxia and philotimia — loves of fame and honor

• Verres prosecution: in 71–70 BC led fifty-day investigation, returned with extensive proof, won conviction

• Pattern: did the right thing, often with an eye to personal advancement

• Wealth and status: respected Stoics but rejected indifference to rank; amassed nine villas and other properties

• Integrity line: despite ambition and luxury, drew a clear boundary at corruption

• Offices: advanced to praetor, then targeted the capstone office for a “new man” — consul

• Consulship (63 BC): amid economic crisis, stiffened penalties for election bribery to 10 years’ exile

• Catiline affair: branded Catiline a traitor; Senate granted near-dictatorial powers to suppress

• Arc of fortune: consulship as high-water mark; declines followed

• Political headwinds: First Triumvirate formed in 60 BC; proscribed in 58 BC and fled Rome

• Civil war era: Caesar crossed the Rubicon (49 BC); Pompey dead by 48 BC

• Misjudgment: overreached during Catiline, acting too soon and too harshly

• Stoic links: praised Cato; eulogized him after Utica; published Stoic Paradoxes (46 BC) to Brutus

• Intellectual broker: helped put Greek philosophy into eloquent Latin; exchanged dedications with Brutus (Tusculans / On Virtue)

• Late gambit: 14 Philippics against Mark Antony (44–43 BC) — tactical ploy to balance Antony and Octavian rather than stand purely on principle

• End: deprived of trial by the Second Triumvirate; assassins killed him on the road between Naples and Rome

Cato the Younger, Rome’s iron man

• Rose through ranks: quaestor, aedile, praetor, consul

• Denounced fear-based honors for Sulla; demanded courage over servility

• Practiced powerful, plain public speech; volunteered in Third Servile War

• Overhauled the treasury as quaestor, pursued corruption and debts

• Lived with extreme frugality; most indifferent to everything but virtue

• Served the public good above self, family, or expediency

• Filibustered to defend mos maiorum and the Republic

• Refused compromise with Caesarism; misplayed alliances that pushed Pompey toward Caesar

• After Pompey’s defeats, read calmly then chose suicide in Utica; admired yet criticized as obstinate
 

Porcia Cato, the iron woman

• Cato’s daughter; early Stoic education

• First married to M. Calpurnius Bibulus; later to Brutus

• Privy to the plot against Caesar; resolved to meet hardship with courage

• After Brutus’s death, chose to end her life, echoing Cato’s severity
 

Athenodorus Cananites, the kingmaker

• Rhodes and Athens scholar; tutor to Octavian (Augustus)

• Taught clemency, self-command, and tranquility for leaders

• Counsel: count the alphabet before acting in anger; make leisure part of euthymia
 

Arius Didymus, the kingmaker II

• Close counselor to Octavian; co-crafted clemency stance at Alexandria

• Writings organized Stoic ethics around the four virtues

• Pragmatic advice at times ruthless (e.g., Caesarion)
 

Agrippinus, the different

• Sought to be the “red thread” in the garment — distinct by character

• Governed Crete and Cyrene with diligence; despised courtly calculation

• Decisiveness: “Go,” if you are hesitating about Nero’s banquet

• Faced condemnation with calm; composed eulogies to his own hardships
 

Seneca, the striver

• Educated by Attalus; urged contentment, practical self-improvement

• Curiosity across schools (Epicurean, Pythagorean); used nightly journaling

• Exiled to Corsica; wrote On Anger; meditated on death and fate

• Recalled to tutor Nero; authored De Clementia for a merciful prince

• Gained wealth under Nero, later tried to withdraw and surrender estates

• Writings on usefulness to humankind; turned to letters and essays

• Forced to suicide after the Pisonian conspiracy; met death with composure
 

Cornutus, the common

• Libyan Stoic scholar and teacher of Persius; vast inherited library

• Advised moderation to Nero; banished for frank counsel
 

Gaius Rubellius Plautus, who would not be king

• Imperial blood made him suspect; accepted exile to Asia

• Declined revolt; assassination followed; stoked Nero’s fear of Stoics
 

Thrasea Paetus, the fearless

• Modeled himself on Cato; salon for principled dissidents

• Boycotted Nero’s obscene honors and murders; moral noncooperation

• Exiled from public life, then condemned; “Nero can kill me, not harm me”
 

Helvidius Priscus, the senator

• Tribune defending the poor; married Thrasea’s daughter Fannia

• Returned after Nero; opposed emperors on Senate’s authority and spending

• Faced banishment and execution under Vespasian with fearless dignity
 

Musonius Rufus, the unbreakable

• Advocated education for women and a "beautiful union" in marriage

• Core: endure hardship for virtue; want little, shun notoriety, seek true friends

• Accompanied Plautus to exile; banished to harsh Gyara, found a spring, served others

• Taught that exile is a test; recalled, then banished again under philosopher purges

• Emissary during civil strife; courageous amidst violence

• Maxim: toil passes, good remains; make best of bad situations

• Teacher of Epictetus
 

Epictetus, the free person

• Born enslaved; leg broken by master; “Lameness impedes the leg, not the will”

• Freed, studied under Musonius; founded a school; exiled by Domitian

• Chief task: distinguish what’s up to us versus externals; persist and resist

• Practice: pause before impressions; frugal endurance without display

• Teachings preserved by Arrian in Discourses and the Encheiridion

• Inspired Stockdale, Louverture, and many others with inner freedom
 

Junius Rusticus, the dutiful

• Grandson of Arulenus; consul, urban prefect, magistrate to Marcus

• Introduced Marcus to Epictetus; valued frank counsel over flattery

• Stain: presided over Justin Martyr’s execution, lacking sympatheia
 

Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher king

• Adopted by Antoninus at Hadrian’s behest; early reputation for honesty and restraint

• Self-epithets: Upright, Modest, Straightforward, Sane, Cooperative, Disinterested

• Reign faced plague, wars, ill health, and family bereavements

• Sold imperial ornaments to fund the state; practiced clemency after Avidius Cassius’s revolt

• Private journal to keep ego in check; common good and sympatheia as themes

• Dictum: “Do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter.” and “Be one.”

• Calm practicality: accept bitter cucumbers and brambles, act and move on

• Reforms protecting freed people and slaves; yet persecutions of Christians remain a stain

• Died March 17, 180: “Go to the rising sun; I am already setting.”