ROMAN STOICISM
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
London: FETTER LANE, E.C.
C. F. CLAY, MANAGER
[Illustration]
Edinburgh: 100, PRINCES STREET
Berlin: A. ASHER AND CO.
Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS
New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd
_All rights reserved_
ROMAN STOICISM
BEING LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF THE
STOIC PHILOSOPHY WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO ITS DEVELOPMENT
WITHIN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
BY
E. VERNON ARNOLD, LITT.D.
PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NORTH WALES
AND FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge:
at the University Press
1911
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
HENRICO JACKSON, LITT.D.
DILECTISSIMO PRAECEPTORI
PREFACE
This book is the outcome of a course of lectures delivered by me in
successive years to Latin Honours students in accordance with the
regulations of the University of Wales. It is therefore primarily
intended for the assistance of classical students; but it may perhaps
appeal in its present form to a somewhat wider circle.
At the time that the book was begun the best systematic exposition of
the Stoic philosophy available for English readers was to be found in
Prof. E. ZELLER’S _Stoics Epicureans and Sceptics_, translated by O. J.
REICHEL (Longmans, 1892). This work, admirable in detail, is nevertheless
somewhat inadequate to the subject, which appeared to its learned author
as a mere sequel to the much more important philosophical systems of
Plato and Aristotle. Since its first appearance many qualified writers
have been inclined to assign a higher rank to Stoicism, amongst whom L.
STEIN, A. SCHMEKEL, and HANS von ARNIM in the German-speaking countries,
and A. C. PEARSON, G. H. RENDALL, and R. D. HICKS in our own, are perhaps
most conspicuous.
The view taken in this book corresponds generally to that taken by the
writers named. Shortly expressed, it regards Stoicism as the bridge
between ancient and modern philosophical thought; a position which
appears to be accepted by W. L. DAVIDSON writing on behalf of students
of modern philosophy. Mr Hicks and Mr Davidson have recently published
works dealing with the Stoic philosophy as a whole; but as neither of
these quite covers the ground marked out for this book, I believe that
room will be found for a further presentation of the subject.
To the writers named and to many others, my obligations are great, and
their extent is generally indicated in the Index. I owe a more intimate
debt to Mr A. C. PEARSON and Prof. ALFRED CALDECOTT, who have given me
ungrudgingly of their knowledge and counsel during the whole period of
the preparation of this book.
The appearance of H. von Arnim’s ‘Stoicorum veterum fragmenta’ made
available to me a mass of material from Greek sources, and has (I
hope) made this book less imperfect on the side of Greek than it would
otherwise have been. For the quotations in the notes from the Greek and
the less-known Latin authors I have generally given references to von
Arnim’s collections, which will doubtless be more accessible to most of
my readers than the original writers. These references include those to
the fragments of Zeno and Cleanthes, for which von Arnim is in the main
indebted to the earlier work of Pearson.
So general a treatment of the subject as is here presented must
necessarily leave room for correction and amplification in its various
branches, and I trust that I am pointing out to younger students a
field in which a rich harvest may yet be gleaned. To such students the
appended Bibliography, though necessarily incomplete, may be of use as an
introduction to the considerable literature which is available to them.
The concluding chapter makes its appeal not so much to classical
students, as such, as to those who are interested in the problem of
Christian origins; the further problems of the influence of Stoicism
on modern literature and philosophy, though at first included in my
programme, I have not ventured to enter upon. But I hope that at least I
have been able to show that the interest of classical studies, even as
regards Hellenistic philosophy, does not lie wholly in the past.
My sincere thanks are due to the Council of the University College of
North Wales for granting me special assistance in my College duties
during the Spring term of 1910, in order that I might give more time
to this book; to the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for
undertaking its publication; and to Mr Clay and his expert staff for the
admirable execution of the printing.
E. VERNON ARNOLD
_25 January 1911_
CORRIGENDA ET NOTANDA
In the text the accentuation of Greek words should be corrected as
follows:
P. 117, l. 10, χρεῖαι. P. 239, l. 6, μέρων. P. 423, l. 16, ἀγάπη.
(Transcriber’s Note: These have been corrected.)
For the quotations in the notes from Greek writers, more precise
references will usually be found in the sections named of von Arnim’s
_Stoicorum veterum fragmenta_. In addition the following amplifications
or corrections are needed:
P. 105, n. 44; Clem. _Strom._ ii 21, 129. P. 133, n. 38; Nem.
_nat. hom._ vi 13. P. 142, n. 86; Sext. _math._ vii 184. P. 158,
n. 17; Simp. _Arist. cat._ p. 269, 14 K; Cens. fr. 1, 1. P. 159,
n. 20; Simp. _Arist. cat._ p. 350, 16 K. P. 160, n. 30; for τόνος
the word λόγος is now read, making the quotation inapplicable. P.
161, n. 133; add the words τοὺς ἐν ἑαυτῷ λόγους. The reference
is to Simpl. _Arist. cat._ p. 306, 23 K. P. 164, n. 45; Simp.
_Arist. cat._ p. 66, 32 K; n. 47, _ib._ p. 165, 32 K. P. 166, n.
60; _ib._ p. 269, 14 K. P. 168, n. 75; _ib._ p. 165, 32 K. P.
173, n. 110; Galen _const. art. med._ p. 253 K; n. 111, _meth.
med._ i 2 p. 16 K. P. 185, n. 79; for ἀπὸ read ὑπὸ. P. 187, n.
86; Sext. _math._ viii 271. P. 193, n. 130; Nemes. _nat. hom._
xxxviii 95. P. 196, n. 145; Galen _de temp._ p. 617 K. P. 222,
n. 33; Corn. _N. D._ ii. P. 224, n. 47; Sext. _math._ vii 93. P.
251, n. 76; Galen _plac. Hipp. et Plat._ p. 242 K. P. 255, n. 86;
for μῖγμα read μίγμα. P. 264, n. 139; to the quotation from Comm.
_in Luc._ ix 6 add ‘et esse sic immortales ut non moriantur sed
resolvantur.’ P. 298, n. 184; Alex. Aph. _de fato_ 28, p. 199, 18
B.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. The World-Religions 1
II. Heraclitus and Socrates 29
III. The Academy and the Porch 53
IV. The Preaching of Stoicism 78
V. The Stoic Sect in Rome 99
VI. Of Reason and Speech 128
VII. The Foundations of Physics 155
VIII. The Universe 175
IX. The Supreme Problems 198
X. Religion 216
XI. The Kingdom of the Soul 238
XII. The Law for Humanity 273
XIII. Daily Duties 301
XIV. Sin and Weakness 330
XV. Counsels of Perfection 357
XVI. Stoicism in Roman History and Literature 380
XVII. The Stoic Strain in Christianity 408
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
I. Ancient Writers and Philosophers 437
II. Modern Writers 445
GENERAL INDEX 451
GREEK INDEX 466
CHAPTER I.
THE WORLD-RELIGIONS.
[Sidenote: Roman literature.]
=1.= The present work treats of a subject of outstanding interest in
the literature which is associated with the history of the Roman State,
and which is expressed partly in Hellenistic Greek, partly in Latin.
In the generations preceding our own, classical study has, to a large
extent, attended to form rather than to matter, to expression rather
than to content. To-day it is beginning to take a wider outlook. We are
learning to look on literature as an unveiling of the human mind in
its various stages of development, and as a key to the true meaning of
history. The literature of Greece proper does not cease to attract us by
its originality, charm, and variety; but the new interest may yet find
its fullest satisfaction in Roman literature; for of all ancient peoples
the Romans achieved most, and their achievements have been the most
enduring. It was the Roman who joined the ends of the world by his roads
and his bridges, poured into crowded towns unfailing supplies of corn and
perennial streams of pure water, cleared the countryside of highwaymen,
converted enemies into neighbours, created ideals of brotherhood under
which the nations were united by common laws and unfettered marriage
relations, and so shaped a new religion that if it shattered an empire
it yet became the mother of many nations. We are the inheritors of Roman
civilization; and if we have far surpassed it in scientific knowledge
and material plenty, we are not equally confident that we possess better
mental balance, or more complete social harmony. In this direction the
problems of Roman life are the problems of Western life to-day; and
the methods by which they were approached in the Roman world deserve
more than ever to be studied by us. Such a study, if it is to be in
any true sense historical, must break through the convention by which
ancient Greece and Rome have come to be treated as a world apart; it must
seek its starting point in the distant past, and count that of chief
importance which will bear fruit in the ages that follow.
[Sidenote: Beliefs of the Romans.]
=2.= Great achievements are born of strong convictions; and Roman
statesmen, jurists, soldiers, and engineers did not learn to ‘scorn
delights and live laborious days’ without some strong impulse from
within. These inner convictions do not come to the surface everywhere in
the Latin literature with which we are most familiar. The Roman orator
or poet is generally content to express a conventional view of religion
and morals, whilst he conceals his real thoughts in a spirit of reticence
and almost of shame. Yet here and there every attentive reader will catch
the accent of sincerity, sometimes in the less restrained conversation
of the lower classes, sometimes in flights of poetic imagination, or
again in instruction designed for the young. In this way we learn that
the Romans of the last century of the republic and of the first century
of the principate were profoundly concerned, not so much with questions
connected with the safety of their empire or the justice of their form
of government, as with problems in which all mankind has a common
interest. What is truth, and how can it be ascertained? What is this
universe in which we dwell, and by whom and how was it made? What are the
beings called gods, and do they concern themselves with the affairs of
men? What is man’s nature, his duty, and his destiny? These the Romans
called the problems of philosophy, and they eagerly sought for definite
and practical solutions to them[1]. Such solutions when embodied in
theoretical systems we still call ‘philosophies’; but when such systems
are developed in a practical form and claim the obedience of large
bodies of men they become religions. Stoicism is in the first instance
a philosophy, and amongst its many competitors that one which appealed
most successfully to the judgment of men who played a leading part in the
Roman world; but as its acceptance becomes more general, it begins to
assume all the features of a religion. All Latin literature is thickly
strewn with allusions to Stoicism and the systems which were its rivals,
and thus bears witness to the widespread interest which they excited.
[Sidenote: Origin of Philosophy.]
=3.= The Romans learnt philosophy from Greek teachers; and they were not
free from a sense of shame in thus sitting at the feet of the children of
a conquered race. But they acknowledged their obligations in a generous
spirit; and from Roman literature an impression has arisen, which is
still widespread, that Greece was the birthplace of philosophy, and
that its triumphs must be placed to the credit of Hellenic culture. But
to the Hellenes themselves philosophy equally appeared as a foreign
fashion, assailing their national beliefs and dangerous to their
established morality; and of its teachers many of the most distinguished
were immigrants from Asia Minor. Thus Greece itself appears only as a
halting-place in the movement of philosophy; and we are carried more
and more to the East as we seek to discover its origin. Yet at the time
with which we are concerned it had also spread to the extreme West. ‘The
Magi,’ says Aristotle, ‘taught the Persians philosophy; the Chaldaeans
taught it to the Babylonians and Assyrians; the Gymnosophists to the
Indians; the Druids and Semnothei to the Gauls and Celts[2].’ It was
a world-wide stirring of the human intellect, and we must attempt to
outline its meaning more completely.
[Sidenote: National and World-Religions.]
=4.= Philosophy, in the sense in which Aristotle uses the term, appears
to be a general name for a great change in man’s intellectual attitude
towards his environment, corresponding to a definite era in the history
of civilization. Before philosophy came nationalism, the habit of
thinking according to clan and race; and nationalism remains on record
for us in the numerous national religions in which each people does
reverence to the deity which lives within its borders and goes forth to
fight with its armies. Philosophy is at once broader in its outlook
and more intimate in its appeal. It breaks down the barriers of race,
and includes the whole world in its survey; but on the other hand it
justifies the individual in asserting his own thoughts and choosing
his own way of life. Thus philosophy on its arrival appears in each
particular country as a disintegrating force; it strikes at the roots of
patriotism and piety, and challenges equally the authority of king and of
priest. But everywhere in turn philosophy, as it gains ground, begins to
construct a new patriotism and a new piety, and gradually takes concrete
shape as a new religion. To us, as we look backwards to the past, the
track of philosophy is recorded by a series of religions, all alike
marked with the note of world-wide outlook, reverence for reason, and
the sentiment of human sympathy. The era of philosophy is the era of the
world-religions. It belongs to that millennium when from China to Ireland
men of good will and bold spirit realized that they all looked up toward
one sky, breathed one air, and travelled on one all-encircling sea; when
they dreamed that before long all men should be united in one kingdom,
converse in one language, and obey the one unchanging law of reason.
[Sidenote: Spread of the World-Religions.]
=5.= The general importance and direction of this movement will
best be seen if we select for consideration a certain number of the
world-religions in which it was from time to time embodied. Aristotle has
already called our attention to the ‘philosophies’ of the Chaldaeans,
the Persians, and the Indians; amongst these last Buddhism at least was
a movement which had shaken off limitations of race and class. To these
he has added the Druids, whom we may well keep in mind if only because
they are representatives of Western Europe. Stoicism best represents the
part played by the Greco-Roman world, and Judaism and Christianity come
under consideration as forces with which Stoicism in the course of its
history came into close contact. The Greeks little realized that they
were being carried along in so mighty a stream. Regarding themselves as
isolated and elevated, the sole pioneers of civilization in a ‘barbarian’
world, the beliefs of neighbouring peoples seemed to them beneath their
notice. To this prejudice they clung in spite of the protests of their
own men of learning[3]; the Romans inherited it from them; and though
the Europe of the Middle Ages and of to-day professes an Oriental faith,
its religious survey is still limited and its critical power impaired by
the same assumption of superior wisdom. Our information is however wider
than that of the ancient world, and our sympathies are beginning to be
quickened; and we are thus in a position to trace generally the history
of these seven religions. In this work we shall use, as far as possible,
the classical authorities, supplementing them (where deficient) from
other sources.
[Sidenote: Chaldaism.]
=6.= The oldest of these philosophical or religious systems is that of
the Chaldaeans, as the Romans termed a pastoral, star-gazing folk[4]
presumably identical with the people which, in or about the year 2800
B.C.[5], mapped out the constellations as we now know them, traced the
orbits of the planets[6], and predicted their future movements. This
work was not carried out entirely in the spirit of modern science;
it was further stimulated by the belief that the skies displayed a
written message to mankind. But the nature of that message, of which
fragments are possibly embodied in the names of the constellations,
was not preserved to the Romans by any tradition. Two principles seem
to have survived, those of the inexorable tie between cause and effect
called ‘fate[7],’ and of the interdependence of events in heaven and on
earth[8]. Hence arose the hope of prophetic insight into the future;
and the people of Babylon, under Chaldaean influence, are said to have
spent four hundred and seventy years in collecting observations of
the history of boys born under particular combinations of the heavenly
bodies[9]. We are not acquainted with the results of these observations;
but undoubtedly they established a profession of astrologers, whose
craft it was to observe the position of sun, moon and stars at a man’s
birth or at some other critical hour, and thence to deduce his future
character or career. These wanderers, called by the Romans ‘Chaldaei’ or
‘Mathematici,’ spread over all Europe, and founded a lucrative trade on
men’s fears and ambitions. Philosophers studied their methods, and did
not always entirely deny their validity[10]. In society the astrologer
is a common figure[11]; he found his way to the chambers of princes[12],
and was regularly consulted by conspirators. The dramatic scene in Walter
Scott’s _Betrothed_ is as true in character to Roman times as to the
Middle Ages. Roman literature is full of allusions to the horoscope[13].
But whether we attribute these practices to fraud or to self-deception,
there is every reason to believe that they only form a diseased outgrowth
from a system which at an earlier time was of much wider import.
[Sidenote: Persism.]
=7.= The popular expression ‘magic’ still recalls to us the system of
which the Magi of Persia were the professed exponents, and of which the
Romans had a knowledge which is to a large extent confirmed from other
sources. This system we shall here call ‘Persism,’ in order to free
ourselves of the popular associations still connected with such terms as
Magism, Parsee-ism, and so forth; meaning by ‘Persism’ the teaching of
Zarathustra (the Latin Zoroastres) as it affected the Greek and Latin
world. Persism has its roots in the older nationalism, inasmuch as its
deity is one who takes sides with his believer and brings him victory
in war; but on the other hand it grows into a world-religion because
that which begins as a conflict between races gradually changes into
a struggle between right and wrong. It is based also on the Chaldaean
system, in so far as it looks up to the heaven as the object of human
reverence and to the sun, moon and planets as at least the symbols of
human destiny; but here again the outlook is transformed, for in the
place of impersonal and inexorable forces we find a company of celestial
beings, intimately concerned in the affairs of men, and engaged in an
ardent struggle for the victory of the better side. The meaning of
Persism and its immense influence on the Greco-Roman world are still so
little realized that it is necessary here to deal with the subject with
some fulness.
[Sidenote: Zarathustra.]
=8.= The Greeks and Romans refer to the teachings of Zarathustra as of
immemorial antiquity[14]; whilst on the other hand the direct Persian
tradition (existing in a written form from about the year 800 A.D.)
ascribes them to a date 258 years before the era of Alexander’s invasion
of Persia[15]. The best modern authorities incline to the Persian view,
thus giving the date of about 600 B.C. to Zarathustra, and making
him roughly a contemporary of the Buddha and Confucius[16]. On the
other hand considerations, partly of the general history of religion,
partly of the linguistic and metrical character of such fragments of
Zarathustra’s writings as still remain, indicate a date earlier than
this by many hundred years[17]. Zarathustra belonged to the tribe of the
Magi, who maintained religious practices of which the nature can only
be inferred from such of them as survived the prophet’s reforms[18];
in their general character they cannot have differed widely from those
recorded in the Rigveda. In the midst of this system Zarathustra came
forward as a reformer. He was deeply learned in the doctrines of the
Chaldaeans[19], and was an ardent student of astronomy[20]. In a period
of solitary contemplation in the desert[21], it was revealed to him that
a great and wise being, named Ahura Mazdā, was the creator and ruler of
heaven and earth[22]. Upon him attend Angels who do him service; whilst
the spirit of Mischief and his attendants ceaselessly work to oppose his
purposes. Ahura is the light, his enemy is the darkness[23]. The struggle
between them is that between right and wrong, and in it every man must
take one or the other side. His soul will survive what men call death,
and receive an everlasting reward according to his deeds. After quitting
the mortal body, the soul will pass over the Bridge of Judgment, and
will there be turned aside to the right or to the left; if it has been
virtuous, to enter Paradise, but if vicious, the House of Falsehood. Full
of this doctrine, Zarathustra enters the court of King Vishtāspa, and
converts him and his court. The monarch in turn sets out to convert the
unbelieving world by the sword, and the War of Religion begins.
[Sidenote: Spread of Persism.]
=9.= We cannot trace the long history of the War of Religion through
its whole course, but in the end we find that the Religion has welded
together the great kingdom of Persia, and its warlike zeal is directed
towards establishing throughout the world the worship of the ‘God of
heaven,’ and the destruction of all images, whether in the shape of
men or of beasts, as dishonouring to the divine nature. In the sixth
century B.C. Babylon opposed the Religion in the east, and Lydia in
the west; both fell before Cyrus the Great. The fall of Babylon set
free the Jews, who accepted the king’s commission to establish the
Religion in Jerusalem[24], and (at a rather later date) in Egypt[25];
on the other hand that of Lydia exposed the Hellenes, a people devoted
to idol-worship, to the fury of the image-breakers[26]. The battles of
Marathon and Salamis checked the warlike advance of Persism, and the
victories of Alexander suppressed its outward observance and destroyed
its literature and its priesthood. But in this period of apparent
depression some at least of its doctrines were winning still wider
acceptance than before.
[Sidenote: Persism invades Greece.]
=10.= The departure of the Persians from Europe was the signal for an
outburst of enthusiasm in Greece for the old gods and their worship
with the aid of images. Yet, unfavourable as the time might seem, a
monotheistic sentiment developed apace in Hellas, which we shall follow
more closely in the next chapter[27]. Even Herodotus, writing as a
fair-minded historian, no longer regards the Persians as impious, but
realizes that they are actuated by conviction[28]. Socrates was an
outspoken defender of all the main articles of the Religion, to the
horror of nationalists like Aristophanes, who not unjustly accused him
of corrupting the loyalty of the youth of Athens to the institutions
of their mother city. Xenophon, the most intimate of his disciples,
translated this bias into action, and joined with the 10,000 Greeks in
a vain effort to re-establish the strength of Persia: he did not even
hesitate to engage in war against his native land. To him Cyrus the
Persian was a greater hero than any Homeric warrior or Greek sage; and
from Cyrus he drew the belief in the immortality of the soul which from
this time on is one of the chief subjects of philosophic speculation.
[Sidenote: Persism welcomed in Rome.]
=11.= The Romans had not the same national motives as the Greeks to feel
an antipathy to Persism. For the doctrine of monotheism they had probably
been prepared by their Etruscan sovereigns, and the temple of Capitoline
Jove kept before their eyes a symbol of this sentiment. But in the Roman
period Persian sovereignty had receded to the far distance, and the
doctrines of Persism only reached Rome through the Greek language and in
Greek form. Thus of the doctrines of the Evil Spirit, the war between
Good and Evil, and the future punishment of the wicked, only faint echoes
ever reached the Roman ear. On the other hand the doctrines of the divine
government of the world and of the immortality of the soul made a deep
impression; and Cicero in a well-known passage repeats and amplifies the
account Xenophon gives in his _Cyropaedia_ of the dying words of Cyrus,
which is doubtless to some extent coloured by recollections of the death
of Socrates:
‘We read in Xenophon that Cyrus the elder on his death-bed spoke
as follows—“Do not think, my very dear children, that when I quit
you I shall no longer be in existence. So long as I was with you,
you never saw my soul, but you realized from my actions that it
dwelt in this my body. Believe then that it will still exist,
even if you see nothing of it. Honours would not continue to be
paid to great men after death, did not their souls assist us
to maintain their memory in freshness. I have never been able
to persuade myself that souls live whilst they are enclosed in
mortal bodies, and die when they issue from them; nor that the
soul becomes dull at the moment it leaves this dull body; I
believe that when it has freed itself from all contact with the
body and has begun to exist in purity and perfection, then it
becomes wise. Further, when the framework of humanity is broken
up in death, we see clearly whither each of its parts speeds
away, for all go to the elements from which they have sprung; the
soul alone is not seen by us either whilst it is with us or when
it departs. Lastly nothing resembles death so closely as sleep.
But men’s souls, whilst they themselves sleep, most clearly
reveal their divine nature; for then, being set free from their
prison house, they often foresee things to come. From this we
may gather what their properties will be, when they have utterly
freed themselves from the fetters of the body. If then this is
so, do reverence to me as a god; but if the soul is destined to
perish with the body, still do reverence to the gods, who guard
and rule all this beauteous world, and while so doing keep up the
memory of me in loyal and unalterable affection.” So spoke Cyrus
on his death-bed[29].’
[Sidenote: The manifold deity.]
=12.= The Persian doctrine of the ‘Angels’ seems to have been very
little understood either in Greece or at Rome, but, as we shall see
in the course of this book, it profoundly influenced the course of
religious history. The ‘Angels’ or good Spirits of Persism are, from one
point of view, identical with the Creator himself, forms under which he
manifests himself to men. Their names are all those of abstractions:
the Good Mind, the Best Reason, the Desired Kingdom, Holy Humility,
Salvation, and Immortality[30]. On the other hand, they gradually assume
to the worshipper who contemplates them the appearance of separate
personalities, dwelling, like the Creator himself, in an atmosphere of
heavenly Glory. Thus a system which is in principle strictly monotheistic
gradually developes into one in which the deity is sevenfold, as in the
following hymn from the later part of the Avesta:
‘We praise the heavenly Glory.
The mighty, the god-given,
The praiseworthy, the life-giving,
Healing, strengthening, watching
High above the other creatures.
The Glory that belongs to the Immortal Spirits,
The rulers, that act by a look alone,
The lofty, all-powerful ones,
The strong servants of the All-wise,
That live for ever, and work justice.
All seven have the same Thought,
All seven have the same Word,
All seven have the same Deed.
One Thought, one Word, one Deed, one Father and Master
The All-wise, the Creator[31].’
Of these ‘Angels’ one was destined to play a considerable part in several
of the world-religions; namely that which the Persians called the ‘Best
Reason,’ and which the Greeks knew as Wisdom (σοφία) or the Word (λόγος).
Sometimes an aspect of the Deity, sometimes an emanation from him, and
then again a distinguishable personality, this figure is again and again
presented to our consideration. The personification of abstractions
appealed with special force to the Romans, for from the earliest periods
of their history they had raised temples to Faith (_fides_), Concord
(_concordia_), and other deified virtues; and its character can perhaps
best be appreciated by reference to the personification of Light in
Christian hymnology, both ancient and modern:
‘Hail, gladdening Light, of his pure glory poured
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blest[32]!’
‘Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead thou me on[33].’
[Sidenote: Sanctity of the elements.]
=13.= Amongst the subsidiary, but still important, doctrines of Persism,
is that of the sanctity of the four elements. Earth, air, fire and water
are alike holy. Hence the dead must not be buried, for that would be to
defile the earth; nor burned, for that would be to defile fire[34]; nor
may any impurity be thrown into the water. This respect for the elements
often appeared to strangers as worship of them[35]. Between the elements
they sometimes discriminated, considering earth and water as more akin
to darkness and the evil spirit, but fire and air to light and the good
spirit[36]. The element of fire they held in special reverence, so that
at all times they have been called fire-worshippers[37]. More careful
observers have always recognised them as monotheists, distinguished by a
certain rapturous language in their description of the deity which they
refused to picture in any concrete shape[38]. They were also zealous
that their teaching should find its expression in a healthy social and
political life[39]. In the education of the young they laid a special
stress on speaking the truth[40].
[Sidenote: Alexander in the East.]
=14.= ‘The Gymnosophists taught philosophy to the people of India[41].’
Who are the teachers thus indicated? An answer may be found, though of
a later date, in Plutarch’s ‘Life of Alexander,’ where he describes the
meeting of Alexander with some eminent gymnosophists, who had stirred up
opposition to his rule:—
‘[Alexander] captured ten of the Indian philosophers called
Gymnosophistae[42]; who had been instrumental in causing Sabbas
to revolt, and had done much mischief to the Macedonians. These
men are renowned for their short, pithy answers, and Alexander
put difficult questions to all of them, telling them that he
would first put to death the man who answered him worst, and so
the rest in order.
The first was asked whether he thought the living or the dead to
be the more numerous. He answered “The living, for the dead are
not.”
The second was asked, “Which breeds the largest animals, the sea
or the land?” He answered “The land, for the sea is only a part
of it.”
The third was asked, “Which is the cleverest of beasts?” He
answered “That which man has not yet discovered.”
The fourth was asked why he made Sabbas rebel. He answered
“Because I wished him either to live or to die with honour.”
The fifth was asked, which he thought was first, the day or the
night. He answered “The day was first, by one day.” As he saw
that the king was surprised by this answer, he added “Impossible
questions require impossible answers.”
Alexander now asked the sixth how a man could make himself most
beloved. He answered “By being very powerful, and yet not feared
by his subjects.”
Of the remaining three, the first was asked how a man could
become a god. He answered “By doing that which it is impossible
for a man to do.”
The next was asked which was the stronger, life or death. He
answered “Life, because it endures such terrible suffering.”
The last, being asked how long it was honourable for a man to
live, answered “As long as he thinks it better for him to live
than to die.”
The king loaded them with presents, and dismissed them[43].’
[Sidenote: Were the Gymnosophists Buddhists?]
=15.= In these ‘gymnosophists’ it is easy to recognise a type familiar
to Indian antiquity. These men, who have almost dispensed with clothing
and know nothing of the luxuries or even the conveniences of life, are
nevertheless influential leaders of the people. They, like the Persians,
have broken away from the old religions; they talk lightly of the gods,
and do not guide their actions by any decrees supposed divine. The sight
of human sorrow fills them with sympathy for the ills of life, and makes
them doubt whether death is not the better choice. Their ethical standard
is high, and includes both courage and gentleness. That they are Buddhist
monks is probable enough, but not certain, because India contained at
this time many sects professing similar principles. But the teaching
of Gautama, the Buddha or ‘enlightened,’ represents to us in the most
definite form the nature of this propaganda. It implies a revolt against
national rivalries, ritualist observances, and polytheistic beliefs; it
is severely practical, and inculcates obedience to reason and universal
benevolence; and it is spread from East to West by devoted bands of
ascetic missionaries.
[Sidenote: Buddhist teaching.]
=16.= The fundamental teachings of Buddhism appear clearly in the
traditional account of the _Sermon of Benares_:
This is the holy truth of Sorrow; birth is Sorrow, age is Sorrow,
disease is Sorrow, death is Sorrow; to be joined with the unloved
is Sorrow, to be parted from the loved is Sorrow; to lose one’s
desire is Sorrow; shortly, the five-fold clinging to existence is
Sorrow.
‘This is the holy truth of the Origin of Sorrow; it is the thirst
to be, leading from birth to birth, finding its pleasure here and
there; the thirst for pleasure, the thirst to be, the thirst to
be prosperous.
This is the holy truth of the Removing of Sorrow; the removal of
the thirst by destroying desire, by letting it go, by cutting
oneself off from it, separating from it, giving it no place.
This is the holy truth of the Path to the Removing of Sorrow; it
is the holy Path of eight branches, which is called Right Belief,
Right Aspiration, Right Word, Right Act, Right Life, Right
Effort, Right Meditation, Right Annihilation of Self[44].’
Specially characteristic of Buddhism is that gentleness of temper,
instinctively opposed to all anger and cruelty, which no provocation can
turn aside. We read in the Dhammapada:
‘Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by
love; this is an old rule. Let a man overcome anger by love,
let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by
liberality, the liar by truth[45].’
[Sidenote: Buddhists and Cynics.]
=17.= The doctrines of Buddhism were not inculcated in India alone. From
the first it was a missionary religion; and its emissaries must often
have appeared in the Hellenistic world, promising ‘to seekers after God
eternal communion with his very essence, to the weary pessimist eternal
forgetfulness[46].’ From contemporary Indian inscriptions we learn of
missionaries sent out by Açoka, the first great Buddhist king of India,
‘with healing herbs and yet more healing doctrine’[47] to Ptolemy II
king of Egypt, Antiochus of Syria, and others, before the year 250 B.C.;
and this mission can have been but one out of many. It thus appears very
remarkable that we have no record of Buddhist communities established in
the Greco-Roman world. But if the name of Gautama remained unknown to the
West, and his community had no formal adherents, the manner of life of
his apostles did not lack imitators. In the Cynic preacher the Buddhist
monk reappears. In Greek literature he is usually an object of ridicule;
his uncouth appearance, his pitiable poverty, and his unconventional
speech give constant opportunity for the wit of his critics. But the
Cynics carried with them not only the outward garb of the Buddhist monks,
but also their lofty ethical standard, their keen sympathy with human
troubles, and their indifference to purely speculative problems[48]. In
spite of the contempt heaped upon them (or perhaps in consequence of it)
they gradually won respect and admiration as the sincere friends and
helpers of the poor. Thus Buddhism at its best is pictured for us in the
sketches drawn by Epictetus of Diogenes and the Cynic preachers of his
own day, of which the following are examples:
‘Did Diogenes love nobody, who was so kind and so much a lover
of all that for mankind in general he willingly undertook so
much labour and bodily suffering? He did love mankind, but how?
As became a minister of God, at the same time caring for men,
and being also subject to God. For this reason all the earth was
his country, and not one particular place; and when he was taken
prisoner he did not regret Athens nor his associates and friends
there, but even he became familiar with the pirates and tried to
improve them; and being sold afterwards he lived in Corinth as
before at Athens. Thus is freedom acquired[49].’
‘And how is it possible that a man who has nothing, who is naked,
houseless, without a hearth, squalid, without a slave, without a
city, can pass a life that flows easily? See, God has sent you
a man to shew you it is possible. Look at me, who am without a
city, without a house, without possessions, without a slave; I
sleep on the ground; I have no wife, no children, no praetorium,
but only the earth and heavens, and one poor cloak. And what do
I want? Am I not without sorrow? Am I not without fear? Am I not
free? When did any of you see me failing in the object of my
desire, or ever falling into that which I would avoid? did I ever
blame God or man? did I ever accuse any man? did any of you ever
see me with sorrowful countenance?
This is the language of the Cynics, this their character, this
their purpose[50].’
Except that a simple form of theism has replaced the Buddhist atheism,
there is hardly a word here that we might not expect from a Buddhist monk.
[Sidenote: Stoicism.]
=18.= The Stoic philosophy was founded by Zeno of Citium (350-260 B.C.).
Although he lived and taught at Athens, his youth was spent in a city
that was half Phoenician, and many of his most distinguished followers
had a like association with the Eastern world. The system deals with
all the great themes touched upon by Chaldaism, Persism, and Buddhism.
Like the first, it insists that there exists an unchanging Destiny,
according to which events throughout the universe are predetermined from
all eternity. Like the second, it sets up as claiming the worship and
allegiance of men a Supreme Deity, who governs the world with boundless
power and benevolent will, and is manifested to men as the Logos or
‘divine Word.’ In its interpretation of the physical universe it accepts
as a first principle a living and creative fire, ultimately identical
with the deity, and containing the germs of the whole creation. It
sees in the will of man an independent and divine power, subject to no
compulsion from without, but attaining its highest and best by willing
submission to the Supreme Being. In its practical ethics, though it
does not advocate the suppression of all desires, it so far agrees with
Buddhism as to hold that happiness is only found in the subordination of
individual claims to the voice of universal reason. Finally, its teachers
are actively engaged in propagating its doctrines and guiding its
disciples. Stoicism has, in short, the inward and outward characteristics
of the other great movements we have described, and may claim without
presumption to be reckoned amongst the world-religions[51].
[Sidenote: Comprehensiveness of the Stoic view.]
=19.= If however we reckon Stoicism amongst the world-religions, we must
not forget that of all of them it is the most philosophical, and this in
a double sense. In the first place the founders of Stoicism are conscious
of the problems to which preceding schools of thought have endeavoured
to find answers, and attempt to reconcile or at any rate to bring into
relation the answers which their predecessors have found. Secondly
they are greatly occupied with intellectual problems, and clearness of
thought is to them almost equally important with rightness of thought.
The theory of Fate which we have attributed to the Chaldaeans is to the
plain man irreconcileable with the doctrine of the government of the
world by a Supreme Deity; yet the Stoics hold both dogmas. The theory of
the freedom of the human will is a limitation equally of the dominion
of Fate and of that of the Deity: the Stoics maintain the freedom of
the human will and refuse to admit the limitation of either power. The
Persians maintained that the power of the principle of Good was balanced
by that of the principle of Evil; and from this they drew what seemed
to be the legitimate conclusion that man may choose to obey the one or
the other, to do good or to do evil. The Stoics omitted the principle
of Evil altogether from their scheme, and yet maintained the theory of
the moral choice. To understand the Stoic system it is necessary to know
exactly in what balance its different elements were maintained, and to
avoid identifying it with other systems, ancient or modern, which are
more sharply cut. Thus when it is commonly asserted that Stoicism on its
religious side is Pantheism, the very brevity of this summary must create
suspicion. Certainly the Stoics frequently speak of the universe as
divine; but they hold with equal firmness the doctrines that the universe
is governed by Providence, and that human perversity may thwart the
divine purpose, both being doctrines which in ancient as in modern times
are associated with Theism, and held to be inconsistent with pantheistic
views.
[Sidenote: God and the ‘Word.’]
=20.= A similar difficulty confronts us when we ask whether the deity
of the Stoics is to be considered as personal. All the terms commonly
used in association with a personal deity are adopted by the Stoics:
their god is Lord and Father. But then they use with equal freedom terms
commonly associated with materialism: for the Supreme Being is to them
body or stuff, a primitive fire which converts itself by natural laws
into every form of being. For this reason the Stoics are commonly called
materialists, and yet the main body of their teaching is contrary to that
usually associated with materialism[52]. Further, beside the personal
and the material conceptions of the Deity, they adopted and developed
a conception which exercised an extraordinary influence over other
systems, when they attributed the exercise of all the powers of deity
to the divine Word, which from one point of view is the deity himself,
and from another is something which emanates from him and is in some way
distinct. Thus the term ‘God,’ which to children and child-like religions
appears so simple, is in the Stoic system extraordinarily complex; and
its full content cannot be grasped without a willingness to revise the
meaning of many conceptions which seem firmly established, such as those
of personality, material, and quality. If we are to suppose that the
Stoic conception of the Word arose ultimately from similar conceptions in
Hebraism or Persism, by which the voice of a personal God attained to a
quasi-independent personality, we must allow that the Stoics made use of
this term with a boldness and consistency which from the time of their
appearance brought it into the forefront of religious and metaphysical
controversy. Through the Stoics the doctrine of the Word passed into the
systems of Judaism and Christianity, to perform in each the like service
by reconciling doctrines apparently contradictory. Of all the systems
we may perhaps say that Stoicism makes the fewest new assertions or
negations, but introduces the most numerous interpretations.
[Sidenote: Influence of Stoicism.]
=21.= We have comparatively little means of judging of the influence of
Stoicism in the world of Asia Minor, but incidentally we may infer that
it was very considerable. In Athens the moral earnestness of its teachers
found little response in public feeling, whilst it laid the exponents
of its tenets open to many a sharp thrust from keen critics whose
constructive powers were after all inferior. In Rome itself Stoicism took
root rapidly. The brilliant circle that gathered round Scipio Africanus
the younger was imbued with its ideals; Cato, the leading republican of
the first century B.C., was a living representative of its principles;
and Cicero and Brutus, with many others less known to fame, were greatly
influenced by it. In the first century of the principate Stoicism
imparted a halo of heroism to a political and social opposition which
otherwise would evoke little sympathy[53]; in the second century A.D. its
influence was thrown on the side of the government; the civilized world
was ruled under its flag, and its principles were embodied in successive
codes of law which are not yet extinct. Its direct supremacy was not
long-lived; for at the very time when a Stoic philosopher sits in the
seat of the Caesars its followers seem to be losing their hold on its
most important doctrines. It came into sharp conflict with Christianity
on matters of outward observance; but in the cores of the two systems
there was much likeness[54], and from Stoic homes were drawn the most
intelligent advocates of the newer faith.
[Sidenote: Judaism.]
=22.= By Judaism we mean here the way of thinking which was prevalent in
the Jewish world from the date of the return from Babylon to that of the
destruction of Jerusalem. Judaism was of course by no means restricted
to the soil of Palestine; it was carried by the diffusion of the Jewish
race to all the coasts of the Mediterranean; besides its national centre
at Jerusalem, it included a great centre of learning at Alexandria, and
its branches, as we have seen[55], extended to the south of Egypt. The
chief external impulse which affected it was the spread of Persism. The
two systems agreed in their belief in a God of heaven, and in their
dislike to idol-worship; and it can be no matter of wonder if one party
at least among the Jews readily accepted the more strictly Persian
doctrines of the ministry of angels, the struggle between good and evil,
the immortality of the soul, and the reward after death, as well as
such observances as the washing of hands[56]. Strong Persian influence
has been traced in the book of Daniel[57], and as Jewish speculation
developed at Alexandria, it took up the use of the Greek language,
and so came into touch with the influences that were moulding thought
throughout Asia Minor[58]. The most interesting and elevated production
of Alexandrine Judaism is the book known as the _Wisdom of Solomon_,
probably composed in the first century B.C.[59]
[Sidenote: ‘The Wisdom of Solomon.’]
=23.= The author of this book, whilst himself a firm adherent of
monotheism, shews a not altogether intolerant appreciation of those
systems in which either the heavenly bodies or the elements seem to
occupy the most important place:—
1.
For verily all men by nature were but vain who had no perception of God,
And from the good things that are seen they gained not power to know
him that is,
Neither by giving heed to the works did they recognise the artificer;
2.
But either fire, or wind, or swift air,
Or circling stars, or raging water, or the luminaries of heaven,
They thought to be gods that rule the world.
3.
And if it was through delight in their beauty that they took them to be
the gods,
Let them know how much better than these is their sovereign Lord:
For the first author of beauty created them:
4.
But if it was through astonishment at their power and influence,
Let them understand from them how much more powerful is he that
formed them:
5.
For from the greatness of the beauty even of created things
In like proportion does man form the image of their first maker.
6.
But yet for these men there is but small blame,
For they too peradventure do but go astray
While they are seeking God and desiring to find him.
_Wisdom of Solomon_, xiii 1-6.
The same author rises to still greater heights when he personifies Wisdom
or Philosophy as a Spirit attendant upon, and almost identified with the
deity. Here his language resembles that of the Avestic hymns, describing
the angels attendant upon Ahura Mazdā[60]:—
22.
For there is in Wisdom a spirit quick of understanding, holy,
Alone in kind, manifold,
Subtil, freely moving,
Clear in utterance, unpolluted,
Distinct, unharmed,
Loving what is good, keen, unhindered,
23.
Beneficent, loving toward man,
Stedfast, sure, free from care.
All-powerful, all-surveying,
And penetrating through all spirits
That are quick of understanding, pure, most subtil:
24.
For wisdom is more mobile than any motion:
Yea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her
pureness.
25.
For she is a breath of the power of God,
And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty:
Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her.
26.
For she is an effulgence from everlasting light,
And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,
And an image of his goodness.
27.
And she, being one, hath power to do all things:
And remaining in herself, reneweth all things,
And from generation to generation passing into holy souls
She maketh men friends of God, and prophets;
29.
For she is fairer than the sun,
And above all the constellations of the stars.
_Wisdom of Solomon_, vii 22-29.
[Sidenote: Philo the Jew.]
=24.= The fusion of Greek and Judaic modes of thought is most complete
in the works of Philo the Jew (c. 20 B.C.-54 A.D.). This writer in
commenting upon the books of the Old Testament, finds himself able by
way of interpretation to introduce large parts of Greek philosophies.
The place of Wisdom in the writer last named is taken in his works
by the Logos or ‘Word[61]’; and the ‘Word’ is many times described
as an emanation of the deity, after the Persian fashion[62]. Without
anticipating the further discussion of this philosophical conception,
we may well notice here how characteristic it is of an age which paid
boundless homage to reason, and how it supplies a counterpoise to
conceptions of the deity which are rigidly personal. But Philo is of
still more direct service to the study of Stoicism, because he had so
completely absorbed the system that, where other authorities fail us,
we may often trust to his expositions for a knowledge of details of the
Stoic system.
Another work of about the same period is the _Fourth book of the
Maccabees_, in which Stoic ethics, only slightly disguised, are
illustrated from Jewish history. In this fusion of Hebraic and
Hellenistic thought, unfortunately interrupted by political convulsions,
eminent modern Jews have recognised the natural development of the
teaching of the Hebrew prophets[63].
[Sidenote: Christianity.]
=25.= The foregoing discussions will already have suggested that
Christianity is bound by intimate ties to the other world-religions;
though it is beyond our present purpose to examine the precise nature
of those ties. It is pre-eminently concerned with the breaking down
of Jewish nationalism, and its constant appeal to ‘the truth’ is
essentially the same as the appeal of kindred systems to ‘wisdom’ or
‘philosophy.’ The Lord’s Prayer, addressed to the ‘Father in heaven,’ and
with its further references to ‘The Name,’ ‘The Kingdom,’ ‘The Will,’
‘temptation,’ and ‘the Evil One,’ reflects the principal conceptions
of Persism, of which we are again reminded in the Apocalypse by the
reference to the ‘seven spirits of God[64].’ The Sermon on the Mount has
been, not without reason, compared to the Buddhist sermon of Benares.
With Stoicism Christianity has special ties, both direct and indirect.
Its chief apostle was Paul of Tarsus, who was brought up in a city from
which more than one eminent Stoic teacher had proceeded[65], and whose
ways of thinking are penetrated by Stoic conceptions. The most profound
exponent of its theology (the author of the _Gospel according to John_)
placed in the forefront of his system the doctrine of the ‘Word’ which
directly or (more probably) indirectly he derived from Stoic sources.
The early church writers felt the kinship of thought without perceiving
the historical relation. To them Cicero in his Stoic works was ‘anima
naturaliter Christiana’; and they could only explain the lofty teachings
of Seneca by the belief that he was a secret convert of the apostle
Paul[66]. Parallelism between Stoic and Christian phraseology is indeed
so frequently traced that it may be well to emphasize the need of
caution. It is not by single phrases, often reflecting only the general
temper of the times, that we can judge the relation of the two systems;
it is necessary also to take into account the general framework and the
fundamental principles of each.
[Sidenote: Druidism.]
=26.= Of the systems named by Aristotle far the least known to us is
Druidism. It appeared to Caesar and other Romans to be the national
religion of the Gauls and Britons, exactly as Magism appeared to the
Greeks to be the national religion of the Persians. But other evidence
indicates that Druidism was a reformed religion or philosophy, not unlike
Persism in its principles. The training of Druidical students was long
and arduous; it claimed to introduce them to a knowledge of heavenly
deities denied to the rest of the world, and to reveal to them the
immortality of the soul. Our best authority is the Latin poet Lucan:—
‘To you alone it has been granted to know the gods and the powers
of heaven; or (it may be) to you alone to know them wrongly. You
dwell in deep forests and far-away groves: according to your
teaching the shades do not make their way to the still regions
of Erebus or the grey realm of Dis below; the same spirit guides
a new body in another world; if you know well what you say,
then death is but an interlude in life. If not, at least the
peoples, on whom the northern star gazes directly, are happy in
their illusion; for the greatest of terrors, the fear of death,
is nothing to them. Hence it comes that their warriors’ hearts
are ready to meet the sword, and their souls have a welcome for
death, and they scorn to be thrifty with life, in which they can
claim a second share[67].’
Druidism, like Stoicism, seems to have prepared its adherents for a
specially ready acceptance of Christianity.
[Sidenote: The goal not reached yet.]
=27.= The story of the world-religions, with their countless prophets,
teachers, confessors and martyrs, has its tragic side. We ask what was
attained by so much study and self-denial, such courageous defiance
of custom and prejudice, such bold strivings after the unattainable,
so many hardly spent lives and premature deaths, and feel puzzled to
find a reply. To the problems proposed the world-religions gave in turn
every possible answer. Some found life sweet, others bitter; some bowed
before the inexorable rule of destiny, others believed in a personal and
benevolent government of the universe; some looked forward to a life
after death, others hoped for annihilation. Their theories crystallized
into dogmas, and as such became the banners under which national hatreds
once more sought outlet in bloodshed. Their adherents sacrificed
everything in the hope of reaching certain and scientific truth, and,
at the end of all, religion still appears the whole world over to be
in conflict with science, and the thousand years during which Wisdom
was counted more precious than riches are often looked back upon as a
time of human aberration and childishness. It is not to be denied that
thousands of noble spirits set out during this period for a goal that
they never reached; and those who are inclined to destructive criticism
may plausibly characterise their enterprise as vanity.
[Sidenote: The path still onward.]
=28.= It is the task of literary research to pierce through this limited
view, and to trace the real effect of philosophical effort on the life
of individuals and nations. All over the civilized world it raised a
race of heroes, struggling not for power or splendour as in the epoch
of barbarism, but for the good of their fellow-men. It gave a new value
to life, and trampled under foot the fear of death. It united the
nations, and spread the reign of law and justice. Where its influence
has weakened, the world has not changed for the better; so that the
very failures of the world-religions most attest their value. India has
relapsed from Buddhism, its own noblest work, to its earlier creeds, and
they still bar its path against social progress. Europe, no longer united
by the sentiment of a catholic religion, and increasingly indifferent
to literary sympathies, is falling back into the slough of frontier
impediments and racial hatreds. From all this there is no way out except
in the old-fashioned quest of truth and good will.
[Sidenote: Estimates of Stoicism.]
=29.= Both in ancient and in modern times the importance of Stoicism
has been very variously estimated, according as the critic has set
up a purely literary standard, or has taken into account historical
influence. To those who look upon philosophy as it is embodied in books,
and forms a subject for mental contemplation and aesthetic enjoyment,
the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle have always seemed of far
higher rank. As contributions to the progress of humanity, in politics
and law, in social order and in the inventive adaptation of material
surroundings, they can hardly claim to approach any one of the systems
discussed in this chapter. But it is with no wish to depreciate the great
masterpieces of Hellenic culture that we now set against the criticisms
of some of its ardent advocates the maturer judgment of writers who have
approached with greater sympathy the study of the Hellenistic and Roman
worlds. ‘In Plato and Aristotle,’ says Zeller, ‘Greek philosophy reached
its greatest perfection[68].’ ‘Its bloom was short-lived[69].’ ‘Greece
was brought into contact with the Eastern nations, whereby it became
subject to a back-current of Oriental thought[70].’ ‘With the decline of
political independence the mental powers of the nation were broken past
remedy[71].’ ‘What could be expected in such an age, but that philosophy
would become practical, if indeed it were studied at all[72]?’ To minds
of another temper it does not seem so fatal that ‘philosophy should
become practical.’ ‘It should be insisted,’ says Prof. Mahaffy, ‘that the
greatest practical inheritance the Greeks left in philosophy was not the
splendour of Plato, or the vast erudition of Aristotle, but the practical
systems of Zeno and Epicurus, and the scepticism of Pyrrho. In our own
day every man is either a Stoic, an Epicurean, or a Sceptic[73].’ The
greatness of Stoicism in particular was eloquently recognised by a French
writer of the eighteenth century: ‘elle seule savait faire les citoyens,
elle seule faisait les grands hommes, elle seule faisait les grands
empereurs[74]!’ With these tributes may be compared that paid by a writer
who approaches the subject from the standpoint of modern philosophy
and theology. ‘[Stoicism] has perennial fascination; and there are not
wanting signs that it appeals with special attractiveness to cultured
minds at the present day. It has both speculative and practical value;
its analysis of human nature and its theory of knowledge, no less than
its ethical teaching, giving insight into the problems of the universe
and the right mode of guiding life. As an important stage in the march
of philosophical thought, and as a luminous chapter in the history of
natural theology, it solicits our attention and will repay our study[75].’
[Sidenote: Interpretative Stoicism.]
=30.= Judgments so contradictory reveal the fact that ancient
divergencies of philosophic sympathies have their counterparts to-day;
and perhaps in studying and judging the systems of antiquity a little
more is needed of the sympathy and interpretative elasticity which every
man unconsciously uses in maintaining the political, philosophic and
religious views to which he is attracted by inheritance or personal
conviction. Thus to understand Stoicism fully a man must himself become
for the time being a Stoic. As such he will no longer bind himself by
the letter of the school authorities. In many a phrase they use he will
recognise an obsolete habit of thought, an exaggerated opposition, a
weak compliance in the face of dominant opinions, or a mistaken reliance
upon what once seemed logical conclusions. At other points he will see
difficulties felt to which an answer can now easily be supplied. At each
step he will ask, not so much what the Stoics thought, but what a Stoic
must necessarily think. Whilst constantly referring to the original
authorities, he will allow much to be forgotten, and in other cases he
will draw out more meaning than the writers themselves set in their
words. If he can walk, boldly but not without caution, on this path, he
will assuredly find that Stoicism throws light on all the great questions
to which men still seek answers, and that to some at least it still holds
out a beckoning hand.
FOOTNOTES
[1] See below, § 441.
[2] Diog. L. Prooem. 1.
[3] Gomperz, _Greek Thinkers_, ii p. 161; and below, § 94.
[4] ‘principes Chaldaei, qui in patentibus campis colebant, stellarum
motus et vias et coetus intuentes, quid ex his efficeretur observaverunt’
Gellius, _N. A._ xiv 1, 8.
[5] Sir E. Walter Maunder, in the _Nineteenth Century_ for September 1900.
[6] ‘quinque stellarum potestates Chaldaeorum observatio excepit’ Seneca,
_N. Q._ ii 32, 6.
[7] This is well described by Cicero, translating from a Stoic source:
‘cum fato omnia fiant, si quis mortalis possit esse, qui colligationem
causarum omnium perspiciat animo, nihil eum profecto fallat. qui enim
teneat causas rerum futurarum, idem necesse est omnia teneat quae
futura sint’ _Div._ i 56, 127. It seems reasonable to suppose that this
general conception of ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ is deduced from the unchanging
movements of the heavenly bodies.
[8] ‘videbis quinque sidera diversas agentia vias; ex horum levissimis
motibus fortunae populorum dependent’ Sen. _Dial._ vi 18, 3.
[9] ‘aiunt quadringenta septuaginta milia annorum in periclitandis
experiundisque pueris, quicunque essent nati, Babylonios posuisse’ Cic.
_Div._ ii 46, 97. I assume that the original tradition named the smaller
number suggested above.
[10] ‘duo apud Chaldaeos studuisse se dicunt, Epigenes et Apollonius
Myndius’ Sen. _N. Q._ vii 4, 1; ‘Diogenes Stoicus [Chaldaeis] concedit,
aliquid ut praedicere possint’ Cic. _Div._ ii 43, 90. Seneca concludes
against their authority, observing (i) that a proper horoscope should
include all the stars in the heaven at the moment of birth, and (ii) that
twins should always have the same fortune, which is obviously untrue; see
_N. Q._ ii 32, 6 to 8, _Ben._ vii 1, 5.
[11] ‘tu ne quaesieris (scire nefas), quem mihi, quem tibi | finem di
dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios | temptaris numeros’ Hor. _C._ i 11,
1-3.
[12] See the interesting tale of Thrasyllus and Tiberius in Tac. _Ann._
vi 21, to which the author affects to give some credit.
[13] e.g., ‘seu Libra seu me Scorpios adspicit | formidulosus, pars
violentior | natalis horae, seu tyrannus | Hesperiae Capricornus undae,
| utrumque nostrum incredibili modo | consentit astrum’ Hor. _C._ ii 17,
17-22.
[14] ‘Eudoxus, qui inter sapientiae sectas clarissimam utilissimamque
[artem magicam] intellegi voluit, Zoroastrem hunc sex millibus annorum
ante Platonis mortem fuisse prodidit: sic et Aristoteles’ Pliny, _N. H._
xxx 2, 1; cf. Diog. L. Prooem. 2 and 8.
[15] Williams-Jackson, _Zoroaster_, p. 161.
[16] _ib._ p. 174.
[17] K. Geldner, _Encycl. Brit._ ed. x, article ‘Zoroaster.’
[18] Williams-Jackson, p. 7.
[19] ‘Magiam ... cuius scientiae saeculis priscis multa ex Chaldaeorum
arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres’ Amm. Marc. xxiii 6, 32.
[20] [Zoroastres] ‘primus dicitur mundi principia siderumque
motus diligentissime spectasse’ Justinus, _Hist. Phil._ i 1, 9
(Williams-Jackson, p. 237): ‘astris multum et frequenter intentus’ Clem.
Rom. _Recogn._ iv 27.
[21] ‘tradunt Zoroastrem in desertis caseo vixisse’ Pliny, _N. H._ xi 97.
[22] ‘[Ahura Mazdā] created the paths of the sun and the stars; he made
the moon to wax and wane’ (_Yasna_ 43, 3); ‘he made the light and the
darkness’ (_ib._ 5); ‘he is the father of the good’ (_ib._ 46, 2).
[23] ‘Ζωροάστρης ὁ μάγος ... προσαπεφαίνετο, τὸν μὲν ἑοικέναι φωτὶ
μάλιστα τῶν αἰσθητῶν, τὸν δ’ ἔμπαλιν σκότῳ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ’ Plut. _Isid. et
Osir._ 46.
[24] ‘Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia:—all the kingdoms of the earth
hath the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to
build him an house in Jerusalem’ Ezra i 2.
[25] See the interesting papyri records recently discovered in
Elephantine, and published by Dr Sachau of Berlin. A general account of
them is given by Prof. Driver in the London _Guardian_ for Nov. 6, 1907.
[26] Cicero rightly appreciated the religious character of the Persian
invasions: ‘delubra humanis consecrata simulacris Persae nefaria
putaverunt; eamque unam ob causam Xerxes inflammari Atheniensium fana
iussisse dicitur, quod deos, quorum domus esset omnis hic mundus,
inclusos parietibus contineri nefas esse duceret’ _Rep._ iii 9, 14. So
Themistocles as represented by Herodotus: ‘the gods and heroes grudged
that one man should become king both of Asia and of Europe, and he a man
unholy and presumptuous, one who made no difference between things sacred
and things profane, burning and casting down the images of the gods’
_History_ viii 109 (Macaulay’s translation).
[27] See below, § 41.
[28] ‘Images and temples and altars they do not account it lawful to
erect, nay, they even charge with folly those who do these things; and
this, as it seems to me, because they do not account the gods to be in
the likeness of men, as do the Hellenes. But it is their wont to perform
sacrifices to Zeus, going up to the most lofty of the mountains, and the
whole circle of the heavens they call Zeus: and they sacrifice to the
Sun and the Moon and the Earth, to Fire and to Water and to the Winds;
these are the only gods to whom they have sacrificed ever from the first’
_History_ i 131 (Macaulay’s translation).
[29] Cic. _Sen._ 22, 79 to 81, after Xen. _Cyr._ viii 7.
[30] In the hymns of Zarathustra we can only trace the beginnings of this
system, as in the following: ‘All-wise Lord, all-powerful one, and thou
Piety, and Righteousness, Good Mind and the Kingdom, listen ye to me and
prosper my every beginning’ _Yasna_ 33, 11.
[31] _Yasht_ xix 15, 16. The translation follows Geldner, _Drei Yasht aus
dem Zendavesta_, p. 15.
[32] Ancient Greek hymn, φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης, translated by J. Keble.
[33] J. H. Newman.
[34] ‘Zoroaster taught the Persians neither to burn their dead, nor
otherwise to defile fire.’ Xanthos (B.C. 465-425), as quoted by Nicolaus
of Damascus (1st century B.C.).
[35] See § 10, note 28; Strabo xv 3, 16.
[36] ‘Zarathustra said:—the earthly demon is water derived from earth;
the heavenly demon is fire mixed with air’ Origen, _contra haereses_, i
col. 3025.
[37] ‘The Persians first worshipped fire as a god in heaven’ Clemens
Romanus, _Hom._ ix 4 f.
[38] ‘Zoroaster the Magian says:—God is the primal, the incorruptible,
the eternal, the unbegotten, the indivisible, the incomparable, the
charioteer of all good, he that cannot be bribed, the best of the good,
the wisest of the wise; he is also the father of good laws and justice,
the self-taught, the natural, perfect, and wise, the only discoverer of
the sacred and natural’ Euseb. _Praep. ev._ i 10.
[39] ‘From the writings of Zoroaster it is inferred that he divided
philosophy into three parts, physics, economics, and politics’ Schol. on
_First Alcibiades_, p. 122 A (Williams-Jackson, p. 231).
[40] ‘They educate their children, beginning at five years old and going
on till twenty, in three things only; in riding, in shooting, and in
speaking the truth’ Herod. i 136.
[41] See above, § 3.
[42] Alexander had reached the river Hyphasis, the modern Bias.
[43] Plutarch’s _Life of Alexander_, ch. lxiv (translation by Aubrey
Stewart and George Long, London, 1892).
[44] Mahāvagga i 6, 19 to 22, after H. Oldenberg, _Buddha_, p. 139, and
the translation in _S. B. E._ xiii pp. 95, 96.
[45] Dhammapada i 5 and xvii 123 (_S. B. E._ x pp. 5, 58).
[46] Mahaffy, _Empire of the Ptolemies_, p. 164. These alternative
interpretations of the doctrine of _Nirvana_ must not be accepted as
uncontroversial.
[47] Mahaffy, _Empire of the Ptolemies_, p. 163; V. A. Smith, _Açoka_, p.
174.
[48] See Gomperz, _Greek Thinkers_, ii pp. 155-162, and below, § 52.
[49] Epict. _Disc._ iii 24, 64 to 66 (Long’s translation).
[50] _ib._ iii 22, 45 to 50.
[51] ‘The system that stood to Pagan Rome more nearly than anything else
in the place of a religion’ Crossley, _M. Aurelius_, iv Pref. p. xii.
‘Its history resembles that of a religion rather than a speculative
system’ Rendall, _M. Aurelius_, Pref. p. xv.
[52] See below, § 173.
[53] ‘Patricians, as we call them, only too often fail in natural
affection’ M. Aurel. _To himself_, i 12 (Rendall’s translation). See also
below, §§ 442, 443.
[54] ‘Dying, [Stoicism] bequeathed no small part of its disciplines,
its dogmas, and its phraseology to the Christianity by which it
was ingathered’ Rendall, _M. Aurelius_, Pref. p. xv. ‘The basis of
Christian society is not Christian, but Roman and Stoical’ Hatch,
_Hibbert Lectures_, p. 170. ‘[The post-Aristotelian period] supplied the
scientific mould into which Christianity in the early years of its growth
was cast, and bearing the shape of which it has come down to us’ O. J.
Reichel in his Preface to the translation of Zeller’s _Stoics_, etc.
[55] See above, § 9.
[56] It is not admitted by the best authorities that the term ‘Pharisee’
is in any way connected with the name of ‘Persian’ or its modern
equivalent ‘Parsee.’ But the resemblance in beliefs and habits is very
striking, especially if we contrast the Pharisees with their Sadducee
opponents. ‘The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither
angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both’ Acts xxiii 8.
[57] D. A. Bertholet, ‘The value of the history of religions,’ _Homiletic
Review_, Nov. 1908.
[58] See Fairweather, _Background of the Gospels_, ch. vii (on ‘the
apocalyptic movement and literature’).
[59] _ib._ p. 337.
[60] See above, § 12.
[61] Heinze, _Lehre vom Logos_, pp. 251, 252.
[62] ‘The Logos is related to God as Wisdom, and is the full expression
of the Divine mind. He is the sheckinah or glory of God, the first-born
Son of God, the second God’ Fairweather, _Background of the Gospels_, p.
358.
[63] Friedländer, _Die religiösen Bewegungen innerhalb des Judaïsmus_,
1905.
[64] ‘There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are
the seven Spirits of God’ Revelation iv 5.
[65] Of these Antipater of Tarsus is the best known, for whom see § 110;
others are Heraclides, Archedemus, Zeno of Tarsus, Nestor, Athenodorus,
etc., for whom see Index of Proper Names.
[66] Winckler, _Der Stoicismus_, p. 2; Lightfoot, _Philippians_, pp. 270,
271.
[67] Lucan, _Phars._ i 452-462.
[68] _Stoics_, etc., p. 1.
[69] _ib._ p. 10.
[70] _ib._ pp. 13, 14.
[71] _ib._ p. 15.
[72] _ib._ p. 16.
[73] _Greek Life and Thought_, Introd., pp. xxxvii, xxxviii.
[74] Montesquieu, _Esprit des lois_, ii 24.
[75] W. L. Davidson, _The Stoic Creed_, p. v.