III. Quis credat tantas operum sine numine moles Ex minimis cæcoque creatum fœdere mundum? 17 &c. Lucan, in his Pharsalia, discovers a strong affection for the Stoic school, in which he was educated by Cornutus, an eminent preceptor afterwards to be noticed. He expresses, in forcible and beautiful language, several of the fundamental tenets of the sect: for example; 18 Sic cum compage soluta Secula tot mundi suprema coegerit hora, The Stoic virtues Lucan thus represents in the character of Cato: Hi mores, hæc duri immota Catonis Secta fuit, servare modum, finemque tenere 17 Who, that beholds the pond'rous orbs on high, Without a guide could form this wondrous world? &c. 18 L. i. v. 74, &c. 19 So shall one hour, at last, this globe control, Break up the vast machine, dissolve the whole : And reign with anarchy and endless night : The moon no more her well-known course shall run, In commune bonus: nullosque Catonis in actus Persius, who was also instructed by Cornutus, was a zealous advocate for the Stoical doctrine of morals. Of this his third satire affords a striking example; where, in the person of a Stoic philosopher, he reproves the Roman youth for idleness and effeminacy, and recommends to them the study of philosophy as the best guide to virtue and happiness. Discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum Confusion wild shall all around be hurl'd, 20 L. ii. v. 380, &c. These were the stricter manners of the man, And this the stubborn course in which they ran; And die with pleasure in his country's cause, On universal good his thoughts were bent, Nor knew what gain, or self-affection meant; Cato was always last in Cato's care. "Sat. iii. v. 66, &c. +Attend then, wretched youth, in time attend, 21 Rowe. ROWE. The tragic poet Seneca every where discovers what sect of philosophers he espoused: in his dramatic writings Stoic philosophy treads the stage in buskins. What has been said concerning the philosophical charac ter of the Roman poets, may also be asserted of the histo rians. The writings of Livy, Sallust, Tacitus, and others, are not without proofs, that they had profited by the study of philosophy.22 Strabo, in his excellent geographical work, casts much light upon the subject of philosophy, and discovers himself to have been well read in the history and tenets of the Grecian sects. He classes himself among the Stoics, and follows their dogmas.23 24 We might add to the list of those Romans, who studied philosophy, and were patrons of philosophers, the names of many persons of rank; such as Mecenas, whose liberal attention to learned men of all descriptions has immortalized his name; Canius Julus, who met the death inflicted upon him by Caligula with Stoic firmness, expressing his satisfaction that he was so soon to make the experiment which would determine whether the soul is immortal; Thras@as Pætus, a Roman senator, who in his life emulated the virtues of Cato, and in whose death Nero, says Tacitus, hoped to cut off virtue herself; 25 together with many others, not inferior in merit, who flourished at this period. But we must hasten to consider more distinctly the state of the several sects of philosophers under the emperors.26 Look into man with philosophic eye; BREWSTER 22 Senec. Ep. 100. Lips. Manud. ad Phil. Stoic. I. i. diss. 17. 23 Vid. Geogr. l. i. ii. xiv. xvi. 25 Tac. An. l. xv. c. 20. l. xvi. c. 21. 26 Vidend. Fabr. Bib. Gr. v. ii. p. 815. 364. 24 Sen. de Tranq, c. 14. Plin. l. viii. ep. 22. Bib. Lat. I. i. c. 4. t. ii. p. 381. Gaudentius. c. 124. Cudworth. c. v. § 4. § 29. c. iv. § 14. 20. Stoll. Hist. Mor. Gent. § 195, 208. Of the Philosophers who revived the Pythagoric Sect. AFTER the society of the Pythagoreans in Magna Græcia was broken up, the sect was never revived as a distinct body, subject to the institutions of its founder. Even at Athens, where so many regular schools of philosophy flourished, this was never attempted. We are not, therefore, to expect, that, in the time of the Roman emperors, when, as Seneca complains, "no one attended to philosophy, or any liberal study, except to fill up the tedious intervals of public amusements, or to occupy the heavy hours of a rainy day," the Pythagoric sect should appear with all the formalities of an established school. But we shall find, during this period, philosophers who embraced the doctrines of Pythagoras as far as they were then known, or who attempted to introduce a mode of living, in some degree similar to that of the ancient Pythagoreans. There were also many who boasted, that they possessed the true Pythagorean wisdom, but who in fact perverted and corrupted it, by blending it with the doctrines of Plato and other philosophers. These latter, who are distinguished by the name of Eclectics, will be treated of in a distinct section. Of the former, the philosophers, whose celebrity entitles them to particular notice, are Anaxilaus, Sextus, Sotion, Moderatus, Apollonius Tyanæus, Secundus, and Nicomachus. Anaxilaus of Larissa, who lived in the time of Augustus, professed himself a follower of Pythagoras,28 but chiefly that he might obtain the greater credit to the pretensions which he made to an intimate acquaintance with the mysteries of nature. Pliny 9 relates several curious arts, by which he raised the wonder and terror of the ignorant multitude, among which was that of giving a livid and ghastly hue to the countenance by means of sulphureous flame. It is probable, that he practised his deceptions under the notion of supernatural operations; for he was banished from Italy, by the order of Augustus, for the crime of magic.30 29 Euseb. Chron. Qu. Nat. I. vii. c. 32. 1 29 N. Hist. 1. xix. c. 1. l. xxviii. c. 11. 1. xxxv. c. 15. Iræn. l. i. c. 7. Epiphan. Hær. 34. 30 Euseb. I. c. Quintus Sextius, as long as the republic existed, was a zealons supporter of the liberties of Rome; but when he saw the tyranny and cruelty of the triumvirate, he despaired of being longer able to serve his country, and determined to devote the remainder of his days to philosophy. Naturally of a gloomy temper, which was increased by the calamities of the times, Sextius made an attempt to subject his countrymen to a rigorous kind of discipline, hitherto unknown among them. The particulars of this attempt, which proved abortive, are not preserved: but it is more probable, that he endeavoured to revive the rigours of the Pythagoric school, than that, contrary to the universal practice of the Romans, he undertook, as Seneca has been understood to assert, the institution of a sect entirely new.31 On account of the noble spirit of intrepid virtue which his writings expressed, Seneca ranked him among the Stoics: but this seems rather designed as a rhetorical encomium upon his character, than as an accurate relation of his philosophical principles. From the circumstance of his making choice of Sotion, a Pythagorean, for his preceptor; from his abstaining from animal food, and following the Pythagorean rule of reviewing his actions at the close of every day; but especially from the nature of the institution which he planned, it appears highly probable, that Sextius was a follower of Pythagoras. But whatever may be thought of his sect, the manner in which Seneca speaks of his writings leaves little room to doubt, that he was an excellent practical moralist. "You will find," says he, in his writings a degree of vigour and spirit seldom to be met with in any other philosopher. Other moralists prescribe, argue, cavil; but they inspire the reader with no ardour, because they themselves possess none. But when you read Sextius, you say, he is alive, animated, bold, and even rises above humanity. He sends me away full of hardy confidence. Whatever be my disposition when I take up his writings, I' confess to you, I never lay them down without being ready 33 66 31 Sen. Ep. 98. 59. Plin. l. xviii. c. 28. Sen. Qu. Nat. l. vii. c. 32, Plutarch de Sent. Virt. Prof. t. i. p. 186. 32 Euseb. Chron. n. 2010. Lips. ad Sen. ep. 59. Scheffer de Phil. Ital. c. ult. Gale Præf. ad Sententias Sexti, apud Opusc. myth. 33 Sen. Ep. 6. Vid. ep. 73. 108. De Ira l. iii. c. 36. |