ROMAN PHILOSOPHY ESSENTIAL QUESTION In what ways did Rome’s culture, entertainment, and art reflect Roman philosophical and religious views? AGENDA Reading : The Stoics Group Question : Roman heroes and Roman Philosophy Activity : Marcus Aurelius Quotes Discussion : Marcus Aurelius & Reality

ROMAN PHILOSOPHY Romulus Hannibal Marc Antony Around 200 BC, some conservative Romans began to worry that contact with Greek philosophy would corrupt and weaken their fellow citizens. One of them, the statesman Marcus Porcius Cato – Cato the Elder – disliked the softer manners of the Greeks. He was fluent in Greek but opposed to Greek literature, poetry and art, and he opposed Greek medicine, claiming that it was poisoning Romans. In particular he was opposed to a philosophy called Epicureanism, which at its most extreme taught that finding and experiencing pleasure was the most important thing a person could do during their life. Many Romans instead turned to the philosophy of Stoicism which taught that people shouldn’t be concerned with possessions but should instead try to live lives of virtue (from the Latin world “virtutem” meaning manliness). For Romans virtue meant acting based on whether an action would be good for Rome and the empire rather than for the individual or single family. Of all the virtues Stoics valued the most important were courage, resilience, endurance, self-denial, and integrity. Romans looked for their qualities in their heroes, myths, leaders, and in many other parts of their culture. In what ways had the following people demonstrated behaviors that Stoics would have admired or despised. Romulus Hannibal Marc Antony

Around 200 BC, some conservative Romans began to worry that contact with Greek philosophy would corrupt and weaken their fellow citizens. One of them, the statesman Marcus Porcius Cato – Cato the Elder – disliked the softer manners of the Greeks. He was fluent in Greek but opposed to Greek literature, poetry and art, and he opposed Greek medicine, claiming that it was poisoning Romans. In particular he was opposed to a philosophy called Epicureanism, which at its most extreme taught that finding and experiencing pleasure was the most important thing a person could do during their life. Many Romans instead turned to the philosophy of Stoicism which taught that people shouldn’t be concerned with possessions but should instead try to live lives of virtue (from the Latin world “virtutem” meaning manliness). For Romans virtue meant acting based on whether an action would be good for Rome and the empire rather than for the individual or single family. Of all the virtues Stoics valued the most important were courage, resilience, endurance, self-denial, and integrity. Romans looked for their qualities in their heroes, myths, leaders, and in many other parts of their culture.

ROMAN PHILOSOPHY Romulus Hannibal Marc Antony Around 200 BC, some conservative Romans began to worry that contact with Greek philosophy would corrupt and weaken their fellow citizens. One of them, the statesman Marcus Porcius Cato – Cato the Elder – disliked the softer manners of the Greeks. He was fluent in Greek but opposed to Greek literature, poetry and art, and he opposed Greek medicine, claiming that it was poisoning Romans. In particular he was opposed to a philosophy called Epicureanism, which at its most extreme taught that finding and experiencing pleasure was the most important thing a person could do during their life. Many Romans instead turned to the philosophy of Stoicism which taught that people shouldn’t be concerned with possessions but should instead try to live lives of virtue (from the Latin world “virtutem” meaning manliness). For Romans virtue meant acting based on whether an action would be good for Rome and the empire rather than for the individual or single family. Of all the virtues Stoics valued the most important were courage, resilience, endurance, self-denial, and integrity. Romans looked for their qualities in their heroes, myths, leaders, and in many other parts of their culture. In what ways had the following people demonstrated behaviors that Stoics would have admired or despised. Romulus Hannibal Marc Antony

In what ways had the following people demonstrated behaviors that Stoics would have admired or despised. Romulus Hannibal Marc Antony

ESSENTIAL QUESTION In what ways did Rome’s culture, entertainment, and art reflect Roman philosophical and religious views?