I.'s impressive volume is welcomed with a sigh of relief. This is the third instalment in the Cambridge source books on post-Hellenistic philosophy, and one that is long overdue given the ever-growing interest in ancient Stoicism. The first two brilliant volumes of the series were dedicated to Peripatetic philosophy by R.W. Sharples (2010) and Platonist philosophy by G. Boys-Stones (2018), respectively. Here, the mapping out of a colossal body of evidence according to the standard divisions of philosophy (logic, physics, ethics) for each thinker -I.'s editorial choicewill prove vastly useful to all students of Stoicism and scholars across disciplines as it makes it much more convenient for readers to look up a particular area of thought and assess the thinker's contribution to it, or what philosophical preoccupations loomed large. Crucially, such a layout enables readers to identify the differences of opinions within a school where disagreement was rife, unsurprisingly for a philosophical movement that lasted over 500 years.Although 'late Stoicism' is typically located towards the end of the Hellenistic era with a focus on the Roman Stoics and the Stoicism of the Roman Imperial period (31 BCE-300 CE)a thoroughly modern periodisation of the school -, I. argues in the introduction for an earlier start, the middle of the second century BCE. More specifically, it is the intellectual dispute between the head of the school, Antipater of Tarsus, and the Academic Carneades, a philosopher-prodigy from North Africa, that proved a turning point for Stoicism, driving its leader to engage with Plato and Aristotle extensivelya move quite unprecedented for the Stoics at the time.Some indication in the introduction about a potential re-periodisation of the school's evolution regarding its earlier periods would have been helpful now that the old division of the school into early, middle and late Stoicism is being entirely revised. Scholars had previously questioned the modern division of the school's history by referring to intellectual and socio-cultural shifts taking place well before the end of Ptolemaic Egypt (31 BCE) and the rise of Roman supremacy in the Mediterranean basin. But none pushed as far back as I.'s starting date of the mid-second century BCE for later Stoicism.As I. puts it, the aim of the book is to present readers with 'a representative selection of the evidence we have for Stoicism in its later phases' (p. 1). This is no small task to begin with, but in merging the middle phase of Stoicism, traditionally represented by Panaetius and Posidonius, with its later phase, inevitably dominated by the Roman Stoics (Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius), I.'s redefinition of 'later Stoicism' offers a more wide-ranging survey of how Stoic thought developed before it moved to Rome, and beyond ethics where the focus could have been if the book had concentrated exclusively on the Stoicism of the Roman imperial period.Six chapters follow. Each chapter contains a general section and is then divided into three parts: 'Part ...
pp. 12, 37-8 (index 2, ch. 12), 'patterns of [planetary] radiance' (luminum canonica) clearly excels Rackham's 'theory of their light '. • pp. 12, 44-5 (index 2, ch. 21, and 2.85-8), rendering geometrica as 'geometry' (consistent with the content of 2.85-8) clearly excels Rackham's 'dimensions'. • pp. 14, 77 (index 2, ch. 79, and 2.188), 'How days may be defined' (for quomodo dies obseruentur) describes the issue addressed in 2.188, but the verb has a sense hinted at in Rackham's 'How days are observed'. Render: 'What is regarded as a day' (cf. Lewis & Short, s.v. II.B; OLD, s.v. 4). • pp. 14, 81 (index 2, ch. 88-9, and 2.202-3), 'The creation of new islands explained; which ones have been created and when' clearly excels Rackham's 'Emergence of islandsreason for; instances and dates of', for insularum enascentium ratio; quae et quibus temporibus enatae sint. However, retain the metaphor, and render: 'An account of islands born from [the sea]; which ones have been born and when'.
Chapter 3 explores how fear and related emotions such as envy, anger, and hatred contribute to and shape the overall narrative in Statius’ Thebaid. It looks at how fear plays a pervasive role in the human and divine power struggles that dominate the epic by drawing attention to the significance of (false) belief in the formation of the passions, which, in turn, dictate actions and behaviour. This chapter draws attention to Tisiphone as a key figure in Statius’ poetic engagement with Stoic ethics, the deployment of fear as a political idea, and the pertinence of the Stoic concept of sumpatheia to the sustainability of evil in the Thebaid. Widening up the scope of Stoic thought in Statius’ epic, the discussion provides new readings to reconcile seemingly irreconcilable notions such as fate, free will, and the existence of evil in a world designed to produce good.
The Introduction outlines the purpose, approach, structure, and arguments of the book. The chapter also provides a helpful roadmap for the journey ahead. It offers a substantial discussion that presents the reader with a nexus of major ideas, carefully laid out to ensure that the readings, which focus on Flavian epic, are grounded in a clear, shared understanding of the larger context. This chapter includes a detailed section that takes stock of the existing scholarship on emotion and Stoicism in Flavian epic before delving into key issues surrounding Stoic ethics in Rome, Stoic political thought, and the figure of the tyrant in the poetic tradition from Homer all the way to the Flavians.
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