King of Macedonia (r. 221-179 b. c.e.)
Born: 238 b. c.e.; place unknown Died: 179 b. c.e.; Amphipolis, Macedonia Category: Government and politics
Life Philip V, son of Demetrius II and Phthia (Chryseis) succeeded An-tigonus III Doson to the throne of Macedonia in 221 b. c.e. In the Social War of 220-217 b. c.e., Philip successfully led the Achaean League against Aetolia and its allies, quickly extinguishing reports that he was only an insignificant youth.
In 217 b. c.e., Philip, noting Rome’s preoccupation with the war against Hannibal of Carthage, began to move westward against Roman dependencies on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Rome’s subsequent alliance with the Aetolians allowed it to largely stay out of the fighting in Greece while Philip brought the Aetolians to terms, concluding hostilities in 206 b. c.e.
Beginning in 203 b. c.e., Philip turned his sights on eastern territorial acquisition. The Romans declared war on Philip in 200 b. c.e., convinced by the Pergamenes and Rhodians that Philip threatened the freedom of the Greeks. After campaigns in 199 and 198 b. c.e., the Romans decisively defeated Philip at Cynoscephalae in Thessaly in 197 b. c.e. After defeat, Philip cooperated with the Romans and focused on Macedonian consolidation until the latter part of his life, when he made futile attempts to break with Rome.
Influence Philip V stood in a long line of Hellenistic kings who sought to match the exploits and reconstitute the empire of Alexander the Great. Unfortunately, Philip and his Hellenistic contemporaries had to reckon not only with each other but also with the emerging might of Rome.
Further Reading
Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Reprint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Gruen, Erich S. The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
O’Neil, James L. “The Ethnic Origins of the Friends of the Antigonid Kings of Macedon.” Classical Quarterly 53, no. 2 (2003): 510-522. Walbank, F. W. Philip V of Macedon. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1940.
Leah Johnson
See also: Alexander the Great’s Empire; Antigonid Dynasty; Cynos-cephalae, Battle of; Hellenistic Greece; Macedonia.
Scholar and writer
Born: c. 340 b. c.e.; Athens, Greece Died: c. 260 b. c.e.; Athens, Greece Category: Scholarship; literature
Life Few details are known about the life of Philochorus (feh-LAHK-uh-ruhs). He was a seer and prophet who interpreted omens for the Athenian state, but his historical significance derives from his work as a scholar. He was the author of twenty-seven works, most of them concerned with Athens and dealing with religious topics. However, he also wrote on chronology, Athenian inscriptions, and tragedy. His most famous work was his Atthis (n. d.; English translation of more than 170 fragments, 1949), a history of Athens from mythical times through the early third century b. c.e. Philochorus used earlier histories of Athens to write the Atthis, but he also conducted research into myths, poetry, and documents for further information.
Philochorus was put to death by Antigonus II Gonatas, king of Macedonia, some time in the 260’s, because of his support of Ptolemy Philadel-phus, a king of Egypt who was then aiding Athens in its attempts to free itself from Macedonian control.
Influence Although all of his works are now lost, Philochorus was extremely influential in antiquity. His Atthis became the standard history of Athens and was frequently cited by other ancient authors, and Christian writers often referred to Philochorus’s religious works for his discussion of pagan beliefs and practices.
Further Reading
Habicht, Christian. Athens from Alexander to Antony. Translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Harding, Phillip. Androtion and the “Atthis.” Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1994.
James P. Sickinger
See also: Antigonid Dynasty; Calendars and Chronology; Historiography; Literature; Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Poet and philosopher
Born: c. 110 b. c.e.; Gadara, Syria (now in Jordan)
Died: c. 35 b. c.e.; Herculaneum, Campania (now in Italy)
Also known as: Philodemos Category: Philosophy; poetry; literature
Life Little is known of the life and education of Philodemus (fihl-eh-DEE-muhs). He was educated in Athens by Zeno the Epicurean and eventually came to Rome circa 75 b. c.e. under the patronage of the Piso family, in whose Italian villa at Herculaneum he probably remained until his death. He was famous as an erotic poet but known also as an Epicurean philosopher and teacher. He wrote on numerous subjects, including a history of philosophers, a book about anger, and a rare treatise on Epicurean theology, but he was especially devoted to the theory of art, going against popular sentiment by arguing that art was to be judged by its aesthetic value alone and not for its morals or logic.
Influence As a poet and teacher, Philodemus had a direct impact on many Romans of his day, especially Vergil, Horace, Ovid, and Propertius, and though none of his prose was preserved by later scribes, he also played a crucial role in the late Republic, popularizing Greek philosophy for a Roman audience. The modern excavation of what may be his private library at Herculaneum has resulted in the recovery of numerous works of philosophy, both his own and those of Epicurus, which had been lost.
Further Reading
Armstrong, David, et al., eds. Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
Fitzgerald, John T., Dirk Obbink, and Glenn S. Holland, eds. Philodemus and the New Testament World. Boston: Brill, 2004.
Gigante, M. Philodemus in Italy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995.
Glad, C. Paul and Philodemus. Boston: Brill, 1995.
Obbink, D. Philodemus and Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press,
1995.
Philodemus. Acts of Love: Ancient Greek Poetry from Aphrodite’s Garden. Translated by George Economou. New York: Random House, 2006.
Richard C. Carrier
See also: Epicurus; Literature; Philosophy.
Military leader
Born: c. 253 b. c.e.; Megalopolis in Arcadia (region of central Pelopon-nese)
Died: 182 b. c.e.; Messenia
Also known as: Philopoemen, son of Craugis
Category: Military; government and politics
Life Many-time general of the Achaean League, Philopoemen (fihl-uh-PEE-muhn) gained military experience as mercenary captain in Crete, and early in his career, he demonstrated his military talents at the Battle of Sellasia (222 b. c.e.).
The goal of the Achaean League was Peloponnesian unification; Sparta continually frustrated those intentions. Following his heroic exploits against Spartan king Cleomenes III at Sellasia, Philopoemen worked throughout his career to force recalcitrant Sparta into the confederacy. In 207 b. c.e., he defeated the Spartan tyrant Machanidas at Mantinea. At the beginning of the second century b. c.e., he fought against the Spartan tyrant Nabis. After the latter’s assassination in 193, Philopoemen brought Sparta into the Achaean League, regardless of Spartan traditions and the Spartan exiles. He died as a war captive of rebellious Messene in 182.
Philopoemen’s two main policies were Spartan membership in the Achaean League and preservation of Achaean independence from Rome for as long as possible. In his drive for Achaean independence, Philopoe-men realized the vision of the league’s founder, Aratus of Sicyon; his military competence ensured success for his program. He is hailed as “the last of the Greeks,” and the Achaean historian Polybius eulogized him.
Influence Philopoemen was instrumental in the Macedonian defeat of Cleomenes III at Sellasia. He instituted military reforms to the Achaean League, strengthening the league’s position in Greece and, for a time, in relation to Rome.
Philopoemen Further Reading
Cartledge, Paul, and Antony Spawforth. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities. 2d ed. London: Routledge, 2002.
Errington, R. M. Philopoemen. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1969. Gruen, Erich S. The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Larsen, J. A. O. Greek Federal States. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press,
1968.
Craige B. Champion
See also: Achaean League; Cleomenes III.
Western philosophy can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy and its major schools of thought.
Date: Sixth century b. c.e. to 31 b. c.e.
Category: Philosophy
Background The ancient Greeks invented the practice of structured inquiry into the nature of the world and humanity that is still called philosophy, from their words for “love of wisdom.” Individual thinkers whose insights attracted students often established schools—sometimes little more than informal gatherings—in which the teacher’s ideas would be explained, explored, debated, and sharpened. From its beginnings in the sixth century b. c.e., philosophy challenged contemporary religious views and mythologies, replacing the authority of tradition with one’s own experience (empiricism) and mental reflection on it (rationalism). Although a particular philosopher’s ideas could become popular enough to constitute a new and unquestioned authority, the Greek spirit of open inquiry ensured that no single school ever monopolized Greek thought. This spirit has informed all subsequent Western philosophical activity and forms the basis for the later development of scientific inquiry.
Pre-Socratic Philosophers Thales of Miletus, who lived in Greek Ionia along the western coast of Asia Minor in the sixth century b. c.e., is credited with being the first philosopher. Like most philosophers considered “pre-Socratic,” Thales inquired into the underlying nature of the material world, and he concluded that water was the fundamental element of which all was made. Thus was natural philosophy born. Two other sixth century lonians, Anaximander and Anaximenes, narrowed and advanced Thales’ investigations into nature. Anaximander carefully studied specific phenomena such as eclipses and thunderstorms, and he conjectured about the origins of the world and life itself. In the process, he removed the gods
In favor of purely natural explanations for the regular and predictable world that the Greeks called kosmos. Anaximenes’ best-known contribution was his theory that air, rather than water, was the fundamental element in the kosmos, which itself was a living thing.
Xenophanes (c. 570-c.478 b. c.e.), an Ionian bard from Colophon, envisaged the kosmos as a sphere, the perfect form, and the true god that rules all as a purely spiritual entity without the anthropomorphic human qualities that characterized the Greek pantheon of deities and gods of other cultures. Among his forty or so recorded statements is a direct condemnation of the common notion of gods, which, he claimed, were based on merely human models: dark-skinned in Africa and blue-eyed among the Scythians. In other statements, he asserts the value of systematic research and thought in the attainment of truth.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540-c. 480 b. c.e.) developed the concept that everything that is and happens exists and occurs in accordance with Logos, essentially the governing principal of the kosmos. One key characteristic of this principle is that everything is in a constant state of tension, flux, or change, which is one reason that he chose ever-flickering fire as the fundamental element. Nothing is ever truly at rest, which explains the diversity and apparent contradictions of everyday life. He extended this analysis into
The philosopher Socrates drinks poisonous hemlock after being sentenced to death for impious behavior and corrupting the young. (Library of Congress)
Areas such as politics and ethics, thus expanding the scope of philosophy.
The southern Italian Greeks Parmenides (c. 515-after 436 b. c.e.) and Zeno of Elea (c. 490-c. 440 b. c.e.) formalized the exercise of deductive reasoning as a form of logic in challenging the Ionians’ ideas, creating clever and difficult-to-refute arguments. One challenged Heraclitus by “proving” logically that nothing can move.
During the early fifth century b. c.e., two influential schools arose. One developed around the mathematician and ascetic Pythagoras (c. 580-c. 500 b. c.e.), whose rather mystical notion that number was the underlying structure of all existence would have a very long life. The other school, known as the atomists, developed around Democritus (c. 460-c. 370 b. c.e.) and Leucippus, who taught that all things that exist must consist of microscopic physical objects known as atoms. They were of differing sizes and shapes that combined to form everything. Everything included the gods, soul, spirit, and mind, if they are to exist. This materialist conception of the universe was a powerful challenge to religion and common sense.
Socrates and Plato Socrates the Athenian (c. 470-399 b. c.e.) is considered the first philosopher in the West to shift the focus of philosophy from the natural world to human values. In part this was a reaction to the rise of a group of teachers known as Sophists, or “wisdom men.” They traveled the Greek world earning a living by providing young men with “wisdom” that consisted mainly of cultural and historical information, much of which differed from polis to polis. For Socrates, none of this nurtured the human soul, which was the true mark of wisdom. Only truth, which is embedded in each person’s soul, is worthy of pursuit. Therefore, philosophy is an inward search, not an external education. Claiming that the truly wise man knew that he knew nothing, Socrates probed experts in many fields to discover what they knew. Since he often reduced them to embarrassing admissions of ignorance, he became known as an annoying “gadfly,” and he was tried and called upon to commit suicide for impiety and misleading the youth of Athens. He wrote nothing, lest his writings be misconstrued, and died a martyr for freedom of thought and inquiry.
Plato (c. 427-347 b. c.e.) was a student of the Pythagoreans, but he is best known for his Socratic dialogues, which purport to be records of his teacher’s philosophical conversations. Where Socrates stops and Plato’s own ideas begin is hard to determine. Plato picked up Socrates’ role as philosopher in an Athenian grove of trees known as the Academy, but where
The philosopher Aristotle. (Library of Congress)
Socrates had questioned his students, Plato taught them. Rejecting atomism, he reduced the natural world of commonsense experience to a shadow or copy of the “real” world of supernatural, perfect, eternal, and unchanging “forms.” He thus also rejected natural philosophy, since one can only have opinions and not true knowledge about the natural world. In any case, the physical reality that one experiences is inferior to the world of “forms” that one can sense only with the mind. While this is true for physical objects, it is also true of abstract concepts. Socrates’ dialogues in which experts unsuccessfully explain beauty, justice, or love only expose the inferiority of the imperfect copies of these objective realities met in this world. Like physical objects, these concepts have perfect forms that can be glimpsed by introspection. Reason alone can lead to a true understanding of this higher reality which is the ultimate truth. Also, reason alone can lead
To virtue and a virtuous life. In his Politeia (c. 388-368 b. c.e.; Republic, 1701), Plato developed a theory of ideal society. It would be led by a ruling class made up of philosophers—philosopher-kings—whose earnest search for truth made them virtuous and models of life for the lower classes. The Academy existed in some form for more than eight hundred years, and Plato’s rationalist philosophy has continued to exert influence in modern times.
Aristotle Aristotle (384-322 b. c.e.) was a tutor of Alexander the Great and benefited from the discoveries made as Alexander’s armies conquered the empires of Persia and Egypt. He is credited with many books on subjects ranging from physics to politics, logic to the soul, but they appear to be students’ notes rather than the master’s own writings. Though a student of Plato, he disagreed profoundly with his teacher. Aristotle rejected Plato’s theory of forms and reaffirmed the importance of the reality of the physical world. Aristotle is known for his theory of substance; he believed that the world consists of various independent entities that he called “substances,” which in turn are made up of form and matter. A key contribution is his differentiation of what he called causation. A chair, for example, has four causes: the materials, the maker, the form, and the purpose that it serves; take any one away and there is no chair. Many of his notions of physics—such as that objects fall because they seek their natural resting place at the center of the earth—and his cosmological ideas such as the geocentricity of the universe had extremely long lives and were challenged only during the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century.
Aristotle’s view of the soul is different from that of Socrates because Aristotle believed it to be a living force that exists not only in humans but also in other living organisms. The human soul is, however, different from the rest because it possesses intellect, enabling human beings to engage in rational thinking. Aristotle advocated an ethics of virtue, according to which humans develop various virtues in order to achieve specific goals in life. For Aristotle, political philosophy aims to describe a society that embodies these virtues in the lives of individuals and societies. As a logician, Aristotle is best known for his formulation of the deductive theory of syllogism.
Stoicism Hellenistic philosophies founded in the fourth century b. c.e. taught people how to live and seek happiness in a world of uncertainty over which they had little if any real control. Founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 335-c. 263 b. c.e.) and later developed by Roman philosophers, Stoicism (named for the place where Zeno taught) was the most influential philosophy of the Hellenistic Age. The Stoic views the universe as a rational harmonious organism planned by the single, spiritual God and governed by its own rational soul. Among all creatures, those that most closely approximate the total universe are rational beings, which include humans. Stoic ethics prescribes the doctrine of living according to the benevolence and orderliness of the universe, though life itself may appear malevolent and chaotic. In the face of adversity, the Stoic is to remain virtuous, maintaining a balanced spirit achieved by reason and right living.
Epicureanism Epicurus of Samos (341-270 b. c.e.) established a school in Athens known as The Garden. A materialist, he maintained that the single God of the universe is ultimately unknowable, but that if anything might be known about God it is that God seeks pleasure. Thus, to be virtuous, or God-like, is to pursue pleasure—eat, drink, and be merry—driving from the mind all things that disturb the spirit. Yet pleasure can be truly enjoyed only in moderation. Excess—or hedonism—ultimately causes pain and disturbs the spirit. This last point was often lost on critics, especially ascetic Christians whose rise signaled the demise of Epicureanism.
Cynicism and Skepticism The Cynic (or “dog-man”) movement was founded by Antisthenes (c. 444-c. 365 b. c.e.), an Athenian and student of Socrates. He believed that Socrates had championed radical autarky, or self-sufficiency, and he established a following of men and women who sought to follow nature in all things and depend on other people for nothing. The antisocial behavior of the Cynics earned them their nickname, since they seemed to have no more shame than dogs in the street. Freeing themselves from society’s rules and conventions allowed them the virtue of pursuing natural pleasures. This pursuit could be very ascetic, as in the life of Diogenes (c. 412/403-c. 324/321 b. c.e.), who supposedly lived in a large tub.
Pyrrhon of Elis (c. 360-272 b. c.e.) found many of the assumptions that formed the basis of Greek society and culture to be far less universal than Greeks had claimed. He came to disavow certainty, discrediting humans’ ability to know almost anything, either through reason or experience. The followers of Pyrrhonism, or skepticism, rejected dogmatism of any kind in favor of relativism (“when in Rome, do as the Romans”). They also sought to curb their passions utterly, living a life of ataraxia (apathy), since the passion of desire leads to unhappiness and pain.
Further Reading
Algra, Keimpe, et al., eds. The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Long, A. A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Shields, Christopher, ed. The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2003.
Taylor, C. C. W., R. M. Hare, and Jonathan Barnes. Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Joseph P. Byrne
See also: Anaxagoras; Anaximander; Anaximenes of Miletus; Antisthenes; Archytas of Tarentum; Aristippus; Aristotle; Aristoxenus; Cosmology; Cynicism; Demetrius Phalereus; Democritus; Diogenes; Empedocles; Epicurus; Heraclitus of Ephesus; Isocrates; Leucippus; Parmenides; Plato; Posidonius; Pre-Socratic Philosophers; Pyrrhon of Elis; Pythagoras; Socrates; Speusippus; Stoicism; Thales of Miletus; Theophrastus; Xanthippe; Xenophanes; Zeno of Citium; Zeno of Elea.
World History
