Epicurean philosophy and its archaeological evidence in the Roman world. Epicurean philosophers began circulating among the Roman elite in the 2nd century BC. By the final decades of the Republic, prominent Roman adherents included Cicero's friend Atticus and Caesar's assassin Cassius. Calpurnius Piso Caesonianus, Caesar's father-in-law, patronized Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean philosopher whose library was carbonized by Vesuvius and discovered in the Villa of the Papyri.
Epicurean thought spread through Rome's elite from the 2nd century BC — adherents included Atticus and Brutus's co-conspirator Cassius. The Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum preserved Philodemus's carbonized library, while a Boscoreale silver cup depicts Epicurus debating Zeno in the underworld. Remarkably, Epicurus's Athenian school survived until at least Hadrian's reign, when Plotina petitioned on its behalf.
Key Facts
- Epicurean philosophers began circulating among the Roman elite in the 2nd century BC.
- By the final decades of the Republic, prominent Roman adherents included Cicero's friend Atticus and Caesar's assassin Cassius.
- Calpurnius Piso Caesonianus, Caesar's father-in-law, patronized Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean philosopher whose library was carbonized by Vesuvius and discovered in the Villa of the Papyri.
- Lucretius composed De rerum natura, a survey of Epicurean philosophy in epic verse, which circulated widely among the Roman elite.
- A silver cup found at Boscoreale, near Pompeii, depicts Epicurus and Zeno arguing in the underworld about whether pleasure is truly supreme.
- Memmius, Lucretius's patron, bought and threatened to demolish the house of Epicurus in Athens.
- At Athens, the school of Epicurus survived through at least the reign of Hadrian, when Trajan's widow Plotina submitted a petition on behalf of the school's leader.
Source: The Most Controversial Ancient Philosophy by toldinstone