Sublime

By a convenient coincidence, King Attalus III of Pergamum had died in 133 BCE, and – combining a realistic assessment of Roman power in the eastern Mediterranean with a shrewd defence against assassination by rivals at home – he had made ‘the Roman people’ the heir to his property and large kingdom in what is now Turkey. This inheritance provided a

Platon définit la philosophie comme l’exercice de la mort, et le philosophe comme l’homme qui ne craint pas la mort parce qu’il contemple la totalité du temps et de l’être (Républ.,

Marcus liked to point out that Alexander the Great—one of the most passionate and ambitious men who ever lived—was buried in the same ground as his mule driver.

He seems to have been altogether indifferent to athletic exercises;

When ambassadors from the King of Persia arrived in Macedonia, Philip was absent, and Alexander entertained them. His engaging manners greatly charmed them, and he became their intimate friend.

Gaius Gracchus

C'est qu'effectivement Épictète est alors le grand philosophe. Toute la littérature du IIe siècle évoque sa figure et son enseignement, et jusqu'à la fin de l'Antiquité il restera un modèle pour les philosophes.

Everywhere these tyrants, with more or less violence, had the same policy. A tyrant of Corinth one day asked advice concerning government of a tyrant of Miletus. The latter, in reply, struck off the heads of grain that were higher than the others. Thus their rule of conduct was to cut down the high heads, and to strike at the aristocracy, while dep