Read Letters From a Stoic Online
Authors: Seneca
Letters From a Stoic (29 page)
Gaul
, our version of the Roman name (
Gallia
) for the area of approximately modern France,
177
.
Gracchus (Gaius Sempronius Gracchus)
,
217
, Roman reforming politician, killed in 122
B.C.
Hannibal
, great Carthaginian general and enemy of Rome, finally defeated by Scipio, at Zama (in what is now Tunisia) in 202
B.C.
,
145
.
Haterius, Quintus
, forceful Roman advocate, whose volubility led the emperor Augustus to say (according to Seneca’s father) ‘Haterius needs a brake’,
85
.
Hecato
, Stoic philosopher from Rhodes, pupil of Panaetius; who wrote mainly books on ethics,
38
,
40
,
48
.
Hecuba
, wife of Priam, King of Troy, in Homer’s
Iliad
,
93
,
152
.
Helen
, in Homer Menelaus’ wife whose carrying off to Troy by Paris brought about the Trojan war,
152
.
Hermarchus
, disciple of Epicurus and his successor as head of the Epicurean school,
40
,
79
.
Hesiod
, early Greek didactic poet,
74
,
152
.
Hiero
, ruler of Syracuse, in Sicily, in the third century
B.C.
,
218
.
Homer
, ancient Greek bard to whom the
Iliad
and
Odyssey
are traced,
74
,
83
.
152
.
172
.
Horace
, Roman lyric and satirical poet,
148
.
Isio
, a clown,
62
.
Jove or Jupiter
, the sky-god, the Greek Zeus, chief of the Olympian deities,
51
,
199
.
Julius, Montanus
, see
Montanus
,
223
–4.
Laelius (Gaius Laelius Minor)
, Roman politician of the second century
B.C.
(consul 140
B.C.
), one of a circle of aristocratic and cultivated Romans receptive to Stoic ideas,
43
,
56
,
190
.
Latin Road
, the
Via Latina
, ancient road running south-east from Rome,
130
.
Liberalis
, friend of Seneca, native of Lyons,
177
–8,
181
.
Liternum
, town on the Italian coast, now Torre di Patria, not far north of Naples,
145
.
Livy
, chief Roman historian (59
B.C.
-A.D.
17), writing over a period of forty years a history of Rome in 142 books from the earliest times to his own,
89
.
Lucilius (Lucilius Junior)
, the addressee of these letters and of the
Naturales Quaestiones
(Problems in Nature) and of an essay
De Providentia
(On Providence), friend of Seneca, cf.
Introduction pp.
12
–13,
passim
.
Lycurgus
, legendary legislator of Sparta in Greece,
163
.
Lyons
, the Roman
Lugdunum
, flourishing capital of one of the provinces of Gaul, founded in 43
B.C.
,
177
,
181
.
Macedonia
, also called
Macedon
, region in north of Greece which rose to world importance under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great; in 146
B.C.
, it became a province of the Roman empire,
180
.
Maecenas (Gaius Maecenas)
, friend and often representative of Augustus; celebrated patron of literature,
213
–15,
219
.
Marcellinus, Tullius
, friend of Lucilius,
126
–7.
Mars
, Roman god of war,
61
.
Meander
, much winding river, now the Menderes in western Turkey,
188
.
Metrodoms
, first among the disciples of Epicurus but died before the master; prolific writer, mainly attacking the arguments of other schools,
40
,
68
,
79
.
Montanus, (Montanas Julius)
, Augustan poet, admired by Seneca’s father,
223
–4.
Nausiphanes
, Greek philosopher of the fourth century
B.C.
, who followed Democritus’ atomist theory and taught Epicurus,
160
–61.
Neptune
, the Roman god of the sea who, in his Greek character (Poseidon) constantly harried Ulysses (Odysseus) on his long voyage home, the story of Homer’s
Odyssey
,
101
.
Nesis
, the modern Nisida, not far from Naples,
100
.
Nestor
, old warrior in Homer’s
Iliad
,
130
.
Niobe
, in Greek mythology a mother suddenly robbed by divine vengeance of all her children,
114
.
Nomentum
, the modern Mentana, in central Italy, where Seneca had a celebrated vine estate,
184
.
North Africa
,
194
.
Numa (Numa Pompilius)
, early Roman king, traditionally 715–673
B.C.
,
210
.
Pacuvius
, deputy to the governor of Syria during Tiberius’ rule,
58
.
Pallas
, epithet of the goddess Athene, the Roman Minerva, one of whose temples stood on the promontory facing the island of Capri,
125
.
Panaetius
, Stoic philosopher (
c
.
185–109
B.C.
) from Rhodes, who knew many leading Romans; having also been the teacher of Posidonius and an influence upon Cicero, he was largely instrumental in the making known of Stoicism to Romans,
78
.
Panormus
, the modern Palermo, in Sicily,
218
.
Paphos
, city of Cyprus,
180
.
Papinius, Sextos
, unknown Roman,
225
.
Parmenides
, fifth century
B.C.
, Greek philosopher living in Italy, monist, often regarded as the founder of logic, whose study of the verb ‘to be’ led him to deny, in opposition to Heraclitus, that anything changes,
160
–1.
Parthenope
, the early name, which continued to be used by Roman poets, of Neapolis (the modern Napoli or Naples),
100
.
Patroclus
, friend of Achilles,
152
.
Paulina (Pompeia Paulina)
, Seneca’s second wife,
184
–5.
Pedo, Albinovanus
, poet, friend of Ovid,
225
.
Penelope
, in Homer’s
Odyssey
the faithful wife of Ulysses who awaited his return faithfully for twenty years,
153
.
Pharius
, Seneca’s physical trainer,
140
.
Phidias
, famous Athenian sculptor of the fifth century
B.C.
,
48
.
Philositus
, one of Seneca’s estate managers,
57
.
Pinarius, Natta
, unknown,
223
.
Piso, Lucius (Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi)
, Roman soldier and provincial governor (48
B.C.-A.D
.
32); ‘praefectus’ (Prefect or Warden) of the City of Rome, enjoying the trust of Tiberius, for twenty years,
142
.
Plancus (Lucius Munatius Plancus)
, distinguished Roman soldier and provincial governor, consul in 42
B.C.
,
181
.
Plato
, famous Athenian philosopher (
c.
429–347
B.C.
), greatly influenced by Socrates, of whom he was a pupil, author of the celebrated doctrine of ideas, thinker whose writings have influenced almost every philosopher, ancient or modern, since his day,
40
,
93
,
119
–20,
212
.
Polyaenus
, Greek philosopher, pupil of Epicurus,
40
,
68
.
Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeus)
, ambitious and powerful Roman politician and successful general against foreign armies (106–48
B.C.
), at first allied to Caesar but later defeated by him in the civil wars and murdered,
55
,
193
–4.
Pomponius
, probably
Pomponius Secundus
, little heard of but distinguished Roman, consul in
A.D.
44, successful military commander in Germany, poet and serious dramatist,
36
.
Posidonius
, important Stoic philosopher (
c.
135-c.
51
B.C.
), a Greek of Syrian birth, pupil of Panaetius; also a historian and a scientist (studying e.g.
the oceans and tides, and primitive cultures, and calculating the circumference of the earth and the distance between the earth and the sun); Cicero attended his lectures and his writings were widely read; he taught, unusually among Stoics, that the soul did not perish with the body,
79
,
139
,
163
–5,
168
,
170
–72,
190
,
212
.
Priam
, last king of Troy,
74
,
193
.
Protagoras
, Greek fifth-century philosopher, the most notable of the itinerant Sophists, an agnostic and sceptic; said, ‘Man is the measure of all things’,
160
–1.
Publilius
, Syrian slave in the first century
B.C.
, who earned his freedom at Rome and became a popular dramatist there,
46
.
Puteoli
, the modern Pozzuoli, then the main port of Rome and a fashionable resort as well as a large commercial city not far from Naples,
100
,
124
.
Pythagoras
, influential Greek mathematician of that sixth century
B.C.
, who established in south Italy a religious community believing in the transmigration of souls and practising vegetarianism,
163
,
205
–6.
Quadratus, Satellius
, unknown contemporary of Seneca,
74
–5.
Regulus (Marcus Atilius Regulus)
, Roman consul and military commander during the wars against Carthage,
219
.
Rhodes
,
186
.
Romulus
, mythical founder of Rome,
210
.
Sabinus, Calvisius
, wealthy freedman,
73
–5.
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus)
, Roman politician and vivid historical writer of the first century
B.C.
,
218
–19.
Sappho
, Greek poet (born
c
.
612
B.C.
) of Lesbos,
159
.
Sattia
, nonagenarian, otherwise unknown,
130
.
Scipio (Pubilius Cornelius Scipio Africanus)
, famous Roman soldier (236–184
B.C.
) whose brilliant tactics and generalship resulted in victory over the Cathaginian armies led by Hannibal; the achievement earned him the title
Africanus
(‘of Africa’, the final victory having been won in Carthaginian home territory in what is now Tunisia),
144
–8,
211
.
Sejanus (Lucius Aelius Sejanus)
, ambitious Roman politician, executed in
A.D.
31 for conspiring against the emperor Tiberius, of whom he had been a favourite,
106
.