Providing the only full-length study of the compendium of Greek philosophy attributed to Arius Didymus, court philosopher to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, this volume elucidates Stoic and Peripatetic ethics for classicists and philosophers. The authors provide careful textual analysis of important passages by this synthesizer of the major schools of Greek thought. Essays include translations of major passages.

Presents a work by a prominent Alexandrian philosopher, giving an individualistic example of Stoic thought as it existed in the late first century BC. Endnotes are aimed at offering continuous assistance to the reader by clarifying the translation, by explaining technical terms, and by highlighting important ethical statements as they occur. Text used for this translation and commentary is that of Wachsmuth. Includes a Greek-English glossary.

This edition of volume 1 in the series Rutgers University Studies in Classical Humanities concerns Hellenistic ethics. Its particular focus is the compendium of Stoic and Peripatetic ethics attributed to Arius Didymus, court philosopher to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Arius was admired in antiquity for his Consolatio addressed to Livia, Augustus' wife, on the death of her son Drusus. He was also known for having advised Augustus to spare the inhabitants of Alexandria when that city fell to the army of Augustus. Arius was, then, an important advisor to a powerful emperor; he held the position that Plato dreamed of and Kant recommended. He advised the ruler of the Mediterranean world and practiced an ethics based on his knowledge of Hellenistic philosophy. That knowledge is discussed in On Stoic and Peripatetic Ethics. Prior to the publication of On Stoic and Peripatetic Ethics, Arius was best known in the English-speaking world for fragments concerning physical philosophy. There were some works in German and Italian but discussion in English was meager and largely inconsequential. Within the English-speaking world, there is now a significant and growing body of scholarly literature on Arius' compendium. Far from supplanting the present volume, this body of literature underlines the importance of the volume and builds on issues raised in it.

This volume features a unique epitome (original summation) of Aristotelian practical philosophy. It is often attributed to Arius Didymus who composed a survey of Peripatetic thought on three closely related areas: ethics, household management, and politics. The quality of the epitome, which draws not only on the surviving treatises of Aristotle, but also on works by later Peripatetics, is excellent. In recent years the epitome has attracted increased attention as an important document for the understanding of Hellenistic philosophy. This new edition of the Greek text is much needed; the most recent edition dates from 1884 and is seriously faulty. This translation, provided by Georgia Tsouni, is based on the oldest and best manuscripts and takes account of recent discussions of difficult passages. In addition, an English translation appears opposite the Greek text on facing pages. The text-translation is followed by nine essays, which are written for a wide audience—not only philosophers and classicists, but also scholars interested in politics and social order. The essays also consider issues of a more philological nature: Who in fact was the author of the epitome? Is Theophrastus an important source? In discussing political matters, is the author intending to defend the practice of philosophy in Augustan Rome? Was there a second epitome, perhaps with a different slant, that has been lost?

"Stoicism needs a new work of this kind. Sellars not only takes good account of the last thirty years of research, he also has much of his own to contribute. I particularly applaud his focus on Epictetus and on Stoicism as an art of life. "--A.A. Long, author of Stoic Studies