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The Romans were a bunch of uncivilized Barbarians compared to the Greek. Name me one decent Roman Philosopher of writer that we still read today. Marcus? Wrote

by tiatia 11y ago

The Romans were a bunch of uncivilized Barbarians compared to the Greek. Name me one decent Roman Philosopher of writer that we still read today. Marcus? Wrote in Greek. Maybe Plotin. What else?

umanwizard 11y ago
Seneca?
JimmyM 11y ago
If you're saying "Philosopher or writer", Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Tacitus, Pliny, Juvenal, Livy, Cicero and Martial. Of whom I suppose I find Ovid, Catullus, Livy, Cicero and Virgil enjoyable to read, others would disagree or choose different writers I am sure. In terms of philosophers alone, I suppose only Cicero or Seneca would spring to mind, and Seneca in particular followed closely in Epicurus' footsteps (I think, it's been a long long time, please correct if wrong). These are just people who I am aware are widely read today, I can say nothing for their barbarity or otherwise. I don't know anything about Plotinus, for example, and I don't even know which Marcus you refer to, so I am hardly a very reliable source.
- tiatia 11y ago
  "I don't even know which Marcus you refer to" Are there so many Roman Philosophers named "Marcus" having written in Greek?
  - JimmyM 11y ago
    Well, this was my point - I can't even deduce the presumably well-known figure you are referring to, so I'm not a very knowledgeable or trustworthy commenter on this issue, and my opinions and thoughts should be treated with an appropriate amount of caution.
notahacker 11y ago
Cicero. Philosophers are rather beside the point though: for every famous philosopher, ancient Greece had a million farmers, merchants, seafarers and slaves. I'm not persuaded medieval Britain was more enlightened than modern Britain because Shakespeare was a more insightful commentator on the human condition than JK Rowling, and the same applies to not unduly revering the societies of classical antiquity because some of the works of their educated elites have survived to the present day.

by tiatia 11y ago

The Romans were a bunch of uncivilized Barbarians compared to the Greek. Name me one decent Roman Philosopher of writer that we still read today. Marcus? Wrote in Greek. Maybe Plotin. What else?

umanwizard 11y ago

Seneca?

JimmyM 11y ago

If you're saying "Philosopher or writer", Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Tacitus, Pliny, Juvenal, Livy, Cicero and Martial. Of whom I suppose I find Ovid, Catullus, Livy, Cicero and Virgil enjoyable to read, others would disagree or choose different writers I am sure. In terms of philosophers alone, I suppose only Cicero or Seneca would spring to mind, and Seneca in particular followed closely in Epicurus' footsteps (I think, it's been a long long time, please correct if wrong). These are just people who I am aware are widely read today, I can say nothing for their barbarity or otherwise. I don't know anything about Plotinus, for example, and I don't even know which Marcus you refer to, so I am hardly a very reliable source.

tiatia 11y ago
"I don't even know which Marcus you refer to" Are there so many Roman Philosophers named "Marcus" having written in Greek?
- JimmyM 11y ago
  Well, this was my point - I can't even deduce the presumably well-known figure you are referring to, so I'm not a very knowledgeable or trustworthy commenter on this issue, and my opinions and thoughts should be treated with an appropriate amount of caution.

notahacker 11y ago

Cicero. Philosophers are rather beside the point though: for every famous philosopher, ancient Greece had a million farmers, merchants, seafarers and slaves. I'm not persuaded medieval Britain was more enlightened than modern Britain because Shakespeare was a more insightful commentator on the human condition than JK Rowling, and the same applies to not unduly revering the societies of classical antiquity because some of the works of their educated elites have survived to the present day.