Abstract

Studies of the Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus have yielded conflicting opinions about his significance as a thinker. On the one hand, he was the teacher of Epictetus and an adviser to the philosophical opposition to the Roman Principate, and is thought to have enjoyed unusual intellectual and political influence. On the other hand, Musonius' teachings, as his student Lucius presents them, seem to lack the fiery presentation with which he is so often credited, relying as they do upon rhetorical commonplaces to convey their meaning. Yet, careful consideration of the intellectual, social and historical contexts from which Musonius' philosophy grew suggests that his precepts and their presentation would have been deeply meaningful to a Roman audience in the first century of this era. To accomplish this, the present study contextualizes some of Musonius' most important teachings. The first chapter shows that Lucius' presentation of his teacher's ideas reflects the eclecticism that characterized the philosophy of the age, though Musonius' philosophy is rooted firmly within the Stoic tradition. Indeed, his views on good and evil are consistent with older Stoic views, although his arguments in favor of them are common to the Stoa and to other Hellenistic schools. The second chapter argues that Musonius is keenly aware of the Roman noble's reluctance to involve himself too deeply in philosophy, and shows that Musonius attempts to answer some of the Romans' most deeply felt anxieties about philosophical study. The third chapter sets Musonius' call for a strict ascetic regimen within the context of typically Roman concerns about how personal conduct may affect social and civic participation. The fourth chapter argues that Musonius, while often heralded for his advocacy of women's study of philosophy, favors this study as a way to make women better wives, according to traditionally accepted Roman criteria. Only exceptionally does he support a woman's abandoning her traditional place as a housewife and mother, whose work would keep her secluded within the home