250 Harry M. Hubbell, Ph.D., 



condemnation of Philodemus ; he grants that he is Jiumanus as 

 long" as he remains in proper society. He has a breadth of cul- 

 ture far surpassing that of the average Epicurean, and his poetry- 

 has the charm and polish of the best society verse. However 

 his too easy good nature has brought him into the meshes of 

 Piso's net, from which he is unable to extricate himself. These 

 qualifying phrases agree with the other notice in Cicero*^ which 

 may be taken as showing more nearly than the harsh words of 

 the In Pisonem his real attitude toward Philodemus.'' 



I have mentioned that Philodemus was a disciple of Zeno. 

 This connection is of prime importance in estimating Philode- 

 mus' position in the Epicurean sect, and in the contemporary 

 world of letters, and necessitates a brief consideration of Zeno. 

 Here again, we rely for our information largely upon Cicero. 

 When the latter was a student at Athens in 79/8 he was advised 

 by Philo to study Epicureanism under Zeno. He was probably 

 at this time head of the school, though the fact cannot be estab- 

 lished beyond a doubt. ^'^ At any rate he was the ablest exponent 

 of the Epicurean doctrine, and Cicero records that his style 

 distinguished him from the other representatives of his sect. 

 Non igitur ille, ut plerique, sed isto modo ut tu, distincte, gra- 

 viter, ornate. De Nat. Deor. I, 21, 59. \\'q derive further 

 information about his style from the notice in Diog. Laert. VH, 

 I, 35. Diogenes is enumerating the different philosophers by 

 the name of Zeno, with a line of description for each ; of our 

 Zeno he says, oySoos StSwvtos to yeVos, ^lAdcro^os 'ETTtKOiipetos Kat 

 vorjcrai koI kpixrjvtva-ai aacfjy'i. Evidently his style was striking, 

 otherwise we should not have two independent notices de- 

 voted so markedly to it ; this characteristic is all the more 

 remarkable because the Epicureans affected indifference to man- 

 ner of presentation. Now we have seen that Philodemus 



® De Fin. II, 35, 119; Quae cum dixissem, Habeo, inquit Torquatus, ad 

 quos ista referam, et, quamquam aliquid ipse poteram, tamen invenire 

 nialo paratiores. Familiares nostros, credo, Sironem dicis et Philodemum, 

 cum optimos viros, tum homines doctissimos. 



" W. Cronert in an article published in the Jahreshefte d. iist. archae. 

 Inst., vol. X (1907), pp. 145-153, entitled Die Epicureer in Syrien. thinks 

 that he has discovered in Pap. ined. 986, fr. 19 mention of the enmity 

 between Philodemus and Cicero. 



'"See the discussion in Zeller III, i (3rd ed.), p. 373, n. 2. 



