Greek Philosophy Comes to Rome: The Embassy of 155 BCE

Romans first met Greek philosophy as conquerors of the Greek world, and their response was mixed. In 155 BCE Athens sent three philosophers to Rome as ambassadors to appeal against a heavy fine: Carneades of the Academy, Diogenes of Babylon of the Stoa and Critolaus of the Lyceum. Their public lectures drew crowds of young Romans.

The conservative statesman Cato the Elder urged the Senate to settle their business quickly and send them home, fearing that clever Greek arguments would weaken traditional Roman values of duty, discipline and service to the state. Yet Roman elites increasingly learned Greek, hired Greek teachers and studied in Athens and Rhodes.

The Stoic Panaetius, a friend of the general Scipio Aemilianus, adapted Stoicism to the practical needs of Roman public life. This encounter set the pattern of Roman philosophy: absorbing Greek ideas while bending them toward ethics, politics and law.