The Embassy of the Three Philosophers to Rome in 155 bc1

Abstract

This chapter examines the evidence for the embassy of the three philosophers — Carneades, Critolaus, and Diogenes, representing the Academic, Peripatetic, and Stoic traditions respectively — to Rome in 155 bc. The purpose of the envoy was to represent Athens in her negotiations with the Senate and the chapter discusses a range of arguments that they might have deployed to lead to a reduction in the fine imposed on the Athenians. Furthermore, by questioning the received tradition that Carneades also delivered opposing speeches on justice at Rome, the chapter instead directs its focus back to the practical importance of oratory, while simultaneously highlighting the caution required in using later Latin literature to reconstruct existing knowledge of the reception of Greek oratory at Rome.

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