Several decades of scholarship have demonstrated that Roman thinkers developed in new and stimulating directions the systems of thought they inherited from the Greeks, and that, taken together, they offer many perspectives that are of philosophical interest in their own right. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Philosophy explores a range of such Roman philosophical perspectives through thirty-four newly commissioned essays. Where Roman philosophy has long been considered a mere extension of Hellenistic systems of thought, this volume moves beyond the search for sources and parallels and situates Roman philosophy in its distinctive cultural context.The Oxford Handbook of Roman Philosophy emphasizes four features of Roman philosophy: aspects of translation, social context, philosophical import, and literary style. The authors adopt an inclusive approach, treating not just systematic thinkers such as Cicero and Augustine, but also poets and historians. Topics covered include ethnicity, cultural identity, literary originality, the environment, Roman philosophical figures, epistemology, and ethics.

PrefaceMyrto Garani, David Konstan, and Gretchen Reydams-SchilsList of ContributorsPART I. THE ROMAN PHILOSOPHER: AFFILIATION, IDENTITY, SELF, AND OTHER1. Italic Pythagoreanism in the Hellenistic AgePhillip Sidney Horky2. Epicurean Orthodoxy and Innovation: From Lucretius toDiogenes of OenoandaPamela Gordon3. Ethical Argument and Epicurean Subtext in Horace, Odes 1.1 and 2.16Gregson Davis4. Seneca and Stoic Moral PsychologyGretchen Reydams-Schils5. Marcus Aurelius and the Tradition of Spiritual ExercisesJohn Sellars6. Apuleius and Roman DemonologyJeffrey Ulrich7. Philosophers and Roman FriendshipDavid Konstan8. Debate or Guidance? Cicero on PhilosophyMalcolm SchofieldPART II. WRITING AND ARGUING ROMAN PHILOSOPHY9. The Epicureanism of LucretiusTim O'Keefe10. Cicero and the Evolution of Philosophical DialogueMatthew Fox11. The Stoic Lesson: Cornutus and EpictetusMichael Erler12. Persius's ParadoxesAaron Kachuck13. PlutarchGeorge Karamanolis14. Parrh?sia: Dio, Diatribe, and Philosophical OratoryDana Fields15. ConsolationJames Ker16. The Shape of the Tradition to Come: Academic Arguments in CiceroOrazio Cappello17. Persius on Stoic PoeticsClaudia WienerPART III. INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF ROMAN PHILOSOPHY18. TranslationChristina Hoenig19. Roman Philosophy in Its Political and Historiographical ContextErmanno Malaspina and Elisa Della Calce20. RhetoricErik Gunderson21. Self and World in extremis in Roman StoicismJames I. Porter22. MedicineDavid Leith23. SexKurt Lampe24. TimeDuncan F. Kennedy25. DeathJames Warren26. EnvironmentDaniel BertoniPART IV. AFTER ROMAN PHILOSOPHY: TRANSMISSION AND IMPACT27. Roman Presocratics: Bio-Doxography in the Late RepublicMyrto Garani28. Reading Aristotle at RomeMyrto Hatzimichali29. Christian Ethics: The Reception of Cicero in Ambrose's De officiisIvor J. Davidson30. Augustine's Reception of PlatonismAnne-Isabelle Bouton-Touboulic31. Roman Quasity: A Matrix of Byzantine Thought and HistoryAnthony Kaldellis32. Latin Neoplatonism: The Medieval PeriodAgnieszka Kijewska33. Transmitting Roman Philosophy: The RenaissanceQuinn Griffin34. "The Art of Self-Deception": Libertine Materialism and Roman PhilosophyNatania MeekerIndex